HDMI out on Rebel T5i puts video into rectangle that's smaller than the screen? Can this be fixed?

[mpowers2000]

I'm using my Rebel T5i as a monitor by sending the HDMI out to a screen (not recording video). The image on the screen is a reduced size inside a rectangle. The screen is 1920x1080 and the camera is set for that resolution. I have two Canon camcorders. They both send the full sized image to a monitor.

I called Tech Support and the tech spent time with me but he concluded that there's no way to fix this problem. Does anyone have a solution i.e. setting that will create a full screen image when sent via HDMI to an HD monitor?

Thanks!

Mike

[kvbarkley]

Are the black bars even? Could the output just be in a different aspect ratio? (i.e., 3:2) Can you set the monitor to what the camera is actually outputting?

[Waddizzle]

I'll assume that the camera is in movie mode.  It sounds like you're looking at letterbox formatted video.  I have no idea what would help, or what the Canon tech suggested, but I would set everything to 16:9 format.  Even set still photo format to 16:9.  

The problem is that HDMI signal is simply what is show on the LCD, which has a 3:2 ratio.  What are the display ratios on the LCD of the camcorders?

[mpowers2000]

Thanks for the thoughts. The video is set at 16:9. I'll check still aspect ratio and reset if possible.

You might be correct that the aspect ratio on the LCD is not 16:9 and the HDMI just reflects that.

The recorded video is 16:9, though (I think!). 1920x1080 is 16:9. That's HD. It seems that the lcd should show exactly what's being recorded and be in the 16:9 ratio??

I'll mess around with settings and see what happens.

Thanks for the help!

Mike

[kvbarkley]

No, the HDMI out is a reflection of the LCD, not the actual video file created by the camera. I am not exactly sure what happens when you switch from say 720x480 to HD on the LCD...

[Waddizzle]

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@kvbarkley wrote:

No, the HDMI out is a reflection of the LCD, not the actual video file created by the camera. I am not exactly sure what happens when you switch from say 720x480 to HD on the LCD...

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I don't know what happens, either.  All that I know for certain is that the Rebel HDMI signal is simply the signal going to the LCD.  When you plug into the HDMI port, the LCD blanks out, very much like headphones would mute an old fashioned boom box. 

The camera has just one complete set of video output circuitry, which is either routed to the internal LCD, or bypassed to the HDMI port whenever you plug into it.  That's how it seems to work.

Maybe if you set your HDMI monitor for a different aspect ratio [4:3?], and then enabled a "zoom" mode may help.

[mpowers2000]

After experimenting I'm concluding that the HDMI out is going to be 3:2 aspect ratio even though the recording is 16:9. I don't think there's any way to use the cam as a monitor into an HD TV and get 16:9 full screen.

I'm going to have to buy a camcorder that outputs 16:9 through the HDMI out. All my Canon camcorders do, but not the T5i. I should have investigated this before buying the camera.

The recorded video is 16:9 full HD, though. That's still good. Unfortunately I needed to use it as one of four cameras into a video switcher and it outputs the wrong size. Oh well.

Thanks everyone for the help.

Mike

[kvbarkley]

I am surprised the Canon phone support did not know this.