Bars on top of screen

S

snuffy1

Guest
I just bought a sony 36 inch tronitron... its very good but for when i play DVDs. I have a sony NS-300 DVD player and when i play DVDs there are bars on the top and bottom of the screen. I have set the Tv to 16:9-wide screen and the player to wide screen yet the bars still appear. This is one of the reasons i got the wide screen tv???

I know i can put the Tv to "zoom" for the full picture but this just strecthes the picture upwards to fill the screen and the picture does not look right and looses some of the edges...

Please please please someone explain what i have to do...
I also read on the back of the dvd cases something about 2.35:1 aspect ratio... Does this have something to do with it... I only got the tv yesterday and am going mad...

thanx everyone...
 
The 2.35:1 on the dvd case refers to the aspect ratio the film was shot in and this ratio is 'meant' to have the bars - due to the length of the shots fitting your/any widescreen tv. Films shot at 1.85:1 will fill a widescreen tv fully with the image/action alone. As one program sais, "There is nothing wrong with your tv set...".
It is a common misconception that a widescreen set will rid the black bars for all widescreen movies, which is not so for all aspect ratios.
 
Thanks for the reply. I thought stupidly that the bars where got rid of... Oh well the quality is still amazing...

One more question... What sort of percentage are in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio... And which type do you movie lovers prefer...

Thanx a million for your help... cheers...
 
Originally posted by snuffy1
What sort of percentage are in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio

Who knows! But look out for 1.66:1 and 1.78:1 too ;)

Originally posted by snuffy1
... And which type do you movie lovers prefer...
This question makes no sense I'm afraid. The movie should be watched in the aspect ratio that it was originally filmed in. Some films are shot in 1.85:1, some are shot in 2.35:1. Some are even 2.40:1 or higher. Stanley Kubrick liked 4:3 and 1.66:1. It varies... Sadly, not all DVD transfers adhere to the original aspect ratio, so sometimes they crop movies and you therefore miss out on some of the action! It's always best to use a site like www.dvdcompare.org.uk to help you compare various DVD regions to see if there are differences in aspect ratios. Also, use www.imdb.com to look up what the original aspect ratio was.


Make sure you use the "wide" setting for anamorphic material and the "zoom" setting for non-anamorphic widescreen material. If you use any other setting, you are distorting the picture. For 4:3 material, use "4:3" mode or the "Smart" setting. The "Smart" setting zooms in a little and thus cuts off a little of the top and bottom of the picture, and also stretches the picture more at the sides while leaving the centre intact. Some people like it because it gets rid of the black bars at the side for 4:3 material, and if you like it then use it!
 
I wish I had £1 for every time this question has been asked......
 
Make sure you use the "wide" setting for anamorphic material and the "zoom" setting for non-anamorphic widescreen material. If you use any other setting, you are distorting the picture.

Squirrel God, can you explain exactly what you mean by this? My understanding of anamorphic/non anamorphic must be slightly different to yours.

Thanks
 
Originally posted by bibooo
Squirrel God, can you explain exactly what you mean by this? My understanding of anamorphic/non anamorphic must be slightly different to yours.
Bilboo,

You need to use the "wide" setting for anamorphic material (i.e. widescreen within a 16:9 box) because such material needs to be stretched horizontally before it looks right (it is stored on the DVD in a deliberately distorted format - I won't go into the reasons why). That's what the "wide" setting does.

You need to use the "zoom" setting for non-anamorphic widescreen material (i.e. widescreen within a 4:3 box) or you end up watching it with black bars across the top, bottom, left and right. The "zoom" is just like the zoom on a camera - it zooms in! (If the aspect ratio is 2.35:1, when you zoom you will still get black bars at the top and bottom, but you will lose the ones at the sides. If the aspect ratio is 1.85:1 or 1.78:1, then zooming will mean you don't get any black bars).

So, if you use the "wide" setting with non-anamorphic widescreen material then you will end up stretching the picture horizontally - which means the picture is distorted.

