I asked some questions on the "monitor" thread, and got a few things cleared up (thanks,Jon and boyd). But now I'm having a problem with a dvd recorder i picked up today, and was hoping someone could help me out.
I shoot in 16;9 with my XL2,and want to view it on my 4:3 tv (haven't gotten a 16:9 tv yet). I had a Phillips dvd recorder which recently died. On the Phillips, I was able to view the 16:9 footage directly from my camera, by choosing "4:3 letterbox' in the tv set up menu.
Today I picked up a "Lite on " lvw 5104 (same as the 5006) at Radio Shack, and was unable to playback the footage in 4:3 lb. the menu gives you the two playback options, but regardless of which I chose,it played back as vertically stretched (just as if I had run the XL2 directky into my 4:3 tv).
I called tech support at Lite on, and the guy had no idea what I was talking about.He didn't even understand what "aspect ratio meant.
Has anyone here had any experience with this model recorder? Also, does anyone know what recorder would allow me to watch or record 16:9 footage and play it back in 4:3 lb?
I also recorded some of the footage(in addition to just monitoring it) on to the lite on,chose the 4:3 lb playback option,and it still played stretched.
Thanks for any help
Bruce S. Yarock

Radio Shack.... arrrrgh! ;-)

There should be some setting in the system menu for TV type - you will need to choose 4:3 to get letterboxing on playback. On a DVD recorder there should also be a menu item to record in anamorphic mode which is what tells the player to letterbox on playback. I guess this is what you can't find. Sorry, I can't help there. Unfortunately, when you buy cheap stuff it doesn't always do what you want....

On my Sony DVD recorder you can set it to record a 16:9 DVD, and it will be letterboxed on playback. However it will NOT letterbox while it's recording for some reason. This always seemed odd to me.

Can you return this product? Personally I would spend a few dollars more and get one of the well known brands. In addition to having a better feature set it will probably last longer.

Boyd,
There is a tv "playback" st up that gives you the option of 4:3 letterbox, or 16:9. The problem is that regardless of which you choose, it still plays back stretched.
It goes back to the shack today.
Any other models anyone can reccomend?
Thanks
bruce Yarock

Bruce,

See if there is any mention of a "16:9 Enhanced" mode. That is what is was called on a cheap protable DVD player I own as well as on a Sony TV. Toggled the mode to OFF to show 4:3 imagery out of the XL2 and ON to show 16:9.

Thanks guys,
I bought a Sony wide screen tv today, so I've solved the issue of how to view my footage. I'm still not sure if any, or all, of the dvd recorders can record both in 4:3 and 16:9.On the "lite on" that I returned ,there is no setting for recording aspect ratio.
Anyone know the answer? any specific models to look for or stay away from?
bruce S. Yarock