black bars on all blu ray films?

[blu boy1]

Am I doing something wrong, my panny tv and panny blu ray player always plays all blu ray films with black bars top and bottom. It is set to auto. Do I have to watch the films like this? I can use zoom but that distorts the films..is this the only option?

[tntkain]

It is called original aspect ratio. That is how the movie is supposed to look, like if you are at the theater. Here you go read this
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=16529

[MOONPHASE]

most directors are using the black bars on their movies especially the more action ones. but anyways yeah thats the director's intention on how he wants the movie to be shown. there are movies that fit right on an hdtv with no bars its called original aspect ratio of 1.78.1. it doesnt matter if its dvd or blu-ray unless the dvd version has like a full screen and a widescreen versions. but the full screen ones take off some of the picture except for the 1.78.1 movies and just anything widescreen

[JJ]

You know, I always wonder - does anybody really know about aspect ratio? Did people always watch Fullscreen DVDs? Or think that BR magically converted everything to 1.78?

[blu boy1]

Thank you for your replies. I am settled to know I have not got my settings wrong or failing to do something. I will continue to have the bars as I used the zoom on 'CARS' and the squashing of the picture was awful.

Thanks again

[fredreed]

Most HDTVs have some sort of a zoom feature, you will need to check your users guide for your TV on the zoom feature. As for blu-ray players having a zoom feature, the only company that currently has this feature is the Phillips 7200/37 if you want that kind of player. It is only a profile 1.1 blu-ray player not 2.0 so you won't be getting things like BD-Live or the other features in a profile 2.0 blu ray player.

[ryoohki]

Originally Posted by JJxiv1215

You know, I always wonder - does anybody really know about aspect ratio? Did people always watch Fullscreen DVDs? Or think that BR magically converted everything to 1.78?

Most people i know buy the FULLSCREEN version and watch movies distorted on their HDTV.. so you know LOL!

[Samsang]

blu boy1:

Take a look at this primer on aspect ratios CLICK HERE. It's a quick education on how various movies will look on HDTV screens with the Original Aspect Ratio (OAR) retained.

I used to prefer zooming to fill my screen, but a friend broke me of that. He got me to zoom back out an leave the black bars so I'd see the whole movie. Funny, after about fifteen minutes, my brain ignored the bars and ever since, I just don't "see" them.

Viewing in "Original Aspect Ratio" is allows you to see the movie as the director intended, without some video distributor (or end user) cropping out what may be important visual elements. Some film fanatics tout their respect for the director's vision. To me, it's all about enjoying the whole movie.

You might enjoy this skit from "Mad TV" that suggested going to the extreme with aspect ratio with "Letterbox 2000": CLICK. Listen up for the comment about "stupid directors".

[Moefiz]

ZOOM.....bad

BLACKBARS.....good

[FilmmakingFiasco]

Originally Posted by JJxiv1215

You know, I always wonder - does anybody really know about aspect ratio? Did people always watch Fullscreen DVDs? Or think that BR magically converted everything to 1.78?

People who are educated on film know the difference. I don't know where I first learned about widescreen and OAR but it was around the time of my first DVD Player about 10 years ago.

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by blu boy1

Am I doing something wrong, my panny tv and panny blu ray player always plays all blu ray films with black bars top and bottom. It is set to auto. Do I have to watch the films like this? I can use zoom but that distorts the films..is this the only option?

Zoom is you're only option if you don't like the "BLACK BARS" Just watch the movie the way it was made & after time you won't even notice those "pesky black bars".

[Sloan78]

Originally Posted by Sonny

Zoom is you're only option if you don't like the "BLACK BARS" Just watch the movie the way it was made & after time you won't even notice those "pesky black bars".

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by FilmmakingFiasco

People who are educated on film know the difference. I don't know where I first learned about widescreen and OAR but it was around the time of my first DVD Player about 10 years ago.

I learn about OAR back in the mid 80's in college during a film class. We had to watch Star Wars and then write a report on that judging on certain aspect of the film. During the filming it hit me that what I had been watching on my Betamax the past 8 years was wrong, I was missing part of the picture. I was so happy when I was able to purchase Laserdisc (they were not easy to get for a student back then) and see the movies the right way. For a little while a few years before DVD started to catch on, VHS were coming out in Widescreen, made me very happy. I never bought a DVD in full screen. If that was the only way it was available, I would not buy it.

[hourglass]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

I never bought a DVD in full screen. If that was the only way it was available, I would not buy it.

Sometimes, (Kubrick springs to mind here...) the full-frame is the intended aspect ratio.

A lot of movies that are exhibited at 1.85:1 are shot on a full-frame 35mm negative and are matted to the wider format. This is why in some full-frame home video releases (ie: Manhunter) you can sometimes catch a boom microphone in the top portion of the screen. That would have been matted out for the theatrical release.

Kubrick, on the other hand, made sure the full 35mm frame was clear so that the film would fill up the whole 4:3 screen. Rather than losing information like with Pan & Scan, you get MORE information top & bottom.

The snag here is that these movies then don't take advantage of a widescreen HD monitor, thus the Kubrick movies that have been released to date on Blu-ray have been the matted theatrical versions.

hg

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by hourglass

Sometimes, (Kubrick springs to mind here...) the full-frame is the intended aspect ratio.

A lot of movies that are exhibited at 1.85:1 are shot on a full-frame 35mm negative and are matted to the wider format. This is why in some full-frame home video releases (ie: Manhunter) you can sometimes catch a boom microphone in the top portion of the screen. That would have been matted out for the theatrical release.

Kubrick, on the other hand, made sure the full 35mm frame was clear so that the film would fill up the whole 4:3 screen. Rather than losing information like with Pan & Scan, you get MORE information top & bottom.

The snag here is that these movies then don't take advantage of a widescreen HD monitor, thus the Kubrick movies that have been released to date on Blu-ray have been the matted theatrical versions.

hg

I would only buy one movie from Kubrick and that is 2001, the rest of his movies, while I have seen them all once do not truly intrest me. But that is a cool fact, I never realise it could be the best way to watch them.

[hourglass]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

I would only buy one movie from Kubrick and that is 2001, the rest of his movies, while I have seen them all once do not truly intrest me. But that is a cool fact, I never realise it could be the best way to watch them.

Keep in mind, I'm only using Kubrick as an example. There are plenty of other films that have been done the same way.

[Pirate King]

I also will not purchase fullscreen dvd's or blu's unless the original aspect ration is not widescreen (Example: Casablanca). Besides, when the lights go out and you are in a dark room, you really cannot see the black bars anyway. Yep, I'm a big fan or OAR.

[Lucy Diamond]

woo hooo...Casablanca has them on the sides ;-P

Viva la Black Bars!!!

[Pirate King]

Originally Posted by Lucy Diamond

woo hooo...Casablanca has them on the sides ;-P

Viva la Black Bars!!!

I would watch Casablanca if the picture was in the shape of a circle !! Well, maybe not. I do, however, find it somewhat amusing that there must be lots of people watching their full screen dvd's on their new HDTV and trying to figure out why the picture is only in the center of the screen! LOL

[kevinbr100]

hmm new theory, although the guy that started this thread may have been legit. this question seems to pop up and get argued about by the questioner, haha it makes me think that the trolls from newsgroups of yesteryear have evolved now into i hate black bars posters, instigators to bait people just for their own personal amusement.