REAL amount of image data in BluRay movies displayed with high aspect ratio.

[Elroc]

Let me phrase this in as many ways possible to ensure no confusion (I hope)

Short version:
When watching a BluRay movie, which is 1080p, but due to aspect ratio contains black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, how much ACTUAL 'scanlines' of IMAGE data is present (or rather available on disc, regardless of TV set).

Long version:
1080p refers to the amount of 'scanlines' (1080) as well as how they are filled (progressive), this I get.
When watching 'widescreen' movies, its common to get black bars, as the aspect ratio is different from that of the screen. This I ALSO get
BUT
When watching a 1080p widescreen movie, does 1080p include X amount of scanlines which are effectively black, OR, does the original image STILL contain 1080p lines of image data, but the lines are just longer (Higher horizontal resolution)

Just to make sure the question is understood, heres putting it a different way:
Native 1080P tv's USUALLY have a resolution of 1920x1080 (HorizontalxVertical). In the case mentioned above, does the true picture encoded on disc have the resolution:
a) 1920x(less than 1080) OR
b) (more than 1920)x1080

Bottom line, lets say I dont care about losing some image along the sides of the screen but want to zoom it to fill the screen, will the widescreen picture have enough horizontal scanlines (1080) to fill the screen truley, or will I be stretching a lower amount of scanlines?

[Blu-Malibu2009]

Originally Posted by Elroc

Let me phrase this in as many ways possible to ensure no confusion (I hope)

Short version:
When watching a BluRay movie, which is 1080p, but due to aspect ratio contains black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, how much ACTUAL 'scanlines' of IMAGE data is present (or rather available on disc, regardless of TV set).

Long version:
1080p refers to the amount of 'scanlines' (1080) as well as how they are filled (progressive), this I get.
When watching 'widescreen' movies, its common to get black bars, as the aspect ratio is different from that of the screen. This I ALSO get
BUT
When watching a 1080p widescreen movie, does 1080p include X amount of scanlines which are effectively black, OR, does the original image STILL contain 1080p lines of image data, but the lines are just longer (Higher horizontal resolution)

Just to make sure the question is understood, heres putting it a different way:
Native 1080P tv's USUALLY have a resolution of 1920x1080 (HorizontalxVertical). In the case mentioned above, does the true picture encoded on disc have the resolution:
a) 1920x(less than 1080) OR
b) (more than 1920)x1080

Bottom line, lets say I dont care about losing some image along the sides of the screen but want to zoom it to fill the screen, will the widescreen picture have enough horizontal scanlines (1080) to fill the screen truley, or will I be stretching a lower amount of scanlines?

The answer is (a), assuming you are talking about a film with an aspect of 2:4:1.

[Kynch]

I get your question but I have no idea what the true answer is. I'd go with (a) as well, seeing as studios must be limiting the number of lines in total to 1080 on each release. Unless I'm mistaken.

[Liquid-Prince]

The answer is a)

You will be getting somethin closer to 1920x856 I believe.

[Blu-Malibu2009]

Originally Posted by Liquid-Prince

The answer is a)

You will be getting somethin closer to 1920x856 I believe.

Yep. The total image is 1920x1080 including the black bars. But if you crop it to just the actual footage, the height is definitely smaller than 1080.

[Cinema Squid]

You're going to most commonly have the following resolutions after cropping off the black bars:

1.78: 1918x1080
1.85: 1920x1040
2.35: 1920x816
2.40: 1920x800

There are plenty of slight variations of these, however, and it's worth keeping in mind that the images are not always perfectly vertically centered in the 1920x1080 frame for all aspect ratios (usually with a larger bottom black bar when this happens). It's also not unusual to have very thin black bars on the right and/or left sides either (almost always the case for 1.78).

If you are feeling bored one day, you can try cropping some of the many 1080 screenshots on this very website (either from the reviews or the direct caps in the sticky screenshot thread) and find out for yourself!