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  1. #1
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    Question Widescreen, Full Screen??

    Hi, I just got a new Panasonic 53" inch Tau widescreen TV, and I have noticed when watching some wide screen movies that I Still get about a 2 inch black strip across the top and bottom on the screen, The movie says wide screen on the box and I have went into the DVD machine menu and made sure its on 16.9 , I have an aspect button on the tv remote and have 4 choices of screens, 1 Fullscreen, 2 Zoom, 3 Just and 4 is 4.3, the only time I get these DVDs to take up the FULL screen is when set to zoom But then I am missing the sides of the picture, 1 movie is the newer Bond movie and the DVD case says,,,Widescreen, 16.9 then below that it says 2.40:1, and says theactrical release format enhanced for wide screen TVs, I thought a widescreen movie played on a widescreen TV meant NO more lines on the top and bottom?? Is that right?, would a different DVD machine make the difference and get rid of the lines??,, and one last question, and I do appreciate all your help, my DVD machine does not say Progressive Scan anywhere on it or on the remote or in the onscreen menu so I take it that it does Not have P-Scan, so my question is,Does a P-Scan DVD Player give you a better picture and is there a specific type of player to get for a widescreen projection HDTV??
    Thank -You
    Dale M
    Calgary Alberta Canada

  2. #2
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    Widescreen means you will generally have black/grey bars on the top and bottom of your tv screen. Your tv isn't malfunctioning, nor is the station sending the signal at fault. I loved the NHL All-Star game where they showed the difference between widescreen and full screen. There was this lovely red box where the full screen image was. The wide screen truly showed you more of the action on the ice. A quick, inexpensive trick to take care of the bars is to make a pair of mattes for your tv. Velcro on the sides of the tv and black as night cloth to cover the bars would do the trick wonderfully.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dale M
    Hi, I just got a new Panasonic 53" inch Tau widescreen TV, and I have noticed when watching some wide screen movies that I Still get about a 2 inch black strip across the top and bottom on the screen, The movie says wide screen on the box and I have went into the DVD machine menu and made sure its on 16.9 , I have an aspect button on the tv remote and have 4 choices of screens, 1 Fullscreen, 2 Zoom, 3 Just and 4 is 4.3, the only time I get these DVDs to take up the FULL screen is when set to zoom But then I am missing the sides of the picture, 1 movie is the newer Bond movie and the DVD case says,,,Widescreen, 16.9 then below that it says 2.40:1, and says theactrical release format enhanced for wide screen TVs, I thought a widescreen movie played on a widescreen TV meant NO more lines on the top and bottom?? Is that right?, would a different DVD machine make the difference and get rid of the lines??,, and one last question, and I do appreciate all your help, my DVD machine does not say Progressive Scan anywhere on it or on the remote or in the onscreen menu so I take it that it does Not have P-Scan, so my question is,Does a P-Scan DVD Player give you a better picture and is there a specific type of player to get for a widescreen projection HDTV??
    Thank -You
    Dale M
    Calgary Alberta Canada
    Hey Dale.

    I'll keep this as simple as I can. All widescreen TV's will display a movie with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio with no black bars on the top or the bottom. Any movie made with a wider lens will still display the black bars (although they will be significantly smaller on a 16:9 set than a 4:3 set). You will find that the industry standard varies between 1.85:1 (no bars) and 2.35:1 (bars) although there are some movies that are even wider than that.

    In short, the black bars that you see have nothing to do with your equipment and have everything to do with the type of cameras that are used by the Director when he or she makes the movie. You can zoom in those movies with the wider aspect ratio but, you will do so at the cost of loosing some of the image that the Director intended you to see.

  4. #4
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    Generally speaking is having black bars showing on your widescreen TV a bad thing? I have heard some say that black bars/strips are bad for your TV. Is this true?

  5. #5
    Forum Regular wasch_24's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by saden1
    Generally speaking is having black bars showing on your widescreen TV a bad thing? I have heard some say that black bars/strips are bad for your TV. Is this true?
    Check the manual for your TV. It should address this issue. Most manufacturers simply warn you about the possibility of 'burn in' or 'ghosting' and suggest that you mix up your viewing. You would have to constantly watch movies with the bars for quite a long period of time to do any real damage. Just make sure that you mix up the sources being watched.

    The same thing goes for the bars on the sides when watching full screen images. Either mix up what you are watching or stretch the full screen shows.

    As long as you mix up what you are watching your TV should be fine. Another way to lessen the threat of 'burn in' is to put your brightness and contrast at the lowest levels that look good to you. Not necessarily as low as it can go but as low as it can go and still look good to you. Also, by lowering your brightness and contrast the bars will become less noticable.

    Don't stress over it. Just make sure your family isn't embarking on any 96 hour movie marathons with movies higher than 1.85:1 ratios and you will be fine.

  6. #6
    Forum Regular Rikki's Avatar
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    I don't think a widescreen TV necessarily means that you won't have any black bars at the top/bottom of the screen when watching a movie in widescreen format. The screen is just so large now (53") that it's not an annoyance like it is on 32" or smaller TVs.

  7. #7
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    Please listen to Dales point...

    ...it may be normal, but it is one more reason why transition to 16:9 is so painful and people are reluctant to spend the money....congress mandated HD by 2006 and as of today, less than 4% have hd 16:9 format.....Its silly to accept a picture that fills less than the screen

  8. #8
    Forum Regular wasch_24's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Debbi
    ...it may be normal, but it is one more reason why transition to 16:9 is so painful and people are reluctant to spend the money....congress mandated HD by 2006 and as of today, less than 4% have hd 16:9 format.....Its silly to accept a picture that fills less than the screen
    A true HD produced program will completely fill the 16:9 screen. Any program that is upconverted to HD may still have the bars if it's original aspect ratio was greater, i.e. 2.35:1 or "scope".

    Movies with an aspect ratio greater than 1.78:1(16:9-16 divided by nine) or 1.85:1 will have the letterbox appear on a non stretched/zoomed screen. Although annoying, to some, this is unavoidable if the director/producer of the movie desired this aspect ratio.

    Dale,
    Like I said before, unless letterboxed movies are all you ever watch you probably won't have to wory about burn in. That doesn't mean that it is not going to happen ever but it will take a very long time to happen if you watch a variety of formats.

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