[eric859]

I just bought a Samsung 507w wide screen dlp tv and have noticed that different dvd's require different viewing aspects. One dvd is extremly wide-screen with a black bar on top and on bottom and is best viewed in the "Wide" aspect. Others have a bar on the top and bottom but seem stretched when viewed in the "Wide" aspect. Another takes up the entire screen from top to bottom and is viewed best in "Wide" while others that take up the entire screen from top to bottom are stretched out in Wide aspect.


I'm trying to understand the reasoning for this, but do not know the terminology for these different dvd wide screen formats. Can someone list the format names?

 

[Salmoneous]

Suggestion -


Read the thread up there on Black Bars not totally being gone on Widescreen TV's. If that doesn't answer all your questions, try back here again.


Oh, and if you need some specific advice, lets up know what you are using to play movies (such as what model of DVD player) and if you have it set for 16x9.

 

[Bionic Manaus]

Eric I have had this as my signature for a few weeks read it and learn about wide screen.
http://www.widescreenmuseum.com

 

[FoxyMulder]

Heres a good site too.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/

 

[Vlad_Dracule]

Those are good links (one of which is also in my sig ). There are a number of things that affect the way a DVD looks on your screen. The main factors are the Aspect Ratio (some movies are "wider" than others), wether or not it is anamorphic, and what your display/DVD player is set at.


I could see where the anamorphic subject may be a bit hard to grasp at first so if you still dont get it, come back and ask again (but make sure to mention that you have tried to read up on it).

 

[gakon]

htwaits also has a discussion of black bars linked under his signature. Search on his user name to find.

 

[ADU]

Eric859,


Based on your first post it looks like you're right on top of the situation. The short answer to your query is that Anamorphic or Enhanced for 16x9 (which also means anamorphic) DVDs should display correctly in "Wide" mode on your 16X9 Samsung DLP. While other DVDs (namely Fullscreen, or non-anamorphic widescreen) are intended for viewing on a 4x3 TV, hence they will look horizontally stretched in the "Wide" mode.

 

[FredProgGH]

Quote:

Originally posted by Vlad_Dracule Those are good links (one of which is also in my sig ).

Both the links in your sig are great and REALLY should have their own sticky.

 

[Bionic Manaus]

Fred I have already tried to get the mods to realize this would be be a good sticky, but no go. Good luck to you my friend to get this " Why are Black Bars seen on my new wide screen at least about 2,500 times over at the IMDb message boards, which I have been a member of since 1997 before Amazon bought them. I answer them individually saying pass it on, hoping that one day we can educate the world to something that some day will be a 'obsolete' term.

 

[AFH]

Eric,


Movies framed in 2:35 or 2:40 ar will have black bars on the top and bottom. The 2:40 movies will be a little wider than 2:35. Both 2:35 and 2:40 have additional information at the sides of the picture, more so than 1:85. The movies that fill your entire screen are 1:85 ar. When you buy a dvd you will see “enhanced for 16x9 displays†or “anamorphic. All this means is that when you display the dvd on the widesceen set you will see the information that the director of the film wants you to see. Maybe you have noticed that when you watch a dvd on a 4:3 television set you will have large thick black bars for movies that are 2:35 or 2:40 and small black bars for movies that are 1:85. With an anamorphic dvd the movie when displayed on a 16x9 set the movie will open itself all the way, so to speak. If you play a non-anamorphic dvd on your 16x9 set it will look just like it would on a 4:3 set. In that case you use the zoom feature on your set and that will open up the matte. Hope that helps you.

 

[jcasperjr]

Wow.


You have no idea how glad I am to have finally found this topic. I recently acquired an HD display and have been going trying to decipher the cryptic aspect ratio labeling on different studios' discs.


God bless avsforum and the deep knowledge pool it offers us newbies.

Thanks to all.