Aspect Ratio Issue on my New System

[pferreira]

Hi, I just started getting into 4K and bought myself a Samsung 4K Smart TV and a Panasonic DP-UB450. I've tried every option but for the life of my I can't figure out how to get the correct aspect ratio to watch stuff. For example:

1) TNG on blu-ray was filmed in 4:3 and is presented in a window that is faithful to how it should look. However on my new TV and 4K blu-ray player only the sides have bars.

2) When I try to play a movie with a 2:35:1 aspect ratio it plays it in 1:85:1 meanwhile 1:85:1 films are presented in full screen.

I've tried a combination of options none seem to be working. I have also noticed that Auto Wide is greyed out on my display for some reason.

Can anybody help with this so I'm playing movies in the aspect ratio they were intended? Step by step instructions would be good since there's a ton of options on either piece of equipment.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by pferreira

Hi, I just started getting into 4K and bought myself a Samsung 4K Smart TV and a Panasonic DP-UB450. I've tried every option but for the life of my I can't figure out how to get the correct aspect ratio to watch stuff. For example:

1) TNG on blu-ray was filmed in 4:3 and is presented in a window that is faithful to how it should look. However on my new TV and 4K blu-ray player only the sides have bars.

2) When I try to play a movie with a 2:35:1 aspect ratio it plays it in 1:85:1 meanwhile 1:85:1 films are presented in full screen.

I've tried a combination of options none seem to be working. I have also noticed that Auto Wide is greyed out on my display for some reason.

Can anybody help with this so I'm playing movies in the aspect ratio they were intended? Step by step instructions would be good since there's a ton of options on either piece of equipment.

What is TNG? That can mean anything. A 4:3 picture which is full screen, it suppose to have the black bars on the side. A 1:85.1 OAR is not full screen, it's widescreen. As far as the other aspect ratios is concern, it sounds like your video settings on your TV and blu-ray player are not correct. Something is wrong. What are the make and model numbers of your TV and blu-ray player, and maybe I can help.

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by slimdude

What is TNG? That can mean anything. A 4:3 picture which is full screen, it suppose to have the black bars on the side. A 1:85.1 OAR is not full screen, it's widescreen. As far as the other aspect ratios is concern, it sounds like your video settings on your TV and blu-ray player are not correct. Something is wrong. What are the make and model numbers of your TV and blu-ray player, and maybe I can help.

TNG as in Star Trek.

TNG is supposed to presented in a window mode of black bars on all four sides of the screen since it's 4:3. My previous non-4K player did this. As of now it just has bars on the left and right.

Panasonic UB-450 4K Player

Samsung TU7100 Crystal UHD 4K HDR Smart TV

1:85:1 of course shouldn't be full screen and should have bars at the top and bottom. 2:35:1 should be full widescreen but looks like 1:85:1 now. Not sure how to correct this?

[slimdude]

I've downloaded the manuals, and here's what I've come up with: On the 4K blu-ray player picture setup screen select:

Video Format - Automatic.

4K(50p/60p) Output - Off.

24p Output - Automatic.

HDMI(VIDEO) Output Mode - Automatic.

Dolby Vision or HDR-10+ can be turned on or off manually by the user. Choose whichever HDR that you prefer for the player to default. Since Samsung TVs doesn't have Dolby Vision, you'll have to choose HDR-10+ as the default HDR. If a movie doesn't have HDR-10+, then it will flag to standard HDR-10.

On the Samsung TV, go to the Picture Size Settings and select: Auto Wide.

[RodChester]

Any 4:3 content should have black bars on only the sides. Sounds like your old system wasn’t displaying it correctly.

[roar]

Further to Rodchester's comment, 1.85 should have very tiny bars top and bottom and may actually look like full screen if you're not paying attention because the aspect ratio of your TV is likely 1.78...so super close. Confirm your content is indeed 1.85 and look for slivers of bars at the top and bottom, 2.35 or > should of course have larger bars.

[albertbj]

Originally Posted by roar

Further to Rodchester's comment, 1.85 should have very tiny bars top and bottom and may actually look like full screen if you're not paying attention because the aspect ratio of your TV is likely 1.78...so super close. Confirm your content is indeed 1.85 and look for slivers of bars at the top and bottom, 2.35 or > should of course have larger bars.

Also, some studios often format 1.85 movies in 1.78 on Blu-ray, which would completely fill the screen on a 16:9 TV. WB, Paramount, and Disney are especially guilty of this.

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by slimdude

On the Samsung TV, go to the Picture Size Settings and select: Auto Wide.

Ah well this is another problem. Auto Wide is greyed out as is the option below it. What do I need to activate or deactivate to get that selectable?

