DVD question (1 Viewer)

[YoungO]

I'm a newbie to the forum and to home theater in general, but, after perusing some of the posts, i must say that this has been extremely informative. I have what may seem to be a silly question. I just bought a 55in Plat+ mitsubishi. I have a sony DVD hooked up to it and I made sure that the player knows it is hooked up to a 16:9. My question is, when I play some DVD's, such as Black Hawk Down, there are still black lines on the top and bottom of the screen. Then, when I play other DVD's such as Blue Streak or Mulholland Drive, it fills up the entire TV screen. What's the difference? I thought (maybe in error) that all DVD's that say "anamorphic widescreen" or widescreen edition would fill up a 16:9 screen. THanks for all your help.

Young

 

[YoungO]

sorry for the redundant post, i just read the primer for newbies, and i think i found my answer.

young

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Young, you answered your own question and searched out the primer. You're more proactive that 99% of the people who come in and ask that question

I think you'll do well here

 

[YoungO]

thanks for the words of advice; the primer is a fantastic source of information, i've been looking forever on the internet for a good source of information for a novice like myself.

Young

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Young,
Glad you found what you were looking for in the primer! I would say that the best source of information on anamorphic dvd, 16:9 and the variable of wider aspect ratios is the guide on The Digital Bits:
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articl...hic/index.html
The basic truth is that there are more shapes for movies than just one. As a result, not all movies will be the exact shape of your TV set (which is 16x9)-- so in order to mantain their orginal shape- there is often unused area (i.e. black bars).
But, don't feel bad- this question literally comes up every few weeks! Here's some past examples which have answers which might help shine a bit of additional light on the matter:
Why do I still have black bars on my 16:9 HDTV?
DVD Playback on Hitatchi 53" Widescreen Help
2 questions
Yet another anamorphic question...
Widescreen Formats?
How can I get rid of the blac bars on my 16:9 toshiba 34" tv
Widescreen Question!! Please help
HD question
Help on DVD - 16:9 view on Hitachi 53 Widescreen
Are 1:1.85 anamorphic DVDs letterboxed on 16:9 sets
-V