Annoying Black Bars

So i think rating the OP as funny is a bit harsh. It's a genuine question. The whole point of these forums is to welcome all and encourage questions whatever technical knowledge they have, so that those who know more can help (like folks then did). Just my personal opinion...

Anyway, this is an interesting thread. Whilst i knew why we have bars (artistic choice of the creators), i've learned stuff myself.

All the best

MB
 
I'm staggered by the negative attitude of people on here, there are far more important things in life to get wound up about. The correct aspect ratio is what I like to see rather than the dreadful pan and scan of yesteryear. Philips introduced a 21:9 tv a few years ago but it didn't really take off because overall the picture was quite small even though it was described as 50". As technology progresses and screens become more flexible I am sure a tv will be produced which will automatically select the correct ratio of any broadcast, hard copy or stream, with no loss of picture quality. Of course the present alternative is go for a projector with an anamorphic lens and a suitably wide screen - or wall!
 
 
With my pedantic hat on... I also hate the ratios/fractions like 21:9 because it should be lowest term 7:3
 
Black bars are awful, cannot see any reason for it, it just proves that consensus is such a difficult thing.
Surely all the artists and tv and movie makers could've got together long ago and decide on one format, it's like the different types of hdr these days, I bet they wont stop until they are 10 formats, enough to satisfy every ego lol
 
Everything in my room furniture,curtains and the Gear apart from the wall paint is black, Wall paint is darkish grey front wall lighter grey on sides, my point to this is my room gets pitch black once the lights are out night time ofcourse,

I have a 65 inch plasma panny VT50, when I watch a film all I see is the film in its original widescreen form the inky Black bars are not Even visible. I dislike full screen films it does not look right to me and loses its cinematic feel

The only way is a 21-9 tv, Philips are known for producing these, a 21-9 Oled that is something that should happen
 
Forgive me if its been asked before, but why do we get annoying black bars?

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Does that count as 3?
 
I watching them film justice league from the monitors, it was shot open but each shot was safe framed for 2:35:1, even though at this point (reshoots) there had been a trailer already released in 1:85:1, not sure where i'm going with this but i found it interesting! iirc it was also shot at 6.8K (was definetley 6.xK!)
 
And yet Cameron ensured that the T2 3D re-release was solely 2.35, go figure. Personally I want to see what it was originally framed for, even on Super 35, and not some open matte version that's usually done solely to appease the black bar haters. I dunno how many movies you've watched on TV lately but the main terrestrial channels routinely broadcast in 2.35, just a week or so ago I watched Good Kill on C4 and Fury on C5 and both were in proper widescreen. They were shot anamorphic but even so, they'd have cropped them to 16:9 if this was a few years ago but now I'm still amazed how much proper 2.35 content we get on TV. Even some TV shows are broadcast in wider ratios like 2.00:1, and others are full 2.35.

So far from TV being the death of proper widescreen, it's seen it flourish. Lots of adverts are even shot anamorphic now. Sure, not EVERY movie is shown in full widescreen when it could've been but it still amazes me how far we've come. As for IMAX, if every cinema were an IMAX then you might have a point, but they're not so you don't. I saw the open matte 1.78 version of Skyfall on ITV a while ago and couldn't stand how much dead space it had top and bottom, it was framed up for 2.35 by one of the best DPs in the business and it shows.

I'm just happy to take whatever ratio a movie was intended to be shown in, no matter if there's black bars on the sides, bars on the top & bottom, bars that come and go.
Only ITV seem to stick to 16:9 now.
The BBC have bought in movies in original ratios now for some years.
C5 seems to be hit and miss although I expect as with the BBC when they started 2.35:1 they might still have older cropped versions under licence
 
Back to the future had all sort of issues when release on home DVD and Blu-ray. I think the first verion on dvd was framed incorrectly and then reformated for a further release.


Back to the Future is a separate problem.
Like many movies it was shot with several ratios in mind to cater for all outlets. With these movies of which T2 is a good example , the wide versions lose image at the top and bottom while the 4:3 image loses some side image. When the dvd was first mastered whoever did Part 2 screwed it up so there were important parts of the picture missing that shouldn't have been - so much so that replacement discs where mastered.
But lots of movies are shot at 2.35:1 and that's it. The market for black bar haters is no longer really catered for and you're stuck with it.
 
