ok im watching a dvd (widescreen), when i set the tv to 4:3 mode there are black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, everything is normal so far...

then i set the tv to 16:9 mode and the black bars are still there and they are the exact same size that they were in 4:3 mode, which means 16:9 mode only stretches the picture horizontally. Is this normal?

when i select the zoom setting, it fills the screen, but i loose picture detail. am i supposed to have to do this to fill the screen?

PLEASE HELP...

Telling us what model the TV is surely will help.

sorry, here it is

TXT3093WH

It's aspect ratio. Even if you have widescreen, some movies are shot beyond 16:9. It's more
wider than 16:9 so it still have black bars on top. If you look at the image, if it doesn't look
wide stretch on 16:9 then you have no problem. Research aspect ratio to learn more.