Stretch Mode or Dot by Dot

[DeeChizzle]

I have a question for the home theater experts out there.

These are the two view modes that I'm considering watching my BD movies.

Stretch Mode (Manual definition): Suitable for viewing widescreen 1.78:1 aspect ratio programs, stretch mode will show very thin black lines on the top and bottom of the screen:

Dot by Dot (Manual definition): Detects the resolution of the signal and displays an image with the same number of pixels on the screen.

When I set my LCD to "Stretch" mode I tend to get a slightly bigger picture allowing me to maximize my screen size and the PQ seems to be pretty good.

However when I set it to "Dot by Dot" the Aspect ratio becomes smaller, especially with 2.35.1 and 2.40.1 movies (I get about an inch more of black band on the top and bottom of the screen) However I don't know if my eyes are deceiving me or whether it's all psychological, but sometimes I think the PQ is equal to the PQ when set to "Stretch" mode. Then again I sometimes think the PQ looks better when set to "Dot by Dot". Based on the manual and the equipment I'm using, I should be using the "Dot by Dot" mode...right?