1.85 and 1.66 not displaying correctly

[chuckycheez]

Hi,

Just wondering if I'm doing something wrong.

I recently bought the Shinning and Clockwork Orange on Blu-Ray. The Shinning specs are Hidef 1080P 16x9 1.85 ratio and C.O. is 1.66.

Now, all 2.35 films display correctly. But why is it that C.O. and The Shinning are both playing in 1.78 full screen? I know there is not that much difference between 1.78 and 1.85 but still... You are still cropping the image! And 1.66 is a almost square format!

So why do studios write on the back that it's 1.85 when it's not even that! Or am I missing something? Should I set my player to 16x9 original or full 16x9?

Thanks

[aramis109]

Assuming the aspect ratio is truly 1.66:1 (sometimes they're printed wrong on the back) ... it's not the studio, it's your TV/player settings. Set it to "original" 16x9- "Full" more than likely stretches the picture to fill the screen.

Outside of some Canadian releases (like Sin City) every movie has been in it's OAR on blu-ray.

[Beaner666]

What kind of TV do you have: LCD, plasma, or rear projection? If you have LCD, or plasma true 1.85:1 and 1.66:1 should be displayed properly. If you have a rear projection TV such as a DLP there will a small amount of overscan that will zoom the picture in slightly so those two ratio's appear to be 1.78:1. From what I have read there are ways to disable the overscan on RPTV's, but it is not recommeded.

[FilmmakingFiasco]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say you've got a wee bit of overscan going on. I just finally calibrated my TV to fix the overscan and I've popped your two movies in.

A Clockwork Orange IS in 1:66. There are vertical bars on the side, which is the same that A Nightmare Before Christmas has, which is also 1:66.


The Shining appears to be in 1:78. DVD Beaver confirms it. Just scroll down in their review.
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDRe...ng_blu-ray.htm


I had to go in to the service menu to turn down/off my overscan on my Sony SXRD 60" so I could get the proper aspect ratios since it's a rear projection TV.

[chuckycheez]

I have an LCD panasonic TV. it's 1080i but that shouldn't make a difference. Right?

I did notice some bars on the side of C.O. But not much. And like I said the 2.35 features display correctly. It seems to be a misprint on the discs. And i've set my player to display original setting.

So i'm guessing it's working fine,

[chuckycheez]

It's very odd because all my 1.85 features display 1.78. Not a single one is 1.85. Is the difference so small that i can't see the difference? Doubt it!

And i've tried the 2 differente settings on my player (full and original) and there are no differences even with the 2.35 features.

Very odd!

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by chuckycheez

I have an LCD panasonic TV. it's 1080i but that shouldn't make a difference. Right?

I did notice some bars on the side of C.O. But not much. And like I said the 2.35 features display correctly. It seems to be a misprint on the discs. And i've set my player to display original setting.

So i'm guessing it's working fine,

Originally Posted by chuckycheez

It's very odd because all my 1.85 features display 1.78. Not a single one is 1.85. Is the difference so small that i can't see the difference? Doubt it!

And i've tried the 2 differente settings on my player (full and original) and there are no differences even with the 2.35 features.

Very odd!

There's no issue with Clockwork Orange- Fiasco confirmed it. I couldn't remember for sure since I rented it a long time ago but thought it was 1.66:1. Make sure you don't just check your player, but also your TV, as it could still take that unscaled image and stretch it to fit the set. Otherwise, you may have some overscan.

[FilmmakingFiasco]

Originally Posted by chuckycheez

It's very odd because all my 1.85 features display 1.78. Not a single one is 1.85. Is the difference so small that i can't see the difference? Doubt it!

And i've tried the 2 differente settings on my player (full and original) and there are no differences even with the 2.35 features.

Very odd!

1.85 has very thin bars on the top and the bottom so you're not going to see a difference. 2.35 are going to look the same comparing from title to title because they're going to be equally overscanned so you won't notice a difference.

[kinoeye]

I got my first blu ray player a few days ago and I am not seeing ANY black horizontal bars on any of my 1.85 movies, not even tiny ones. They're all playing as if they are 1.78 and filling the screen. Is this likely an over-scan issue with the television? Are there TV's out there where you do see a difference? To me, any ratio greater than 1.78 should have horizontal bars (although quite small for 1.85) and anything lower than 1.78 should have vertical bars on the sides.

Are studios converting their 1.85 films to 1.78 and advertising them otherwise? If I have this problem with 1.85 films filling the screen will I have the same issue with 1.66?

I realize the difference isn't too big, but a television/player setup that doesn't differentiate between 1.66 and 1.85 due to over scan or otherwise seems like a rather frustrating situation. It's akin to putting a frame on a painting that's a bit too small and obscuring the image.

I've played with my TV and player settings fully. No luck. Any help would be appreciated.

[kinoeye]

Okay,

I think you folks nailed it already. Although my LCD TV doesn't seem to have the option of turning over scan on or off, I put on one of these 1.85 movies and played with the horizontal and vertical positioning and there was a ton of picture information not showing. So I can take your word for it that most BD's are in the aspect ratio they advertise and I should be able to find a TV in the future that plays them properly? Fortunately the one I am using now is a cheapie and I plan of upgrading in the future anyways.

[Faber College Alum]

I just got a Panasonic Blu-Ray for Christmas with the James Bond collection that includes Dr. No. The review on this website states Dr. No is in 1.67:1 and vertical bars on the side are normal. I don't see vertical bars however when playing my disc. When playing a regular DVD with 2.39:1 ratio aspect I do get the horizontal bars top and bottom.

