16:9 vs Screen Fit

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by heineken

Anything to get rid of the black bars is a plus for me. Whenever I watch a 4:3 show or movie, I simply stretch the picture. Works perfect.

So you like watching a show as if you were looking into a fun house mirror? Do you drink beer with a straw? Do you wear your clothes inside out?

Everyone is entitled to do whatever makes them happy, but there are proper ways to do things, and the proper way to watch a movie or TV show is as the director intended it to be in the proper aspect ratio.

I don't understand people who think that black bars are worse than eliminating the equivalent of half the height when they enlarge a 2.4:1 widescreen film in order to fill the 16:9 screen. I was having this discussion with someone when my eight-year-old granddaughter said, "why don't they just make believe the screen is smaller?" Pretty smart kid.

It's because of black bar haters that HBO and other premium services no longer play most widescreen films at the proper aspect ratio. Personally, I won't subscribe to any service, nor watch any movie on cable that isn't shown at the original aspect ratio. IMO, every director should have a clause in their contract forbidding the presentation of their films at the wrong AR.

People who do this don't deserve high resolution formats and Blu-ray. It's like wasting a fine French meal on someone who only wants to eat at McDonald's.