Why Does Wide Screen Show Bars Still?

[John1974]

Hello, I guess I was totally in the dark aboutthis this is new tome, I bought a wide screen Tv because I have a ton of widescreen dvds. So I have th eplayer set to 16x9 and I have it on the component cables but why does the bars still show up? On top and bottom I thought this was supposed to go away? It does if I use S video wide mode but when I use componet there still there? Im using the 480P inputs on the tv?Actually the bars are bigger the picture is only in the middle of the screen? Is there a way tofix it? I putthe player on 4:3 pan and scan just to test it and no difference? Please help.

[psonic]

it depends on the screen aspect ratio the DVD was formatted in, 1.85 fills a widescreen TV, 2.35:1 has bars, and the reason for using 2.35:1 is to keep the original ratio of the film intact, i am pretty sure...

here are the common DVD screen formats explained:

1.85:1 Enhanced for Widescreen (Anamorphic) DVDs

These DVDs are the correct aspect ratio to fill a widescreen TV. You will need to set the TV to it's "horizontal only stretch mode" to properly see this type of movie. There should be no black bars. If you use the vertical and horizontal stretch mode by mistake, everyone will be tall and skinny.

1.85:1 "Standard" DVDs (Not Enhanced for Widescreen)

These DVDs are the correct aspect ratio to fill a widescreen TV. You will need to set the TV to it's "horizontal and vertical stretch mode" to properly see this type of movie. There should be no black bars.

2.35:1 Enhanced for Widescreen (Anamorphic) DVDs:

These DVDs have an aspect ratio that is much wider than it is tall, so it will not fill a widescreen TV. You will need to set the TV to it's "horizontal only stretch mode" to properly see this type of movie. There will be black bars above and below the movie. If you use the vertical and horizontal stretch mode by mistake, everyone will be tall and skinny.

2.35:1 "Standard" DVDs (Not Enhanced for Widescreen):

These DVDs have an aspect ratio that is much wider than it is high, so it will not fill a widescreen TV. You will need to set the TV to it's "horizontal and vertical stretch mode" to properly see this type of movie. There will be black bars above and below the movie. If you absolutely cannot stand the black bars, you can use the DVD player's zoom mode to zoom in on the picture and eliminate the black bars, however, you will now miss the "outermost" parts of the movie and you will not be seeing what the director intended.

1.33:1 DVDs

These DVDs are the correct aspect ratio to fill a 4:3 TV. You will either see bars on the sides, or you can use one of the stretch modes like you do for any standard definition signal.

here's a good HDTV link & forum:

http://www.hdtvoice.com/voice/forumdisplay.php?forumid=384

[mtrycraft]

Hello, I guess I was totally in the dark aboutthis this is new tome, I bought a wide screen Tv because I have a ton of widescreen dvds. So I have th eplayer set to 16x9 and I have it on the component cables but why does the bars still show up? On top and bottom I thought this was supposed to go away? It does if I use S video wide mode but when I use componet there still there? Im using the 480P inputs on the tv?Actually the bars are bigger the picture is only in the middle of the screen? Is there a way tofix it? I putthe player on 4:3 pan and scan just to test it and no difference? Please help.


As was stated above. Your TV is 1.77 aspec ratio. Movies usually start at 1.85 and wider to 2.40. Some even wider. So, you will see some black.

[John1974]

I never thougt there was so much stuff to learn.

[Monstrous Mike]

I never thougt there was so much stuff to learn.

I'm an electrical engineer and I still don't have a grasp on all of the aspects of home audio and video so don't feel bad. That's what sites like this are for.

As a general sum up of what was said before, video sources come in a variety of different aspect ratios so it is up to you to fiddle with your TV settings to accomodate these. Actually, your TV might have an automatic setting of some sort to fill your screen. You should always have your DVD player set for 16:9 output.

And as a final thought, when you buy DVDs look for the "Enhanced for 16:9 TVs" or something similar on the DVD case. These types of DVDs will give you the best picture.