Likewise, if you use the "zoom" setting with anamorphic material, then it will not be stretched horizontally (because remember anamorphic material NEEDS to be stretched to look right) - thus, it will be distorted.

Does that clear it up for you?
 
Originally posted by nigel
I wish I had £1 for every time this question has been asked......


I wish I had a pound for every time someone said they wish they had a pound for this question having been asked:p :D
 
Squirrel Dog,

Where do I start?

Firstly I am not five years old, nor do I have the intellectual capacity of a small woodland creature. Your rather patronising tone is far from necessary.

I would also add that I take home cinema very seriously; I am a movie fanatic who has been studying every aspect of media for the last 4 years to degree level.

Thanks for explaining zoom so condescendingly, and thanks for leaving the complicated anamorphic explanation alone; I don't think my primitive intellect could have handled possibly one of the simplest concepts in dvd technology!

My television is in wide mode 80% of the time, and as far as I'm concerned it is the "default" mode for all wide screen TVs. Therefore I rarely have to switch to wide when watching dvds, it simply is in wide mode already. On the occasions when I watch a 4:3 transmission, the television switches to 4:3 automatically, if left in this mode and I decide to watch a dvd, then the television will switch back to wide.

You need to use the "zoom" setting for non-anamorphic widescreen material (i.e. widescreen within a 4:3 box) or you end up watching it with black bars across the top, bottom, left and right.

I agree with the part which refers to black bars at the top and bottom, but I have never watched a non-anamorphic dvd which displays black bars at the sides. This could be down to dvd player/tv type, so I will not infer that this statement is incorrect.

In the instances when wide produces black bars for a 1.78:1 film (non-anamorphic), I have to manually switch to cinema mode (zoom); this obviously zooms in and removes the borders from top and bottom, stretching the picture vertically and thus preserving the original aspect ratio of the film.

I think we both know what we are talking about; I just needed some sort of clarification of your original explanation. Unless of course I don't know what I am talking about, but then I'm sure you will "advise" me otherwise (in the nicest possible way).

A new member with a low post count doesn't necessarily have a low IQ or little understanding of the concepts these forums discuss.
 
Originally posted by bibooo
Squirrel Dog,

Where do I start?

Firstly I am not five years old, nor do I have the intellectual capacity of a small woodland creature. Your rather patronising tone is far from necessary.

I would also add that I take home cinema very seriously; I am a movie fanatic who has been studying every aspect of media for the last 4 years to degree level.

Thanks for explaining zoom so condescendingly, and thanks for leaving the complicated anamorphic explanation alone; I don't think my primitive intellect could have handled possibly one of the simplest concepts in dvd technology!

My television is in wide mode 80% of the time, and as far as I'm concerned it is the "default" mode for all wide screen TVs. Therefore I rarely have to switch to wide when watching dvds, it simply is in wide mode already. On the occasions when I watch a 4:3 transmission, the television switches to 4:3 automatically, if left in this mode and I decide to watch a dvd, then the television will switch back to wide.



I agree with the part which refers to black bars at the top and bottom, but I have never watched a non-anamorphic dvd which displays black bars at the sides. This could be down to dvd player/tv type, so I will not infer that this statement is incorrect.

In the instances when wide produces black bars for a 1.78:1 film (non-anamorphic), I have to manually switch to cinema mode (zoom); this obviously zooms in and removes the borders from top and bottom, stretching the picture vertically and thus preserving the original aspect ratio of the film.

I think we both know what we are talking about; I just needed some sort of clarification of your original explanation. Unless of course I don't know what I am talking about, but then I'm sure you will "advise" me otherwise (in the nicest possible way).

A new member with a low post count doesn't necessarily have a low IQ or little understanding of the concepts these forums discuss.
Bilpoo,

I wasn't being patronising at all. Read your original question back in the context of the thread - how am I supposed to know what your level of background knowledge is??????

