Black bars - Stupid question probably!

[houdini_7]

I have a Toshiba 36ZP48, which is a widescreen TV Ratio 16:9.

So why? when i watch DVD's do I still get the black bars at the top & bottom of the picture which I used to get on my old 4:3 TV.

I know there's probably a stupid answer to this question but I thought if I was watching a 16:9 DVD then surely this would fill the full screen.

Thanks

Houdini

[Eddy Boy]

Some DVDs are mastered in a format wider then 16:9 i.e. the 2:1.85 number on the back of the DVD box.

[houdini_7]

yeh i know...but why do i get the lines with 16:9 DVDs

[Edwood]

Have you altered the setup menu of your DVD player to tell it you now have a 16:9 screen?

[Will Scarlet]

What DVDs are you having this problem with?

[houdini_7]

Yes i've altered the setup menu on the DVD player, I have it connected via component.

[Will Scarlet]

This might sound strange, but I use component on my JVC HV-32D40 and have to manually set the screen to full. Remember component is a video signal only, there is no auto-screen select signal sent. So I'd check that your TV is not on Auto, and if it is set it to full, not 16:9. Hope it works.

[LV426]

Assuming that things in the picture are the right shape (circles are round, people are people-shaped, not too fat etc) then the most likely cause of black bars is, as Eddy Boy says, that the original film was wider than a widescreen TV. Since you can't make a TV screen any wider than it is, the only other way to get all of the movie where you can see it, is for the DVD manufacturer to fit the full width in, meaning that it's not quite tall enough. So they fill up the extra height with black. Added together, the film + the black = 16x9 which is what's on the packaging. So the point is, for some (many, actually) films, black bars are an essential part of enabling you to see the whole film as it was presented theatrically.

On the other hand, if things aren't the right shape (people too fat, circles oval....) then you aren't doing it right.

[Will Scarlet]

I asked houdini_7 for DVD titles but he did not give any, so impossible to be of help regards the aspect ratios. It should be clearly stated on the DVD anyway, and if it isn't 1.78:1 then it won't fill his screen. But then you know that, Eddy and LV.

[houdini_7]

one i watched recently is american history x, on the back of the case it says 16:9.

I'll check the 'Auto' setting

[LV426]

According to the imdb, American History X should be 1.85:1 which is near enough widescreen TV shaped (not wider). So if you have black bars, I guess you're doing it wrong. Most common mistake is to have the DVD player output set incorrectly. Check that it is set to 16x9 or widescreen (or whatever).