Aspect Ratios - Why Not More Customizable?

[solott55]

Perhaps this has been discussed before, but as a new member here (and assuming there are other new members here), I thought it might be worth bringing it up again.

I remember when I first got my new flatscreen I popped in a DVD and was pumped to see that the letterboxing was gone and it filled up the whole screen - as it turns out it must've been a 1.78:1 movie, and I think the next movie I rented with the gf was Titanic, and I was so disappointed to see the letterboxing back. I soon learned about aspect ratios and all that stuff and have gotten over that disappointment.

But then when I read the Transformers Walmart Imax Edition review that talked about how great those Imax full wide-screen shots were (I loved em in Dark Knight too), it got me thinking again - why can't I watch the whole damn movie that way? Especially with these gorgeous blu-rays?

I understand the idea of sticking to the Director's Vision, but at the same time, it's like, screw the director, I paid for all of that real estate on my TV and I don't want any of it going to waste! Would it really be that hard to make a 16:9 conversion an option? I can't see why it would be...