Hdtv Question

[Darianis]

I have a Sony Wega 50" tv it's widescreen but I still see the black bars on the top and bottom when I watch DVD's anyone know what I'm doing wrong? The guide

I have tried all 4 screen modes but no dice. it must be a setting or something right?

[alellis]

I have a Sony Wega 50" tv it's widescreen but I still see the black bars on the top and bottom when I watch DVD's anyone know what I'm doing wrong? The guide

I have tried all 4 screen modes but no dice. it must be a setting or something right?

I just got a widescreen as well. Sometimes there are bars at the top sometimes at the side. It all depends on the tape, DVD or broadcast format. I dont think you have anything to worry about.

al

[Jman]

No worries.

It's the DVD producers choice how to present the film. Normally

called "aspect ratio". Some fill the 16x9 screen, some leave space

at the top and bottom. Just pick up "Wide Screen" versions

of your DVD choice. It represents the theatrical version or the

the closest thing to it for todays HDTV's.

Jim

[George]

The issuse is indeed "Aspect Ratio". Not all content is in the same one. Typical TV is 4:3 (the height is 3 parts, the width is four, ie: 9x12 inches, 640x480 pixels). Modern widescreen TV is made in 16:9. A lot of new widescreen LCD computer displays are 16:10 (1440x900, 1920x1200).

The true HD TV standards are all 16:9 aspect ratio signals. 720i & 720p are both 1280x720 pixels. 1080i and 1080p are 1920x1080 pixels. (i meanes interlaced line scanning and p means progressive line scanning. p is better, but requires more of the display and source gear). 480i & 480p are NOT HD signals. They can be 16:9 in SHAPE, but their pixel content is only 640, or 720 wide SD TV resolution (Standard Definition).

TV 4:3 is known as 1.33:1 in film talk. 4:3 theatrical movies are actually 1.37:1 in the film industry. A lot of movies are made in a theatrical format known as 1.6:1, which translates to just about 15:9. Most widescreen movies are released in 1.85:1 and 2.35:1 which are both not as tall as 16:9 HD TV so they will show top/bottom panels, or get the edges cropped to fit a 16:9 display.

16:9 would translate to 1.78:1 in film format parlance, but it doesn't exist as a true film format. Remember, because theatrical movies are NOT made in exactly 16:9, anytime one does fit a 16:9 shaped TV screen exactly, it is actually getting cropped, or being stretched on you ;-)

Here is a link to a simple and thorough discussion of this:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/home/wsfaq.html

BTW, BTW, the Sony WEGA 50" you have is a 720P capable display which means it only displays 1280x720 pixels at maximum. 1080i and 1080p content will be displayed at the lower pixel resolution of 720i/p by getting scaled down to fit your display.

[Darianis]

Thanks for the info. I figured it out. It turn out that the DVD player was set to display at 4:3 I found this and changed it to 16:9 and all is good.

WOW HDTV is so much cooler than normal