I have a Samsung LNT4069FX 40-inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV. I've tried messing around with my settings on both the TV and the player but don't see the vertical bars. Am I missing something? Please help!

[Deciazulado]

Originally Posted by Faber College Alum

I just got a Panasonic Blu-Ray for Christmas with the James Bond collection that includes Dr. No. The review on this website states Dr. No is in 1.67:1 and vertical bars on the side are normal. I don't see vertical bars however when playing my disc. When playing a regular DVD with 2.39:1 ratio aspect I do get the horizontal bars top and bottom.

I have a Samsung LNT4069FX 40-inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV. I've tried messing around with my settings on both the TV and the player but don't see the vertical bars. Am I missing something? Please help!

See if your Samsung has this setting on its menu:

Originally Posted by Kory

My Samsung has a "Wide Fit" Aspect Ratio setting when connected through HDMI, and that eliminates any overscan, and all movies automatically show on the correct setting.

[fitprod]

Originally Posted by chuckycheez

I have an LCD panasonic TV. it's 1080i but that shouldn't make a difference. Right?

I did notice some bars on the side of C.O. But not much. And like I said the 2.35 features display correctly. It seems to be a misprint on the discs. And i've set my player to display original setting.

So i'm guessing it's working fine,

Do you have a THX setting on the Panasonic? It sounds like it is the factory setting, which may be using a little overscan.

fitprod

[Faber College Alum]

Deciazulado,

Yes, I have that setting on my Samsung and no, it does not fix the issue. As the owner manaul states, "Wide Fit: Enlarges the aspect ratio of the picture to fit the screen." All the Wide Fit does for my TV is stretch anything that's not made for 16:9. My issue is the opposite of most, I WANT the black bars if they're supposed to be there, like my Dr. No. If I'm supposed to have vertical bars, gosh darn it, I want to see them!

[retablo]

Originally Posted by chuckycheez

And 1.66 is a almost square format!

Really, 1.66:1 isn't almost a square... that would be 1:1. The old Academy 1.37:1 format is much closer to a square.

[Beaner666]

Originally Posted by Faber College Alum

Deciazulado,

My issue is the opposite of most, I WANT the black bars if they're supposed to be there, like my Dr. No. If I'm supposed to have vertical bars, gosh darn it, I want to see them!

It sounds like an overscan issue, which unfortunately on most TV's cannot be fixed by the owner. We have three HDTV's in our household, a Sony LCD RPTV which has built-in oversan than I cannot disable, a Mitsubishi DLP RPTV which has the same issue as the Sony, and a Westinghouse LCD flat panel which has no overscan.

On our Sony & Mitsubishi "Dr. No" appears "full screen" as it fills the entire 1.78:1 screen due to the overcan issue, but on our Westinghouse it does have the thin vertical bars on the side and is truly displayed at the correct 1.66:1 aspect ratio.

The same goes for 1.85:1 films like "Live and Let Die" - on our Sony & Mitsubishi the film appears "full screen" because of the overscan but displays at a proper 1.85:1 with thin horizontal bars along the top and bottom on our Westinghouse.

Unfortunately on our Sony & Mitsubishi there appears to be no way to disable the overscan at all, BUT the amount of picture lost is negligable and should not distract from the enjoyment of 1.66:1 and 1.85:1 films.

[Faber College Alum]

Thanks Beaner for that info. I figured I wasn't missing much, but wanted to see if I could change it to its correct aspect ratio on my TV.

[Deciazulado]

Originally Posted by Faber College Alum

Deciazulado,

Yes, I have that setting on my Samsung and no, it does not fix the issue. As the owner manaul states, "Wide Fit: Enlarges the aspect ratio of the picture to fit the screen." All the Wide Fit does for my TV is stretch anything that's not made for 16:9. My issue is the opposite of most, I WANT the black bars if they're supposed to be there, like my Dr. No. If I'm supposed to have vertical bars, gosh darn it, I want to see them!

Ok I checked a Samsungs's LN-T4069F manual (no X at the end but maybe it's similar). Do you have a "Just Scan" option?

p. 30:

1. Press the MENU button to display the menu.
Press the ENTER button, to select “Picture”.
2. Press the ▲ or ▼ button to select "Size", then press the ENTER button.
3. Press the ▲ or ▼ button to select the screen format you want.
Press the ENTER button.
Press the EXIT button to exit.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
• 16:9 : Sets the picture to 16:9 wide mode.
• Zoom1 : Magnifies the size of the picture on the screen.
• Zoom2 :Magnifies the size of the picture more than “Zoom1”.
• Wide Fit : Enlarges the aspect ratio of the picture to fit the entire screen.
• 4:3 : Sets the picture to 4:3 normal mode.
• Just Scan : Use the function to see the full image without any cutoff when HDMI (720p/1080i/1080p), Component (720p/1080i/1080p) or DTV (1080i) signals are input.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

In any case, if you don't or that doesn't work, watching a 1.66 film with a litte ovescan will show you an image closer to how you would have actually seen those movies on a non European movie theater (1.85), and most 1.66 transfers I've seen apparently were composed with 1.85 projection in mind anyway as they leave enough headroom for 1.85 US projection.

Actually, I believe the Americans would enjoy me better in 1.85, Sir.

[Faber College Alum]

Yep, I've read that exact same part of the manual and tried the Just Scan mode and still don't get the vertical bars, so there is some overscan. But like you and Beaner stated, for a 1.66:1 movie, the overscan is so minimal I'm not really missing anything. Thanks for digging for that information, really appreciated.