Originally Posted by albertbj

Also, some studios often format 1.85 movies in 1.78 on Blu-ray, which would completely fill the screen on a 16:9 TV. WB, Paramount, and Disney are especially guilty of this.

The example I used was Paramount's Clue DVD which is 1:85:1. It should have small widescreen bars top and bottom.

For testing this is what I've used:

Star Trek TNG Remastered (1080): should be boxed 4:3 but presents in 4:3 with bars left and right

Clue (DVD): should be 1:85:1 with bars top and bottom but shows full screen

Ghostbusters (4K): should be 2:35:1 but presents in 1:85:1

Dark Crystal (4K): should be 2:35:1 but presents in 1:85:1

Krull (1080 - corrected disc): should be 2:35:1 but presents in 1:85:1

Krull (DVD): should be 2:35:1 but presents in 1:85:1

I'm guessing if I try a Doctor Who DVD from the original series it will appear correct in 4:3 but not much to anything I've got that's in widescreen.

I have my Samsung TV set to 16:9 but as you can see this is the result. Changing to 4:3 of course makes everything unwatchable is I leave that option alone.

Originally Posted by RodChester

Any 4:3 content should have black bars on only the sides. Sounds like your old system wasn’t displaying it correctly.

I'm pretty sure it was as 1:85:1 movies were showing with small black bars and 2:85:1 was showing in full wide screen with thick black bars top and bottom.I don't have Back to the Future on me but that's 1:85:1 and I'm predicting if I try that it will end up full screen.

On the first Panasonic blu-ray player I ever bought I had it setup the same way and when watching Star Trek TOS remastered on blu-ray it was boxed. On my previous Panasonic player TNG remastered was boxed as well.

Originally Posted by oddbox83

If overscan is on, you probably won't have any bars on 1.85:1 content.

What does overscan do? Maybe that might be forcing widescreen aspect ratios one step towards 4:3.

[slimdude]

Is there button on your TV remote control to change the aspect ratio?

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by slimdude

Is there button on your TV remote control to change the aspect ratio?

There is no button on either my player remote or TV remote that directly changes the aspect ratio.

Just tried Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure standard blu-ray, a 2:35:1 movie that now displays in what looks like 1:85:1. Also tried 4K ET and that being 1:85:1 is now in full screen. Having said that I have noticed the very tiny little black bars at the top and bottom 1:85:1 movies so maybe that article link I provided might be what's happening?

If so that's still quite a shock to go from normal display on a 40 inch to the stretched displays on a 43 inch. I mean with the TV it's 3 inches more. The screen size I wouldn't have thought would go that stretched.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by roar

Further to Rodchester's comment, 1.85 should have very tiny bars top and bottom and may actually look like full screen if you're not paying attention because the aspect ratio of your TV is likely 1.78...so super close. Confirm your content is indeed 1.85 and look for slivers of bars at the top and bottom, 2.35 or > should of course have larger bars.

But note that many 1.85 movies are "opened up" on Blu-ray (and streaming) to 16:9 (1.78) so there aren't even tiny black bars at the top and bottom. And the reverse is true: some TV shows (like the last season of "Game of Thrones" and the last season of "Stranger Things") were shot and presented 1.85 even though they were always intended for TV, so they do have a few pixels of black bars top and bottom.

[oddbox83]

If overscan is on, you probably won't have any bars on 1.85:1 content.

[roar]

How are you determining it is presenting in 1:85? I think you need to share a picture of this.

The 4:3 content presenting with bars on the left and right is correct.

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by roar

How are you determining it is presenting in 1:85? I think you need to share a picture of this.

The 4:3 content presenting with bars on the left and right is correct.

Well if it's 2:35:1 like Ghostbusters the black bars should be thick right? Back to the Future is 1:85:1 so it should have black bars but thinner ones. On my previous TV and blu-ray player that's how the movies were presented. For TNG Remastered blu-ray however it should be presented in a 4:3 window, not with just black bars on the sides.

A thought popped into my head:

https://www.support.com/how-to/how-t...levision-13092

My previous Samsung TV was 40 inches. My new TV is 43 inches. Is it possible the TV is working the way it should and that the lack of black bars is due to the bigger the screen the thinner the black bars you get? Why do you guys think?

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by pferreira

Well if it's 2:35:1 like Ghostbusters the black bars should be thick right? Back to the Future is 1:85:1 so it should have black bars but thinner ones. On my previous TV and blu-ray player that's how the movies were presented. For TNG Remastered blu-ray however it should be presented in a 4:3 window, not with just black bars on the sides.

