newbie blu ray question

[cividan]

Hi, I don't know if this is the good section to ask that question but if not please direct me to the good one.

I have a simple question, how come if I play a 1080p blu ray disc in my BD player on my 1080P TV I don't have the movie in full screen mode (the movie doesn't fill all the screen) I still have black bar in the top and bottom of the movie on my screen as if I was watching a 16:9 movie on 4:3 tv. Compared to when I watch HDTV from my cable provider (videotron) with the maximum resolution of 1080i that my PVR support the screen is filled completely. Before upgrading to blue ray player I had an old panasonic dvd player and my screen was filled completely by movie widescreen that where on DVD. Any help on trying to help me understand what could be wrong would be appreciated as I was expecting that if everything is 1080p that would fill my screen completely and I would not have to zoom on my movie to remove the black bar form the top and bottom. I have looked in the settings of my BD player and it's set to 16:9 by default. I list my harware in this post also in case there is something wrong with what I bought. My AV receiver is connected via HDMI to both my TV and BD player.




blu ray player LG Bx580 http://www.lg.com/ca_en/tv-audio-video/video/LG-3d-blu-ray-dvd-player-BX580.jsp

a sharp 42" 1080p ( LC-40e77UN ) http://www.hdtvsolutions.com/Sharp-AQUOS_LC-40E77UN.htm

in between I have a AV receiver samsung (HW-c500) http://www.samsung.com/ca/consumer/tv-video/home-theatre/home-theatre-systems/HW-C500/...=specification

[mrswla]

There is nothing wrong. You are still seeing black bars because the aspect ratio is not 1.77(16:9). See this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio_(image) to understand different AR's.

[mrswla]

Check the back of the bluray case. It probably says 1.85 or 2.35 for the aspect ratio.

[cividan]

Check the back of the bluray case. It probably says 1.85 or 2.35 for the aspect ratio.

yes most of my BD disk says 16*9 1080p 2.35:1 or some 2.40:1

Isn't it the standard for TV and player ?? And what if it's not listed on the back of some case? I started reading on the wiki link you gave me but there is too much information for my brain to understand everything there. So how come if the standard of TV is 1.77 they release disk in 2.35 format that confuse me alot...

[jman98]

I started reading on the wiki link you gave me but there is too much information for my brain to understand everything there. So how come if the standard of TV is 1.77 they release disk in 2.35 format that confuse me alot...

I give you an A for honesty, but that answer makes me think that it's probably not worth my time to try to explain, again, to you what mrswla already tried to explain to you. However, I'll give it a quick shot. If you don't get it, I'm NOT going to try again.

Your TV has an aspect ratio of 1.77 to 1 (16:9). Films with greater aspect ratios like 2.35:1 will be "smaller" than full screen and require black bars at the top and bottom.

Your previous DVD player and TV were probably set up in full screen mode for everything. That means that 4:3 video was stretched to fill the screen and stuff above 1.77 to 1 was zoomed in on to fill the screen and you actually lost some of the video even though you didn't know it.

[wulf109]

Most movies are filmed in 2:35 format and that format is retained when released on disk. They will play with black bars top and bottom on all LCD 16:9 TV's. If you watch cable or satalite TV you'll notice that these movies are usually in 16:9 format because there subscriber's complain about the black bars. Your TV has a zoom function either on the remote or in it's menu,if you don't like the black bars zoom your TV.

[fritzi93]

If you watch cable or satalite TV you'll notice that these movies are usually in 16:9 format because there subscriber's complain about the black bars.

Exactly. They typically crop it, which really pisses me off.
I want the movie as originally intended.

[cividan]

ok thanks for the explanation but I still dont get why they call them 16*9 if they are 2.35:1 as if i understand correctly the ration comes from 16/9 so they should not have the right to call that 16*9 format but rather 21*9 or whatever the good number is thats false information that confuse people like me.

Thanks all who replied to my newbie question.

[edDV]

ok thanks for the explanation but I still dont get why they call them 16*9 if they are 2.35:1 as if i understand correctly the ration comes from 16/9 so they should not have the right to call that 16*9 format but rather 21*9 or whatever the good number is thats false information that confuse people like me.

Thanks all who replied to my newbie question.

16:9 is the frame. If the movie is wider than 16:9 then you need to letterbox it or chop the sides off or pan/scan.

If you only want full 16:9, confine your Blu-Ray purchases to TV shows. Those are all produced to 16:9 standard.

There are 2.35 to 1 aspect TV sets or projectors but those show normal HDTV with side pillars. They are also very expensive.

http://www.cnet.com/1991-7874_1-5140690-4.html

[edDV]

Here is an example of a wide aspect 21:9 Vizio HDTV.
http://booredatwork.com/2011/01/26/vizio-cinemawide-21-9-led-hdtv-ces-2011/

[cividan]

Ok thanks for the information I guess I will have to live with the black bar or zoom it.