I'd advise you to be less reactionary and aggressive next time to someone who was merely trying to help you. I now understand why your signature reads:

I am starting to become aware that my posts are being ignored.
As you know, non-anamorphic material does not have the increased increased number of horizontal scan lines (vertical resolution) that anamorphic material does. So it's actually matted with black bars top and bottom within a 4:3 frame. Therefore, watching it in 4:3 mode will yield the black bars on each side. The perspective is correct in 4:3 but zooming up from 4:3 removes black bars left and right. Of course, 1.66:1 material (e.g. 12 Angry Men) will exhibit black bars left and right when zoomed to 14:9, but when zoomed further the black side bars will be gone, but so will the top and bottom areas of the picture.

You will find many explanations of anamorphic on the forum as it has been covered numerous times so if you're not happy with the above, then a search will surely yield several posts that meet with your satisfaction.

You might also want to be clearer and more precise with your questions in future. Only then will you receive the answers you're after.
 
Bilbooo - BELT UP!
The guy was being helpful and answering a question which has been asked umpteen times before if you could be bothered to search for it.
Reacting like that will just mean people will ignore you in the future. Or you'll get banned from the forums.

Snuffy1 and all - 2 examples where taking a widescreen movie and pan and scanning it completely screws it up:
1) Alien when the alien rises up behind Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) before it kills him. The cropped picture shows him in the middle but the alien in the far right of the picture is out of shot.
2) The Longest Day when Richard Burton asks the American soldier what is odd about the dead German. The answer? His boots are on the wrong feet. But you can't see that because the cropped shot just shows the Germans crotch and his feet are out of shot left and right.
 
Spectre,

Yes, I could be bothered to search for the answers, but I wanted Squirrel Boy's explanation. After reading the rather patronising response, I was less than happy.

Telling me to belt up and threatening to ban me seems a very strange reaction; I will take your advice and refrain from posting on these forums in future, unless I have to.

My experience so far have been less than satisfactory; people are rude, patronising, ungrateful or just ignore any useful information I might have to offer.
 
bibooo:

Whilst I don't want to get into the semantics of the tone of yours and/or Squirrel God's posts........

This statement, by squirrel god:

Make sure you use the "wide" setting for anamorphic material and the "zoom" setting for non-anamorphic widescreen material. If you use any other setting, you are distorting the picture.

was quite accurate, although, to be fair, the terminology used by different TV manufacturers to describe 'wide' and 'zoom' differ. I've seen 'full' and 'normal' and others. Nevertheless, squirrel god was right.

Which suggests that your response:

Squirrel God, can you explain exactly what you mean by this? My understanding of anamorphic/non anamorphic must be slightly different to yours.

might tend to indicate that

....nor do I have the intellectual capacity of a small woodland creature.... I am a movie fanatic who has been studying every aspect of media for the last 4 years to degree level. ....

would not be a fact that someone, like squirrel god (or me for that matter) would be likely to infer or assume.

I'm afraid I have to say that squirrel god's response, in the context of the above, was in no way inappropriate.
 
Don'y worry Bilboo...
There is nothing worse than asking for help, only to have some smart alec take the trouble to explain things in a nice clear way, when you are after a far more detailed and complex discussion that will allow others to see you in your true light.

We all see how frustrating it must be when no one understands how intelligent, reasonable, polite and considerate you obviously are...
 
Originally posted by bibooo
My experience so far have been less than satisfactory; people are rude, patronising, ungrateful or just ignore any useful information I might have to offer.


Originally posted by bibooo
Apart from import duty, customs charges, excessive shipping fees, having to purchase a step-down converter and the fact that the majority of US TVs are NTSC only, there aren't many reasons not to buy one.

An expression about people and glasshouses comes to mind.
 
Originally posted by Ian J





An expression about people and glasshouses comes to mind.


I preferred the original 3 pigs version myself, but no doubt a contemporary degree-laden member will cite cause for derision:rolleyes: :p :D
 

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