Elf is 1.85:1??/

[sharkdiver289]

Hello,
I hope this is the right forum but I had a question and I'm hoping someone can answer me.
I got a blu ray for my birthday and I got the movie elf as a gift.
My wife and I are watching it and I noticed the lack of the widescreen bars. I don't have a problem with the lack of the bars...what I do have a problem with is the fact that some of the image is missing from both sides. i know for a fact because I have played the orginal dvd on my laptop and the same scene has more detail on both sides.
Is this normal...I checked another forum and it had a list of bluray 1.85 movies, some of them, sleepy hollow, 28 days later etc are some of the movies I really want, but I hate any type of cropping.
Do I have something set wrong?
I have a 720p projector. The player is set to 16:9 and the player's resolution is set 720p

[sharkdiver289]

further I do realize that the original aspect ratio of the film is 1.85:1, but why is there more of the picture on regular dvd?

[Kryptron]

perhaps you accidentally have the tv set to some sort of "zoom mode". If you have a Picture size option on your remote set it to "just" or "wide" different tvs have different options just make sure it doesn't say stretch or zoom.

[sharkdiver289]

nope that's not it, it's set to normal mode
1.85:1 is the ratio for widescreen without the black bars correct?

[plowmanjoe]

Originally Posted by sharkdiver289

nope that's not it, it's set to normal mode
1.85:1 is the ratio for widescreen without the black bars correct?

you are correct. it's probably not a zoom mode issue.

[sharkdiver289]

any idea why there is more of the image on the dvd version?
I'm a little concerned about this

[KamiAmaya]

Originally Posted by sharkdiver289

nope that's not it, it's set to normal mode
1.85:1 is the ratio for widescreen without the black bars correct?

No 1.78 is. When watching a 1.85 BD you should see small bars at the top and bottom.

But I've had the same problem with movies listed as 1.85, The Mask is the most recent one that comes to mind.

[sharkdiver289]

I don't see them...I can't find a setting on the bluray menu

[neo_reloaded]

Originally Posted by KamiAmaya

No 1.78 is. When watching a 1.85 BD you should see small bars at the top and bottom.

But I've had the same problem with movies listed as 1.85, The Mask is the most recent one that comes to mind.

Warner and Paramount open the mattes up slightly on 1.85:1 films to fill the whole 1.78:1 screen. Nothing is lost from the sides (there is no zooming or cropping), just SLIGHTLY extra on the top and bottom.

Other studios do not do this, and 1.85:1 films are truly 1.85:1 and have very small black bars at the top and bottom (assuming your TV does not have overscan, which could hide the bars once again but through no fault of the Blu-ray).

[DVDSleuth]

Any recent Warner title has this problem. It's listed as 1.85:1, but it looks more like 1.78:1. Watch a "1.85:1" Warner film and then immediately pop in a 1.85:1 movie from any other company and you'll see the difference.

[sharkdiver289]

I mean I love the fact that the whole screen is getting used, but I'd rather have matting to preserve the WHOLE image. I feel like i'm not watching the whole film

[neo_reloaded]

Originally Posted by sharkdiver289

I mean I love the fact that the whole screen is getting used, but I'd rather have matting to preserve the WHOLE image. I feel like i'm not watching the whole film

You're watching the whole thing - slightly extra in fact. Not that I condone this, as I'm all for OAR, but at least it is a VERY slight matte opening.

[KamiAmaya]

Ah ok thanks guys. Yeah I was watching Hellboy II and was surprised I could see the bars on that 1.85 BD. Up until then I thought my TV had an overscan problem or something

Originally Posted by neo_reloaded

Warner and Paramount open the mattes up slightly on 1.85:1 films to fill the whole 1.78:1 screen. Nothing is lost from the sides (there is no zooming or cropping), just SLIGHTLY extra on the top and bottom.

Other studios do not do this, and 1.85:1 films are truly 1.85:1 and have very small black bars at the top and bottom (assuming your TV does not have overscan, which could hide the bars once again but through no fault of the Blu-ray).

Originally Posted by DVDSleuth

Any recent Warner title has this problem. It's listed as 1.85:1, but it looks more like 1.78:1. Watch a "1.85:1" Warner film and then immediately pop in a 1.85:1 movie from any other company and you'll see the difference.