Proper setup/configuration on watching DVD on widesreen TV

[elfnet]

Happy New Year all!

Here are some naive questions on configuring/setting up your dvd player and widescreen tv for best viewing as intended by the movie director.

I have a Sony widescreen rear projector tv (KP-46wt510) and a Toshiba DVD player. I have setup my Sony TV Video - Full mode and the Toshiba DVD player Video Aspect Ratio- 16:9. However, after I configured it this way I still get the black bars. Shouldn't that go away after I configured it this way? What am I doing wrong? I want to get rid of the black bars and at the same time not distort the video. Can anyone help me configure my TV and DVD. Thanks all for your help.

Cheers,
elfnet

[Marco33]

By "Black Bars" I assume you mean the ones on the top and bottom.

Not ALL movies are filmed the same. Each film "dvd" has a differnet "aspect ratio".

You will find sci-fi and action films will give these bars while dramas and comedies do not... for the most part.

These bars are normal.

[Nilfennasion]

The film you are watching is in a wider aspect ratio than 1.78:1 or 1.85:1.

You might not get the unused area of the frame (seriously, I want to hit people who say "black bars") on Apocalypse Now, depending on how much overscan there is in your set. AN was filmed at 2.00:1. A lot of sci-fi and fantasy epics come in at 2.35:1, and thus you will get small unused portions of the video frame displaying them. THIS IS NORMAL.

Those unused areas are, unfortunately, essential with fixed-width display devices to seeing THE WHOLE PICTURE.