A thought popped into my head:

https://www.support.com/how-to/how-t...levision-13092

My previous Samsung TV was 40 inches. My new TV is 43 inches. Is it possible the TV is working the way it should and that the lack of black bars is due to the bigger the screen the thinner the black bars you get? Why do you guys think?

Absolutely not.

For a 2.35 movie, the black bars should be thick, but top and bottom only. I suspect you're enlarging the image on your TV. Most TV's have settings for idiots who don't want to see black bars that enlarges the picture. On Sony sets it's called "Wide Mode" and the proper setting is "Full". It might have different syntax on your TV. There could be a similar setting on your BD player.

[pferreira]

Sorry I haven't got back to you guys yet. I sent off my 4K player for the more expensive UB820 one because it comes with the kind of proper remote I had before and a LCD display. Tested it and same problem (which I didn't expect to resolve with a more expensive player anyway). So with the knowledge I have I've been doing some research and this is what I've been able to find out:

- 1080 blu-ray discs were tested already on my previous 1080 player with my new Samsung 4K Smart TV. Aspect ratio was how it should be with the correct level of black bars for different ratios. 1:85:1, 2:35:1 and 4:3 were presented as I had it before on my old non-4K TV. I also tested various aspect ratio discs on my parents 1080 Sony player with their Samsung 4K TV. No problem, as predicted business as usual. Since I had the opportunity I decided to hook up my new Panasonic 4K player to their TV. Surprise surprise I get the exact same problems with the aspect ratio! May I remind you both our TVs are set to 16:9. We've figured out it's not the TV itself that needs adjusting it's the player that is the center of the problems. Their Sony player has an aspect ratio setting which allows them to change the aspect ratio so theirs is set to 4:3. My Panasonic player doesn't have that option.

- Auto Wide is still greyed out on my 4K TV.

- Contacted Panasonic tech support via live chat. After half an hour trying to get them to understand what I was going on about I gave them the below picture example. They finally understood but said they don't understand how to fix the issue themselves so escalated by problem. Not sure if they'll get back to me.

- What tech support did find out is my TV isn't capable of 4K output of 50/60p as my HDMI cable is not 18gbp. I know this because I tried this 4K option and my TV is really fuzzy and not clear. My TV can only manage 4K 20p output. I doubt this has anything to do with aspect ratio but it's something to consider.

- Again to clarify what I'm going on about:



From experience the above image is 1:85:1. This is the kind of aspect ratio I expect to see on movies like Back to the Future (1985), ET (1982), Clue (1985), Spider-Man (2002), etc.

Currently the ABOVE image is what I get with 2:35:1 or similar ratios. For it to be the correct ratio presentation the picture needs to be more letterbox, the black bars need to be bigger on the top and bottom. THIS is what I need help with changing. Again I'm new to 4K so if the stretching of the picture is how 4K does things with widescreen I wouldn't know this.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by pferreira

- Again to clarify what I'm going on about:



From experience the above image is 1:85:1. This is the kind of aspect ratio I expect to see on movies like Back to the Future (1985), ET (1982), Clue (1985), Spider-Man (2002), etc.

That's not 1.85:1. The image itself is about 1.32:1 and without the black bars it's 1.80:1.

If that's an actual picture of a TV it's a 4:3 TV!

[chip75]

Originally Posted by pferreira

- Contacted Panasonic tech support via live chat. After half an hour trying to get them to understand what I was going on about I gave them the below picture example. They finally understood but said they don't understand how to fix the issue themselves so escalated by problem. Not sure if they'll get back to me.

I honestly don't think there's a problem to solve, if your BDs are displaying like the pictures I posted on the previous page they are 100% correct.

Originally Posted by pferreira

What tech support did find out is my TV isn't capable of 4K output of 50/60p as my HDMI cable is not 18gbp. I know this because I tried this 4K option and my TV is really fuzzy and not clear. My TV can only manage 4K 20p output. I doubt this has anything to do with aspect ratio but it's something to consider.

If you're trying to force output 3840 x 2160 60Hz 10/12bit 4:4:4 you will run into problems as it's over 18Gbps. You'd have to output at 8 bits.

Not sure if the player even allows you to try 60Hz 12bit at 4:4:4, I'd have to double-check.

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

Absolutely not.

For a 2.35 movie, the black bars should be thick, but top and bottom only. I suspect you're enlarging the image on your TV. Most TV's have settings for idiots who don't want to see black bars that enlarges the picture. On Sony sets it's called "Wide Mode" and the proper setting is "Full". It might have different syntax on your TV. There could be a similar setting on your BD player.

This is what I need help with. On my TV Auto Wide is always greyed out and I have my TV set to 16:9 Standard which apart from 4:3 and Custom is the only options.

[Lee A Stewart]

You need to feed your display this type of image. It shows if your display is overscanning.