? regarding hdmi and a 1080i tv (black bars on widescreen)

[callediceman]

ok in completely new to blu ray so this may be a dumb question but here we go.. i have a ps3 i have talledaga nights the movie that came with the system i have a panasonic 52 hd lcd projection wich does 720p and 1080i.. now i use an hdmi cable and i play the movie no matter what i do it plays wide screen (my tv is 16;9) now the disc says wide screen but i assume it would be full screen sice i have a wide screen any ideas???????/

[Josh]

This is because he aspect ratio of the film is greater than your widescreen tv. This is completely normal. Some movies are "cropped" to fit your screen exactly, while others - like the one you own - aren't. This is left up to the director (usually) to determine. Again, there is nothing wrong, the director simply decided that you as the viewer should see the entire print instead of cropping the edges to perfectly fit your TV.

[Deciazulado]

callediceman, there are three basic shapes for movies. I call them "square", "standard widescreen" and "scope":

(This is a rough guide, cutoff dates are fuzzy)

Square: Movies 1.18 - 1.38 wide
Silent films 1.33 = 1895 - 1931
Movietone Sound 1.18 = 1928-1931
Academy Sound 1.38 = 1931-1955
TV films and series 1.33 = 20th century TV

Widescreen: Movies 1.66 - 1.85 wide
European widescreen 1.66 = 1955 onwards
Disney Widescreen 1.75 = 1955-1970's
USA Widescreen 1.85 = 1955 onwards
VistaVision 1.85 = 50's and 60's
Super-35 1.85 = last couple of decades
HDTV TV and series 1.78 = 21rst century TV

Scope: Movies 2.00 - 2.75 wide
CINERAMA 2.59 = (only two 60's movies)
CinemaScope55 (55mm) 2.55 (only two 50's movies)
CinemaScope magnetic soundtrack 2.55 = 1952-1956
CinemaScope/Panavision/Superscope235 optical soundtrack 2.35 = 1957-1970
Panavision/Arrivision et al optical soundtrack 2.40 = 1970-1995
Panavision/Arrivision et al digital soundtrack 2.39 = 1995 onwards
SuperPanavision (70mm) 2.20
UltraPanavision (70mm) 2.75
SuperScope 2.00 =50's
Super-35 2.40/2.39 = last couple of decades
Techniscope 2.35 = 1960 -1970, 2.40 after that
Technirama 2.30

There are 2 main shapes of TV displays: 4:3 (1.33 wide) and 16:9 (1.78 wide) (tho there are a few computer monitors that are 1.25 wide (5:4) and 1.60 wide (8:5) )

As you can see, "Square" movies would mostly fill the screen of 4:3 displays, but "Widescreen" and 'Scope" have to be "letterboxed" with black areas surrounding them to see their proper image inside the 1.33 display's rectangle.

"Widescreen" movies would mostly fill the screen of a 16:9 display, but "Square" and "Scope" wil have to be "pillarboxed" and "letterboxed" with black areas surrounding them to see their proper image inside the 1.78 display's rectangle.

If somebody ever decides to make a 21:9 (or 7:3) display "Scope" movies would mostly fill the screen, and the other 2 shapes would be "pillarboxed', but ALL movies would be the same height, just like in a movie theater.


If you have a front projector with a 1.33x Zoom or better, you can do this now, just get youreself a 21:9 or wider screen (Or use a white wall) and zoom-in to the max on the "Scope" movies.

Some front projector rigs also uprez anamorphicaly the "Scope" image to fill the 1.78 pixel array of the projector and then add another anamorphic step "unsqueeze" with an additional anamorphic lens attachment, but before you go to that $$$ step, I recommend you simply position the front projector you may have and zoom-in the normal lens

[callediceman]

thanks guys to elabrate my tv is a rear projection lcd not an actual projector... so what im gathering is that even though i have a 16:9 aspect ratio certain blue ray movies will still be "letterboxed" ? is there a way to determine which to buy..ie,, if i buy fullscreen blurays will it be letterboxed on my 16:9 or will it appear stretched.. and if i buy widescreen will i have the top and botton cropped even though i have a 16:9 display????// or is it a setting with the ps3????????/ im lost...

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by callediceman

thanks guys to elabrate my tv is a rear projection lcd not an actual projector... so what im gathering is that even though i have a 16:9 aspect ratio certain blue ray movies will still be "letterboxed" ? is there a way to determine which to buy..ie,, if i buy fullscreen blurays will it be letterboxed on my 16:9 or will it appear stretched.. and if i buy widescreen will i have the top and botton cropped even though i have a 16:9 display????// or is it a setting with the ps3????????/ im lost...

It is not likely that you will be able to buy fullscreen blurays.

If you look on the back of this disc and it says 1.78:1 ratio then it will fill your television (like Ice Age 2) and if it's 2.39:1 then it will have some small black bars.

Just set your television up so that the black bars are black and not grey (ie - too bright) and you should see the black bars disappear into your field of vision when watching a Scope film.

Deci just explained it pretty well to you. Read his post again and take a little more time reading it.

If a movie is in 2.39:1 or 2.40:1 ratio, which most major motion pictures of the last 20 or so years are, then the black bars are your friend. You're watching what the director intended.

When you switch over to watch a television show in HD it's probably in 1.78:1 which fits your TV exactly and hence you'll see nothing but picture.

[Deciazulado]

If you buy The Wizard Of Oz/Frankenstein/Gone With The Wind (Academy Sound 1.38 wide) it'll be a "square" with black side bars, in your 1.78 wide TV. Nothing will be cropped.

If you buy Back To The Future/Batman/Men In Black (USA Widescreen 1.85 wide) it will fill* the screen, in your 1.78 wide TV. Nothing will be cropped

If you buy STAR WARS/Blade Runner/Octopussy (CinemaScope/Panavision 2.40 wide) it'll be a "wide rectangle" with black top and bottom bars, in your 1.78 wide TV. Nothing will be cropped.

The Original Aspect Ratio of a movie is usually stated on the back of the disc case. (And usually the OAR is stated slightly inaccurately (Academy 1.375 wide movies as "1.33", Widescreen 1.85 movies sometimes as "1.78", and Scope 2.40 (or 2.39) movies as "2.35")

Hope this explains everything




*(Well, or almost full, there might be very thin (21 pixels tall) letterbox black bars on a 1.85 movie inside a 1.78 TV but they'll probably be cropped out by the TV's overscan anyway, so it will look full. Overscan is a process where a display zooms up the image a little to ensure you don't see errors in signal timings and broadcast. It's from the analog era and we shouldn't need it in digital TVs but some (most?) digital TVs still do it)