Why 16:9 "Original" & 16:9 "Full" settings on Blu-Ray player....?

[brassplyer]

I finally divined the secret of getting my LG Blu-Ray player to play 4:3 DVD's in the correct AR instead of stretching them. There's a setting for two 16:9 modes - 16:9 "Original" and 16:9 "Full".

It's not clear to me why there are these two modes. In 16:9 Original, you put in a 16:9 disc it plays 16:9, put in a 4:3 disc, it plays 4:3. In 16:9 Full, everything gets stretched to 16:9.

Any insights as to why these two modes exist?

Thanks.

[usually_quiet]

Both exist because some people don't care about seeing movies in their original aspect ratio. They want the video to completely fill their TV's screen.

[brassplyer]

Both exist because some people don't care about seeing movies in their original aspect ratio. They want the video to completely fill their TV's screen.

Seems odd to me that enough people feel this way that they actually have a setting on the player but okay.

[fritzi93]

Both exist because some people don't care about seeing movies in their original aspect ratio. They want the video to completely fill their TV's screen.

Seems odd to me that enough people feel this way that they actually have a setting on the player but okay.

There are posts here on that subject from time to time, mostly by newbies, who are unhappy when the screen is not filled. Astonishingly, I've seen occasional posts at AVS too complaining about the same thing, from members with more than a hundred posts. Some will side stretch 4:3 material (aspect ratio be damned), and will zoom letterboxed 16:9 movies, despite the resultant cropping. What they really need is a bigger TV.

The terminology used by your player could be better, though. On a 16:9 TV, your 16:9 Original seems to give "dot-by-dot", while 16:9 Full is probably "side-stretch". Just to use the viewing mode terms from the Sharp TV I'm using now. There are others, and it seems each manufacturer has their own viewing mode terms.