newbie question 16:9 question (1 Viewer)

[brandon_rx]

ive been reading this forum for a few months and cant seem to find a simple answer to my question. in my research for my next television (a 16:9), i've noticed that when a 16:9 display is playing a widescreen formated dvd, (star wars attack of the clones) , there are still two slim black bars on the top and bottom of the display. granted they are not as large as the display was 4:3. can someone explain this to me? sorry if this a stupid question.

 

[Chris Moe]

Your answer is in the FAQ

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...321#post828321

 

[brandon_rx]

so basically anything that is 2.35:1 aspect ratio is actually wider than a 16:9 display and will cause black bars on the top and bottom. damn. those bars are annoying. i really thought there was a way to get rid of them. will there ever be displays that have 2.35:1 aspect ratio screens?

 

[Jason GT]

Not likely, save you going for some front projection system.

16:9 is the HDTV spec'd aspect ratio, so I wouldn't expect another aspect ratio. Besides, if you had a 2.35:1 set, there would be innumerable complaints about the windowboxing.

Best advice, lifted from another forum member -- watch the program and not the black bars.

 

[Cees Alons]

Brandon,

Lucky for you, there are many DVDs that have (almost) exactly a 16x9 image.

But, of course there are also many other films, and there are many different ratios chosen by filmmakers.
So unless you have a rubber screen (or anything else that can change its ratio, like Jason says: an adjustable front projection screen), it cannot always fit.

If you don't want to chop off some sides of the movie you payed for, you will have those black bars.

Another possibility (looked down on severely on this forum ) is: distort the image, so it will fill the screen (but people are either fat or extremely thin). Much better: make masks to nicely cover the unused part of the screen for each specific film (black foam, adjusted with velcro band is fine). That last solution is preferred by many, it sort of seems to enhance the image even!

Or (terrible, terrible) have some of the image chopped off by the producer of the DVD (the so-called Pan & Scan version) - and pay exactly the same for only part of the image .
However, they do not make many P&S versions yet for 16x9 TV screens - in fact none. So if you see "altered to fit your screen", it has basically been altered (chopped off) NOT to fit your screen.

Cees

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Of course, if you had a 2.35:1 screen, anything narrower would have bars on the sides. Without a rubber screen (or a projection system that supports fixed height with variable width masking)-- you're stuck with either unused real estate, or cropped pictures.

-Vince