WD Media Player !6.9 letterbox

[JohnSimo]

I have been playing vob files on the WD Media Player and they are working fine. However, they appear as letterbox on the TV with black strips top and bottom. The only way to remove them is to zoom and then I lose some of the picture. If I play the same movie on DVD then it is full screen.
Is this something that I have to live with or can it be changed.

John

[jagabo]

What is the aspect ratio of your TV? What is the aspect ratio of the video you are watching? Many movies are wider than 16:9 (2.35:1 for example) so they should have letterbox bars when viewed on a 16:9 TV.

[JohnSimo]

The aspect ratio of my TV is 16.9 and I have set the Media Player to the same.

[jagabo]

And what is the aspect ratio of your video? What's the frame size?

[JohnSimo]

That I am not sure. How can I tell the frame size as I don't have the original cover.

[jagabo]

Use MediaInfo.

[JohnSimo]

Thanks for that. It is 16.9 720 x 576

[jagabo]

Does the video itself contain black bars in the frame? Use and program like VirtualDubMod which will show you the frame with pixel-for-pixel mapping.

[JohnSimo]

Yes, it has a black bar along the top and bottom. The sides are full screen.

[jagabo]

So the original movie is wider than 16:9. DVD and Blu-ray only comes in 4:3 and 16:9 so any movie that's not one of those aspect ratios will be letterboxed or pillarboxed.

[JohnSimo]

Ok, Is that the case even though mediainfo reported it as 16.9?

[jagabo]

The full frame of the video is 16:9 but the black bars are part of the picture.

[JohnSimo]

Ok, I understand. So to sum up - the only way to get full screen is go to zoom - Is that correct?

[manono]

If I play the same movie on DVD then it is full screen.

Either that's incorrect or you have the TV or your DVD player set up wrong and the movie plays with the wrong aspect ratio (things look stretched). Had you given accurate information at the beginning this would have been solved earlier.

To answer the question, to view the whole picture in the correct aspect ratio when using your WD Media Player, leave it alone. If you wish to get what you call 'full screen' while cutting off the sides of the picture then, yes, use your zoom.

[JohnSimo]

It does not look stretched when it is set normal. I only have the black bands top and bottom. I thought I did explain it clearly. SO as I understand it - this is normal and there is nothing I can do about it.

TheTV is set to 16.9
The media player is set to 16.9

John

[JohnSimo]

I was of the opinion that if the WD Media Player was set to 16.9, the TV was set to 16.9 and the video that was being played is 16.9 that I would have a full screen not a letterbox with blank screen above and below the picture.

From the above replies it appears that a partial screen image is quite normal.

John

[manono]

It'll only fill a widescreen 16:9 TV set if the movie itself is a 1.78:1 ratio (16/9=1.78). That's common for TV shows and made-for-TV movies. For 'real' movies that ratio is almost unheard of. Most are much wider than that (2.39:1 is the most common), have black bars encoded into the video above and below, and you'll see them as well. If it bothers you so much, go out and buy yourself a wider TV set. But then movies and TV shows you watch that are narrower will have black bars on the sides.

[JohnSimo]

Ok - that explains it. Thanks very much for your advice.

Thanks to all the other contributors to my question.

Regards,

John

[jagabo]

I was of the opinion that if the WD Media Player was set to 16.9, the TV was set to 16.9 and the video that was being played is 16.9 that I would have a full screen not a letterbox with blank screen above and below the picture.

The picture is filling your 16:9 screen. But the black bars are part of the picture because the movie is wider than 16:9.

Before HDTV was standardized at 16:9 (1.78:1) I don't think anything was shot in 16:9. The closest common movie aspect ratio was 1.85:1.

[JohnSimo]

I understand now. Thanks for your help

John