Please don't flame if this has been asked before. I did a fare amount of time searching for the answer before I posted:

When watching Standard Def DVDs on my Hit 51f59 set, I see black bars on the tops and bottoms, and left and right of the screen. This is in the Standard 16X9 viewing mode. If I watch a 1.85:1 DVD, why doesn't it fill the screen?

I've read a lot about the Oppo upconverting DVD players. Does upconverting mean it will fill the screen or does that mean that it will just produce a better picture (ie - going from 480p to 1080i), and I still have the same problem with it not filling the screen?

Now I am using a DVD player that is about 7 years old through component cable. It does not have progressive scan capability.

I can watch the DVDs in 16X9 zoom but it cuts off portions of the movie, although it will fill the screen.

What are my options?? :confused:

Read http://www.widescreen.org/aspect_ratios.shtml.

alinski...

Read (made me remove link...5 posts
alinski...

Thanks for the link but I'm not sure how that applies here. I would think that it would fill the screen the best possible way it could. And if that were the case, the whole screen would be filled or only have bars on the top and bottom, or the sides, depending on the aspect ratio of the movie...not both??

Am I missing something?

I believe some older DVDs were non-anamorphic. When viewed on an widescreen display, there will be bars on all 4 sides. To fill a 16:9 screen, you will have to zoom the picture. I think my older Titanic DVD has this issue. Which DVD(s) were you viewing which exhibited this behavior? Have you tried other newer DVDs?

alinski...

Well I've tried them on a few of my DVDs. Both old and new. Saving Private Ryan, The Matrix, and Scarface to name a few. Could it be that my DVD player is so old? Would an upconverting DVD player like the Oppo fill the screen?

Thanks again for the help.

That sounds like a setting on your player. I've always watched non anamorphic DVDs on my Xbox 360, and have never had anything window boxed.

What's the player? Is it set to output to a 16x9 display?

larry

Dude, are you watching Full Screen Movies, or Widescreen movies? Check your DVDs and make sure you bought the widescreen version, I know for sure scarface had a full screen version.

I wouldn't even know how to check if its set to display in 16X9 on this player. It's an old Sony 5 disk changer that I bought back in 2000. If it has that option, I've never seen it. I'll look into it when I get home from work.

Dude, are you watching Full Screen Movies, or Widescreen movies? Check your DVDs and make sure you bought the widescreen version, I know for sure scarface had a full screen version.

I always buy Widescreen. I'm not that much of a newbie...

I wouldn't even know how to check if its set to display in 16X9 on this player. It's an old Sony 5 disk changer that I bought back in 2000. If it has that option, I've never seen it. I'll look into it when I get home from work.

It's been a part of the DVD standard since day 1, so all players should have a setup option defining the TV shape: 4:3 or 16:9.

-Bill

It's been a part of the DVD standard since day 1, so all players should have a setup option defining the TV shape: 4:3 or 16:9.

-Bill

I'll check it out tonight. Thanks for the heads up.

A 1.85:1 movie (assuming it's a widescreen/enhanced for 16:9 one) will show black bars on the top and bottom, as the link that alinski posted says. Your 16:9 display has a 1.78:1 axpect ratio, which is not as wide as the 1.85:1 movie is, so it should fill the screen side to side, but not top to bottom.

This site may give you more information on what is happening: http://www.rexer.com/cine/oar.htm.

BTW, this has nothing to do with up-conveting. If you're seeing a difference between up-conversion and not up-converting (non- HDMI connection) then your HDMI options in the DVD player are not set correctly (again, not associated with filling the screen in at least one dimension).