Can a 16:9 slide show be saved on a PC running a 4:3 monitor?

[Johnnie]

We have written a PowerPoint presentation for a widescreen display in
our reception, with the slides set up in the correct 16:9 aspect ratio
through the page setup menu.

This displays correctly on our widescreen LCD screen if we open it as
a PowerPoint presentation file on the PC running the widescreen.

However, we want to run this as a PowerPoint Slide Show which loops 24
hours a day. We also update the presentation on a different PC on our
network. When we try to save it as a Slide Show, it saves the images
as displayed on the 4:3 monitor of the PC we are working on. In other
words, when this runs on the 16:9 screen it has a black line at the
top and bottom and the whole slide (fonts and images) are stretched
width ways (it has been converted back to 4:3).

Does anyone know of a way to save a slide show in 16:9 format on a PC
with a 4:3 monitor? We have tried everything we can think of except
buying a 16:9 monitor for the editing PC. Microsoft customer support
were also unable to offer any help.

Any suggestions gratefully received....Thanks!

 

[TAJ Simmons]

Johnnie,

See
Make screenshow fill a wide screen display
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00566.htm

Cheers
TAJ Simmons
microsoft powerpoint mvp

awesome - powerpoint backgrounds,
free powerpoint templates, tutorials, hints and tips etc
http://www.powerpointbackgrounds.com

 

[Adam Crowley]

If I understand correctly you're misunderstanding what's happening here.
Saving a presentation on a PC with a 4:3 monitor will not change the
presentation to 4:3 unless you change the page size.
PowerPoint will always display as much of the slide as possible without
cropping it. How it's displayed on a 16:9 monitor depends on the display
resolution/aspect ratio of the display machine's graphics card and how the
16:9 monitor is set up.
If the display PC is running at a 4:3 resolution (e.g. 1024x768) then the
VGA output will be 4:3 (letterboxed) and it will be up to the 16:9 monitor
to crop the image to 16:9. If the monitor is set to anamorphic it will
stretch this 4:3 output horizontally to fill the screen. This would explain
what you're seeing.
Is it me that's misunderstanding?

 

[Johnnie]

Thanks very much for your replies.

This is stumping several IT minds at the moment.

The slides have been set up in 16:9 aspect ratio using page setup, and
the PC has the correct graphics card and 16:9 display settings.

When we run it as a powerpoint presentation on the lcd screen it looks
as it should, no problem. It's only when we then run the slide show
version of the same presentation (using the same display settings),
that the distortion occurs.

It's all rather odd. I can see how the anamorphic settings on the
monitor may make a difference, but would have expected this to affect
the presentation file in the same way as it does the slide show.

We'll try altering the monitor settings again and see how we get on.

But if someone out there has had the same problem and can confirm
exactly what is causing it, please feel free to chip in.

Thanks again

Johnnie

 

[Adam Crowley]

Can you clarify what you mean by 'slide show version'?

 

[Johnnie]

Can you clarify what you mean by 'slide show version'?

We have saved the presentation as both a Powerpoint Presentation
(.ppt) and a Powerpoint Show (.pps)

It is the .pps version with which we are having the reformatting
problems.

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[Adam Crowley]

Just a thought...are you using PowerPoint XP or 2003?
Is it possible that under Slideshow>Set up show you've specified a 4:3
display resolution rather than 'Use current resolution'?

 

[Johnnie]

Just a thought...are you using PowerPoint XP or 2003?
Is it possible that under Slideshow>Set up show you've specified a 4:3
display resolution rather than 'Use current resolution'?

Hi Adam

I suspect you may have hit on the solution there. I think that saving
the .pps slide show on a pc with 4:3 resolution and then transferring
it to play out on one with a 16:9 resolution without adjusting this
setting in some way may be the problem.

It seems so obvious now! I'm out of the office for a couple of days
but shall play around with it when I get back, and let you know how
we've got on.

Thanks ever so much for your help.

Johnnie

 

[Adam Crowley]

Well I don't know about that. This setting is specific to the copy of
PowerPoint on the machine, not something that gets saved with the file, but
it may lead you to something.