I want 16:9 but Sony says you'll TAKE 16:6.6

[dohouch]

Have, unfortunately a new Sony Blue Ray player home cinema BDV-E280 and an Epson EH TW3200.

When setting up I can project an area of 83" X 47". This area is maintained when I view the player Home>Menu.

However when I play a disc the height is reduced by 12 1/2", 6" inches missing top and bottom. There are no black strips.
I can still see , faintly, the full projected area. If I use a Composite cable rather than HDMI I get the full height.

I don't want to watch in this stretched format, can I do something.

[Cornucopia]

The DAR (Display Aspect Ratio) of BD is ALWAYS 16:9 (not counting SD material here). That's the spec.

What you're witnessing is the fact that, some MOVIES were originally shot in an AR that is even wider than 16:9, and to accommodate these movies without cropping, the studios decided to letterbox them. Yes, LETTERBOX. It doesn't go away just because we're using BD & HiDef now. It will always be with us as long as there are multiple ARs and ways of presenting them. So the black border is a part of the encoded video.

If in the image you're looking at the circles actually look circular (and not elliptical) and squares are squares (not rectangular) and diamonds are not skewed, then things are being presented the way they were meant to be presented. In that case, you will either have to live with this way, or find a way to crop your image.

Scott

[dohouch]

@Cornucopia: Thanks, for the info,

If in the image you're looking at the circles actually look circular (and not elliptical) and squares are squares (not rectangular) and diamonds are not skewed, then things are being presented the way they were meant to be presented. In that case, you will either have to live with this way, or find a way to crop your image.
Scott

Yes, things are in proportion, no fat of short people, squares are squares etc, but,

I tried using the Composite output on player and this did not have this sandwiched format, but normal 16:9 and saw on Amazon.co.uk there are HDMI to Component converter HDanywhere HDMI to Component Converter Adapter Downscaler and am thinking that this would give me a less stretched AR and better quality than Composite.

[intracube]

What you're witnessing is the fact that, some MOVIES were originally shot in an AR that is even wider than 16:9, and to accommodate these movies without cropping, the studios decided to letterbox them.

hmm, that doesn't explain why the image height is changing slightly with the composite connection vs HDMI.

dohouch; with the composite cable, are you seeing the same image as via HDMI but stretched vertically. Or is there slightly more picture at the top/bottom of the frame?

What do you mean by 12 1/2", 6"?

12 1/2" missing at the top and 6" at the bottom?

This area is maintained when I view the player Home>Menu.

What about the disc's main menu?

Is the disc a Bluray or DVD? Is it an import? Could it be 59.94i 'NTSC' instead of 50i 'PAL'?

[dohouch]

What you're witnessing is the fact that, some MOVIES were originally shot in an AR that is even wider than 16:9, and to accommodate these movies without cropping, the studios decided to letterbox them.

hmm, that doesn't explain why the image height is changing slightly with the composite connection vs HDMI.

dohouch; with the composite cable, are you seeing the same image as via HDMI but stretched vertically. Or is there slightly more picture at the top/bottom of the frame?

Same image content

What do you mean by 12 1/2", 6"?

12 1/2" missing at the top and 6" at the bottom?

Total height loss=12 1/2" approx., divided equally 6" less on the top, 6" less along the bottom.

This area is maintained when I view the player Home>Menu.

What about the disc's main menu?.

Yeah, tested just now, Disc main menu is full height (via HDMI),

Is the disc a Bluray or DVD? Is it an import? Could it be 59.94i 'NTSC' instead of 50i 'PAL'?

Disc was a Sony complementary "Harry Potter" 3D+2D set. So nothing exotic. Bootleg, NTSC or other etc..
Sorry, I was completely wrong in my OP, when I connect via Composite, I do get a more normal AR, but the total image size is reduced by 20%. Also from what I've learned the AR I'm getting is normal for these discs that are 16:9 2.4:1