I am bit confused by the HD-DVD output to my HDTV

[alien resident]

Here is the deal,

I have a Toshiba HD-DVD player A30
A30

and a Samsung HD-TV LNT3253H
LNT3253H

the TV is set to 16:9 Wide Screen and the player is told to output upto max resoultion of 720p (the TV is a 720p). They are connected by a HDMI cable.

Whats confusing me is how come I still have black bars on top and bottom of screen even when watching HD-DVD s... why isnt it filling the whole screen ?

My XBOX 360 fills it correctly(connected using component cables) as does my standard Cable Feed ...Am I missing something or is this how it works ?

[CrowdAds]

[ctal]

Could be that's the way the particular HD-DVDs really are. Movies made for the screen in theatres are wider than 16:9, sometimes as much as 2.35:1, which would result in black bars at the top and bottom unless the producers of the DVD cropped the sides.
-- Al

[alien resident]

Originally Posted by ctal

Could be that's the way the particular HD-DVDs really are. Movies made for the screen in theatres are wider than 16:9, sometimes as much as 2.35:1, which would result in black bars at the top and bottom unless the producers of the DVD cropped the sides.
-- Al

hmm ok. I looked at the back of my "Bourne Identiy" HD-DVd case and it says
1080p High def wide screen 2.35:1 ...is that what you are referring to?

my 300 HD-DVD says 1080p High Def 16x9 2.4:1
what would it have to say to play fully on my TV just curious

[fvbounty]

Originally Posted by alien resident

hmm ok. I looked at the back of my "Bourne Identiy" HD-DVd case and it says
1080p High def wide screen 2.35:1 ...is that what you are referring to?

my 300 HD-DVD says 1080p High Def 16x9 2.4:1
what would it have to say to play fully on my TV just curious

I have the A30 and have the black bars on top and bottom, its the way the picutre was filmed, I wish they would do something about it, I really thought with a HD or blueray there wouldn't be the bars but I was wrong!!!!!

[alien resident]

whew ok. So nothings broke. Everybody in the same boat. Lts get drunk ! LOL thanks guys.

[ctal]

Originally Posted by alien resident

hmm ok. I looked at the back of my "Bourne Identiy" HD-DVd case and it says
1080p High def wide screen 2.35:1 ...is that what you are referring to?

Yes, that is what I am referring to. Some movies are made 1.85:1, which is fairly close to 16:9 and would have only very narrow bars at the top and bottom.

Some TV sets have a selection of various screen modes that allow you to fill the screen with widescreen material, but with the loss of the sides of the picture (since they would expand off the screen). Some sets also provide a setting that will exactly fill the screen without losing anything, but you don't want to use that because it distorts the picture. I don't know what provisions your particular set has.

Originally Posted by alien resident

whew ok. So nothings broke. Everybody in the same boat. Lts get drunk ! LOL thanks guys.

Sounds like an excellent suggestion, especially with New Year's approaching! All the best,
-- Al

[ctal]

Originally Posted by fvbounty

I have the A30 and have the black bars on top and bottom, its the way the picutre was filmed, I wish they would do something about it, I really thought with a HD or blueray there wouldn't be the bars but I was wrong!!!!!

Given that the movie was originally made for a 2.35:1 or somesuch theatre widescreen, there is no way for the dvd producers to avoid the bars on a 16:9 tv set without losing part of the picture (or distorting it, which is even worse). They could crop the sides or do what is called "pan and scan" to change the movie to 16:9, but either way part of the original picture would be lost. Sometimes those techniques actually are done, but I think most people would rather have the unaltered original content of the movie even if it means having bars.

Regards,

-- Al

[fvbounty]

Originally Posted by ctal

Given that the movie was originally made for a 2.35:1 or somesuch theatre widescreen, there is no way for the dvd producers to avoid the bars on a 16:9 tv set without losing part of the picture (or distorting it, which is even worse). They could crop the sides or do what is called "pan and scan" to change the movie to 16:9, but either way part of the original picture would be lost. Sometimes those techniques actually are done, but I think most people would rather have the unaltered original content of the movie even if it means having bars.

Regards,

-- Al

Exactly, I never stretch the picture.....

[SRTDodge05]

You buy a wide screen tv to to work with the movies and the ratio doesnt match. Almost isnt worth to upgrade.

[ctal]

Good point, SRT. But I guess the underlying cause is that standard definition tv is 4:3 (1.33:1), while the movie industry uses much wider aspect ratios like 2.35:1. So if the TV's were made to truly match one of the movie ratios, 4:3 TV programs would have extremely wide bars on the sides, and much of the screen would be wasted. Guess we can't win.
-- Al

[k0NG0]

Aren't there some movies that have a Pan&Scan mode that isn't just the two sides cut off symmetrically, but actually edited to include important scenery that may be to one side of the image by panning the image? That would seem like a fair trade-off to me, especially if it goes from 2.35:1 to 16:9 which isn't as bad as going all the way to 4:3.

[ctal]

Originally Posted by k0NG0

Aren't there some movies that have a Pan&Scan mode that isn't just the two sides cut off symmetrically, but actually edited to include important scenery that may be to one side of the image by panning the image? That would seem like a fair trade-off to me, especially if it goes from 2.35:1 to 16:9 which isn't as bad as going all the way to 4:3.

Yes, that is sometimes done, as I mentioned in an earlier post. And it may work well for some material, but a lot of people feel that even that amount of alteration is a violation of the artistic intent of the director and the others who were involved in the making of the film. I suppose also that there is significant labor cost involved to do pan and scan properly, which the dvd producers would rather avoid.

Regards,
-- Al

[polonyc2]

you want the black bars on the top and bottom...that's the way the film is supposed to be seen and the way the filmmakers intended it to be seen (in widescreen format)...Full Screen cuts off some of the picture...that's why a lot of DVD's come in both Widescreen format as well as Full Screen format...I always buy the Widescreen version

I have a Toshiba HD-A2 player and all the discs I have play in Widescreen (I think all of them do) as that is the best format for the film to be seen in

[Bampson]

Movies encoded with an Anamorphic widescreen helps minimize the issue, but this really is the director's intent.

It may seem odd that 16x9 televisions weren't made with a wider aspect ratio in mind, but then again it was largely based on the high definition television standard.

[alien resident]

heh, I popped in the latest CSI LV season dvds (7 I think) and they fit just right ? !!!LOL. tried looking for how it was ebing displayed on the box but no such info on it.

Well I looked it up on AMAZON and it was Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 hmmmmmm