what happens when going from 4:3 projection to 16:9

[sybariten]

Hi
i'm gonna do some outdoor drive in video projection for a big crowd during some days.
The arranger has specifically noted that he wants us to use as much area of the screen as possible. I would say that our screen is closer to 16:9 than 4:3.
We use a prosumer Pioneer DVD player and a Sanyo projector.
Normally when showing a foreign film, we have black stripes above and below, and the subtitles are shown in this stripe.
Frankly, i'm not toally sure but i think we have been doing this as 4:3 projection.

Will the DVD player and the projector have hardware settings for doing 16:9 projection, and will this affect the subtitles so that they appear ON the film? I guess this is what we want in order to use more of the screen.

Lastly, should i have asked this somewhere else, or searched some guide?

[Krispy Kritter]

When the black bars are added by the TV/projector, such as when viewing a 16:9 source on a 4:3 TV, the subtitles would appear on the movie itself. In your case, since the subtitles are showing on the black bar, then I would say your source contains the black bars.