[stella] VCS able of 16:9 display on widescreen TVs ?

[Rastignac]

At 06:31 30/03/2008, you wrote:
>You could change the TV's aspect rate so the 4:3 
>image is stretched wider than normal to fill out 
>a 16:9 screen, and you could even design your 
>graphics with that in mind so they look good 
>stretched wider that way, but I don't think 
>that's what Rastignac was hoping for.

         Ooops, that's just what I was hoping for  ;)

         WSS is just a added flag to tell the 
ratio to use for the final displayed image. The 
input image is always the same (standard image; 
nothing to change here; no problemo for our VCSs).

         WSS works with everything (an air TV 
channel program, a VHS/VCR, a DVD signal, etc). 
It's just an added flag to the existing picture 
signal. So, there's nothing to change; no 
headache; just add the right flag at the right 
time, and voilà ! It seems easy, isn't it ?

         WSS allows various ratio, such as:
- Standard. The 4:3 picture is displayed as 4:3. Just like now.
- Anamorphic. The 4:3 picture is stretched to 
fill the 16:9 display. Like an anamorphic DVD.
- Letterbox. The center of the 4:3 picture fills 
the 16:9 display (ie: the top and bottom lines 
are cut, only the central lines are displayed).


         Anamorphic is interesting, because the 
whole resolution of the VCS will fill the whole 
screen. Best available quality on 16:9 screens. 
Graphics must be designed as 16:9 graphics (with very wide pixels).

         Letterbox is more interesting, because 
your picture is still 4:3 designed (as before), 
so it's easier. And it appears with the same 
ratio on a 4:3 TV (whole picture) than on a 16:9 
TV (only the central lines).
         Let's say my kernel is drawing 180 main 
lines (a little less than the 192 "standard" 
lines). I just draw some black lines, my 180 good 
lines in the center of the screen, and some black 
lines again. And then I just have to add the WSS 
letterbox flag. On a 4:3 TV, it will look 
"normal". On a 16:9 TV, the 160x180 pixels of my 
kernel will fill the 1920x1080 pixels of a FullHD 
TV. (One VCS pixel will become 72 TV pixels; yeah 
!). Everybody is happy (4:3 guys and 16:9 guys), 
and it's easy to program (just a flag to add), 
and it can give a nice "modern" touch.

         So, can we generate this right signal at 
the right moment with our VCSs ? It needs a few testing with real hardware.

         Thanks.