Question - Black bands on top and bottom of the screen. (16:9 TV)

[Rainbow1962]

Hello there.

I have a wide screen LCD TV. When I playing (original 16:9) DVD using my DVD player,
black bands appears on the top and bottom of the screen.

-DVD Aspect ratio is 16:9
-LCD TV screen mode is 16:9

Could anyone know the reason why?

Note: When Playing animated movies I am not faceing this problem.

Thank you very much.

[mrswla]

because most movies are not filmed in a 1.77 aspect ratio, therefore you will see some black bars. Depending on the AR will determine how much black bar on the top and bottom you see. A lot of movies are shot in 2.35 and 2.40 AR and therefore will have black bars.

[Illusionist]

I have a Toshiba widescreen, and some movies have black bars. Check to see if your player or tv has zoom mode. My tv has 16:9 zoom, filling the entire screen with no quality loss. Aspect ratio is very confusing, it would be nice if manufacturers agree to one standard.

[Noahtuck]

Tv manufacturers have nothing to do with it.

Different movies are filmed & presented in different aspect ratios.

Depending on the aspect ratio of any given film, by zooming it in to remove "black bars"
You are just cutting more of the movie out of view.

Peoples issues & phobia with "black bars" never ceases to amaze me 8)

[Illusionist]

Peoples issues & phobia with "black bars" never ceases to amaze me 8)

I agree !!! I have a major black bar phobia, Lol !!! Vertical black bars don't bother me, but Horizontal black bars, drives me insane !! on my widescreen.

I'll spare you all the details why ?

But for many years, manufacturers agreed to one standard 4:3, full tv viewing. But today, people don't have problems with 16:9 aspect, it's the variance in aspect ratio. One movie can have thin black bars, while others have large ones, reason lots of people are on here, trying to convert to full screen 16:9,.

So why not agree to one standard, it's simple. I have an Xbox 360 HD player, I never used. Money set on fire.

So, for most that have issues with black bars, it's the principal of let's agree to one standard.

[edDV]

Peoples issues & phobia with "black bars" never ceases to amaze me 8)

I agree !!! I have a major black bar phobia, Lol !!! Vertical black bars don't bother me, but Horizontal black bars, drives me insane !! on my widescreen.

I'll spare you all the details why ?

But for many years, manufacturers agreed to one standard 4:3, full tv viewing. But today, people don't have problems with 16:9 aspect, it's the variance in aspect ratio. One movie can have thin black bars, while others have large ones, reason lots of people are on here, trying to convert to full screen 16:9,.

So why not agree to one standard, it's simple. I have an Xbox 360 HD player, I never used. Money set on fire.

So, for most that have issues with black bars, it's the principal of let's agree to one standard.

Just don't watch movies. HD TV series are all 16:9. Watch those only.

Or restrict your movie watching to HBO crop jobs.

[MOVIEGEEK]

What were those silly directors thinking by shooting in 2.39:1?

[Illusionist]

What were those silly directors thinking by shooting in 2.39:1?

Lol, I'm already confused enough !! Does the movie come with black bars?

[edDV]

What were those silly directors thinking by shooting in 2.39:1?

Lol, I'm already confused enough !! Does the movie come with black bars?

The move theater has crop masks and curatains that are set for each film.

You can buy home versions for projection screens.

[Illusionist]

Just don't watch movies. HD TV series are all 16:9. Watch those only.

Or restrict your movie watching to HBO crop jobs

Well to be honest with you, if a movie is boring, then I'm distracted by the black bars, but entertaining, don't notice at all.

HBO, no thanks ! I'd rather watch youtube, Lol !!!

[MOVIEGEEK]

What were those silly directors thinking by shooting in 2.39:1?

Lol, I'm already confused enough !! Does the movie come with black bars?

No your player adds them.

[mrswla]

If you really hate black bars, then buy a front projector and display on a white wall in a very dark room. You'll never see any black bars....

[Illusionist]

If you really hate black bars, then buy a front projector and display on a white wall in a very dark room. You'll never see any black bars....

Sounds like the best solution

[Noahtuck]

What were those silly directors thinking by shooting in 2.39:1?

LMFAO!!!!!

WTFK!!!!!!!!
Those crazy @$$ B@$T@RDS!!!!!!

Because i sure know i want to see as little as possible when i watch a movie!!!!
Cut as much as possible off so it fills the screen!!!!
No matter what the ratio of the TV i am watching it on is !!!!!

[edDV]

Why so narrow? 2.89:1 (3:1) Cinerama rulled the 50's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinerama


But I'll never forget seeing Kubrik's 2001: A Space Odyssey in Super Panavision 70mm 2.20:1 !

[zoobie]

I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey the first Saturday it came out...I left the empty theater thinking "look at these poor slobs...they don't know what I just saw"...I didn't even try to describe it to my family...they were too busy ******* up

[Noahtuck]

Why so narrow? 2.89:1 (3:1) Cinerama rulled the 50's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinerama


But I'll never forget seeing Kubrik's 2001: A Space Odyssey in Super Panavision 70mm 2.20:1 !

Yeah, but if people are not seeing it like this...

So it fill's their entire screen on a 4:3 TV, they think something is missing because of the "black bars" on their tv!!
LOL!!!

You know.... we've all seen it a 1000 times here!!!!!