I'm staggered by the negative attitude of people on here, there are far more important things in life to get wound up about. The correct aspect ratio is what I like to see rather than the dreadful pan and scan of yesteryear. Philips introduced a 21:9 tv a few years ago but it didn't really take off because overall the picture was quite small even though it was described as 50". As technology progresses and screens become more flexible I am sure a tv will be produced which will automatically select the correct ratio of any broadcast, hard copy or stream, with no loss of picture quality. Of course the present alternative is go for a projector with an anamorphic lens and a suitably wide screen - or wall!
The reason the 21:9 set didn't take off was because for the majority of the time most people were watching 16:9 which needed cropping/zooming.
So it was ideal only for those happy to have a tv set just for watching their 2.35:1 movies on while they used another set for everything else- understandably the market was not that big
 
Bad Santa 2 4K/UHD is in full screen, no silly bars on that film.
 
Black bars are awful, cannot see any reason for it, it just proves that consensus is such a difficult thing.
Surely all the artists and tv and movie makers could've got together long ago and decide on one format, it's like the different types of hdr these days, I bet they wont stop until they are 10 formats, enough to satisfy every ego lol

I think we should go back to 4/3 tvs. It'd be much simpler for everyone and we'd get rid of those awful black borders at the sides.

:laugh:
Bri
 
Just out of curiosity, would the bar haters prefer all directors to use the same aspect ratio or all discs to over-ride the directors choice and zoom in?

I've known a few arty types over the years (i'm not one) and there's often a tussle between artistic vision and paying the bills. I don't think telling film directors / DoPs that they have to use one aspect ratio from now on would really work. Notwithstanding the amount of folks who don't object to the bars !

MB
 
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It's an offshoot from 16:9, which itself looks somewhat tidier than 8:4.5, no?

Your going into decimal places, for ratios? So by your argument 4:3 should be rebranded to 16:12, as 4:3 is out of context?

As per my original post, I am being pedantic. I was helping my son with his maths homework. He had to round down fractions (lower term) so 4/6 is 2/3 and 5/10 is 1/2
 
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Your going into decimal places, for ratios? So by your argument 4:3 should be rebranded to 16:12, as 4:3 is out of context?

As per my original post, I am being pedantic. I was helping my son with his maths homework. He had to round down fractions (lower term) so 4/6 is 2/3 and 5/10 is 1/2
Meh, that's what people knew it as after many decades of use, along with 1.33, so that's what they kept it as and I don't mind that at all. But once the wider ratios emerged for TV usage and 16:9 took hold in the user base then it made zero sense to then refer to 21:9 as 7:3 because that would just confuse people further. It's all a hodge-podge so you'll just have to learn to live with it, homework or not. :D

Only ITV seem to stick to 16:9 now.
The BBC have bought in movies in original ratios now for some years.
C5 seems to be hit and miss although I expect as with the BBC when they started 2.35:1 they might still have older cropped versions under licence
Yeah, the weird thing with Skyfall is that the first few broadcasts on ITV were proper 2.35 but at some point they changed it to the open-matte 1.78 version. Boo-urns.
 
Just out of curiosity, would the bar haters prefer all directors to use the same aspect ratio or all discs to over-ride the directors choice and zoom in?

I've known a few arty types over the years (i'm not one) and there's often a tussle between artistic vision and paying the bills. I don't think telling film directors / DoPs that they have to use one aspect ratio from now on would really work. Notwithstanding the amount of folks who don't object to the bars !

MB
Yes Sir!
Totally agree with you, all the directors should use the same aspect ratio and TV manufacturers to follow suit, where do I sign the petition?
 
Yes Sir!
Totally agree with you, all the directors should use the same aspect ratio and TV manufacturers to follow suit, where do I sign the petition?

Even if you got your wish there's already many thousands of films and tv shows out there that were made in a different ratio.

Bri
 
Forgive me if its been asked before, but why do we get annoying black bars on most films, i may as well be watching the film on a smaller screen. You don't see football or any other stuff on TV with those silly bars.

Does zooming in reduce the picture quality ? And am i right in saying the black bars are there because thats the format they need for the cinema ?

It can be a good thing because you get a more "cinematic" field of view (FOV), like in the cinema the screen is not 16:9 it is ~21:9 like ultrawide PC monitors. The problem is when your TV cannot make the letterbox black, for example low end local dimming etc. will light up the letterboxes which looks pretty much terrible. If you have a 55"+ screen with good blacks then the letterboxes are not bad because as I said before you get a cinematic FOV eg. you can see more on the left and right.
 
BTW I forgot to add yes if you zoom the image to remove the bars, you will be cutting large chunks off the left and right of the image and also it will not display at 1:1 pixels so will not look as sharp.
 

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