And the devil isup to his old tricks if we see any black bars on our 16:9 tv's!!!!!

And the man screwed us because they cut out part of the viewable movie!!!!!!
By adding those damn black bars!!!!!!

8)

[Noahtuck]

I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey the first Saturday it came out...I left the empty theater thinking "look at these poor slobs...they don't know what I just saw"...I didn't even try to describe it to my family...they were too busy ******* up

A space sci-fi opera!!!!!!!
All of them!!!!!!!

[stiltman]

A space sci-fi opera!!!!!!!
All of them!!!!!!!

That now would be scyfy or whatever their dumb mane is now

[Noahtuck]

A space sci-fi opera!!!!!!!
All of them!!!!!!!

That now would be scyfy or whatever their dumb mane is now

I'm thinker than you drunk i am!!!!!

[Cornucopia]

...Well to be honest with you, if a movie is boring, then I'm distracted by the black bars, but entertaining, don't notice at all.

There's your answer; Just watch the GOOD, Entertaining films!

Scott

[JohnnyBob]

It's a mess. The solution is for TV's to provide a more versatile resizing of video to fit the screen - whatever size or aspect ratio it might be. So you can watch it with, or without, the black bars, whatever you prefer. Many DVD players already have this option, and TV manufacturers need to catch up.

Personally, I prefer 4:3 aspect ratio, and believe everything should be switched back to that standard. Make it a law, just like they killed analog TV broadcasting and switch to digital. Everything in future should be 4:3. I'm not kidding. This is the only solution to the mess.

[guns1inger]

Personally, I prefer 4:3 aspect ratio, and believe everything should be switched back to that standard. Make it a law, just like they killed analog TV broadcasting and switch to digital. Everything in future should be 4:3. I'm not kidding. This is the only solution to the mess.

We should also go back to steam trains, gas lights and leeches.

Am I missing something ? What the hell is the problem ? Why do people seem to believe that every pixel needs to be filled to get full value out of the screen ?

If everything was 4:3 there would be no Lawrence of Arabia, no The Good The Bad and The Ugly, No 2001. Hell, even when 1.33 was the standard it wasn't enough. The burning of Atlanta in Gone With The Wind was shot using a three camera process so that it could be projected across three screens to get the impact required. If aspect ratio is such a big problem for you people then restrict your viewing to television programs made between 1950 and 1985. Obviously anything else is far too challenging.

[sambat]

@Rainbow1962

Hope you enjoyed the spluttering indignation that your thread started - I certainly did.A tip of the hat to you.

[manono]

Spluttering?

Why is it so surprising that at a video enthusiast's site you find people wanting to view movies in their original aspect ratio, the way they were meant to be seen? Not zoomed, cropped, panned-and-scanned, stretched, or mangled in any other way.

[edDV]

There is a point to a 4:3 screen. You can achieve any aspect ratio with motorized masks that appear from the top or bottom of the screen.

Or you could go all electronic and make these masks appear on the screen itself. You could call this "letterboxing".

[KBeee]

From another thread here
Taken originally from Amazon reviews -

"I bought this DVD as a way to show off my new DVD player to my family. I had seen the movie several times in the theater, and knew its bright colors would be beautiful on my TV screen.

To my horror, I saw that Columbia had seen fit to alter a masterpiece. Yes, the film came complete with those horrific black bars at the top and bottom of my screen, which obscured about half of the picture. I've seen those bars on the "artsy" videos on TV, and I sometimes enjoy them. But this is a classic work of art! You don't try to make it "hip" and "relevant" with modern touches. It would be like adding a moustache to the Mona Lisa.

Until Columbia drops the act and releases "Lawrence of Arabia" without those bars, letting us see all of the picture, stay away."

[sambat]

It's the Video"Help" forum, not the Video Enthusiasts forum.
Too often a simple request for help becomes an excuse to foam at the mouth because someone has the temerity to ask a question that others don't care to hear.
That nonsense should be left to the Witchsmellers and Wiseacres at Doom9.
When the monitor screen is flecked with foam over such a trivial affair it's time to stop and laugh at it - that is if you can see past the futility of arguing over it.

[edDV]

From another thread here
Taken originally from Amazon reviews -

"... Until Columbia drops the act and releases "Lawrence of Arabia" without those bars, letting us see all of the picture, stay away."

So this fellow doesn't want to see all the picture, he just wants to see the center half? He will miss half the actors on the screen.
http://www.zeyen.de/about_cinemascope/about_cinemascope.html

Then there is Pan/Scan.

[Noahtuck]

From another thread here
Taken originally from Amazon reviews -

"I bought this DVD as a way to show off my new DVD player to my family. I had seen the movie several times in the theater, and knew its bright colors would be beautiful on my TV screen.

To my horror, I saw that Columbia had seen fit to alter a masterpiece. Yes, the film came complete with those horrific black bars at the top and bottom of my screen, which obscured about half of the picture. I've seen those bars on the "artsy" videos on TV, and I sometimes enjoy them. But this is a classic work of art! You don't try to make it "hip" and "relevant" with modern touches. It would be like adding a moustache to the Mona Lisa.

Until Columbia drops the act and releases "Lawrence of Arabia" without those bars, letting us see all of the picture, stay away."

Yeah it's amazing how clueless most people are