Panasonic OLED TV TH-65HZ1000Z lack of screen aspect to remove black bars

Madest Maxwell

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I have recently purchased this TV replacing a Samsung QA65Q7FNAS and am already having regrets. The main issue is the screen aspect is 90% unavailable eg it doesn't even appear under "screen image" for all apps like Netflix Prime Video etc so all movies are shown on only 66% of the screen with the rest of the screen being black bars. This has always rankled me to see 33% of the screen black...a large screen which I paid good money for.

I use a Sony UPD X800 blu-ray player to stream movies via Plex. With my "old" Samsung I could use screen aspect to zoom but not so the Panasonic. It seems the most restricitve TV even when it comes to trying to change aspect. Even some TV series are now being screened in 1:85:1. which didn't happen on my Samsung. Panasonic seems to delight in reducing the actual viewing screen, and because the blacks are so convincingly black, the black bars are just more annoying and a reminder of what I am missing. I don't have a problem with some stretching at all and wish I could be given that option. After waiting 1 hour 20 minutes for a Panasonic rep here to answer the phone no help was provided . The stream from my blu-ray cannot be adjusted apparently. The help suggested turning off Vera link mode but I can't vera mode under option on the blu-ray player or TV.

Are there any media servers eg Nvidia TV pro, Vera 4+ that use Plex that can serve up movies in a format that be aspect adjusted by the Panasonic ? My next step will be having to buy a BenQ TK800M 4K Home Cinema Projector for movies because 33% of my big screen has been nicked by lack of aspect adjustment. I am surprised this isn't frustrating for other viewers..am I the only person who likes movies filling the expensive screen I paid for ?
 
The way things are filmed in aspect ratio 2.35:1 unfortunately. Can't say it's bothered me, something always been used to and has always been there.

Zooming in and stretching the picture is definitely not the way forward though, lose so much quality in the picture itself doing that.

You could always get a projector with an anarmophic lens and a 2.35:1 screen if you don't want black bars.
 
Thanks. I haven't heard of projectors with anarmophic lenses but they are not cheap and I don't have a dedicated movie room, just a humble lounge. The Benq won't change the aspect but at least the whole image will be larger on my current 100 inch screen. But I have still never had a problem with making characters slightly lose weight or disappear off the side of the screen while zooming !! If only I was allowed to choose with the Panasonic. Perhaps this model of Panasonic is the worst for aspect adjustment? But I have to admit the black bars have a great, hi resolution intensity !!
 
You would rather watch a 2.35:1 movie stretched vertically to fill a 16:9 screen or zoom in, with the loss of a good proportion of each side of the picture (not to mention the loss of resolution/quality) rather than watch it with black bars ? Really ?!
 
No zero windup sadly. Call me old fashioned but I like the screen I paid lots of money for to be filled with picture....otherwize it's a bit like buying a glass of beer that is only 66% full It is a large percentage to be missing, not a triffle. I have not noticed a serious loss of resolution, but no doubt sometimes have missed some of the action at the screen's periphery. It enables actors to lose weight immediately ! It has never mattered to the central plotline..and also because I don't know or care what I am missing because these are tradeoffs I am prepared to make to a full screen. I wish I didn't have to zoom ( well, Panasonic put an end to thoat anyhow with this model !) but it is nice to ahve the option. I will never forget my initial disappointment 20 plus years ago lugging home a huge CRT TV with fancy new blu-ray player only to find one third of the screen was possibly blue in those days. I guess at least the colour of the bars has changed!
I remain surprised there aren't more people out there screaming I WANT MY FULL SCREEN, but realize I am a minnow swimming against the tide of dysfunctional technology. Many seem to mumble with gratitiude when they receive their two thirds glass of beer.
 
I have recently purchased this TV replacing a Samsung QA65Q7FNAS and am already having regrets. The main issue is the screen aspect is 90% unavailable eg it doesn't even appear under "screen image" for all apps like Netflix Prime Video etc so all movies are shown on only 66% of the screen with the rest of the screen being black bars. This has always rankled me to see 33% of the screen black...a large screen which I paid good money for.

I use a Sony UPD X800 blu-ray player to stream movies via Plex. With my "old" Samsung I could use screen aspect to zoom but not so the Panasonic. It seems the most restricitve TV even when it comes to trying to change aspect. Even some TV series are now being screened in 1:85:1. which didn't happen on my Samsung. Panasonic seems to delight in reducing the actual viewing screen, and because the blacks are so convincingly black, the black bars are just more annoying and a reminder of what I am missing. I don't have a problem with some stretching at all and wish I could be given that option. After waiting 1 hour 20 minutes for a Panasonic rep here to answer the phone no help was provided . The stream from my blu-ray cannot be adjusted apparently. The help suggested turning off Vera link mode but I can't vera mode under option on the blu-ray player or TV.

Are there any media servers eg Nvidia TV pro, Vera 4+ that use Plex that can serve up movies in a format that be aspect adjusted by the Panasonic ? My next step will be having to buy a BenQ TK800M 4K Home Cinema Projector for movies because 33% of my big screen has been nicked by lack of aspect adjustment. I am surprised this isn't frustrating for other viewers..am I the only person who likes movies filling the expensive screen I paid for ?
If anything like my JZ2000, aspect ratio doesn't work with a 4K signal but does with a 1080p signal.
So try setting X800 to output 1080p. OK for blu-ray but not for UHD.
 
Nice ! Thanks two2midnight. I changed the blue-ray from auto to 1080p and now under aspect settings the 16:9 overscan option has become available which gains me a tiny tiny bit more screen but the precious zoom remains ghosted out
 
Nice ! Thanks two2midnight. I changed the blue-ray from auto to 1080p and now under aspect settings the 16:9 overscan option has become available which gains me a tiny tiny bit more screen but the precious zoom remains ghosted out
You should be able to change the aspect too. From memory, zoom is available with I think as-is or original or something like that sort of name. So two step, get the right aspect and then you can use zoom controls.
 
Yay success. After changing my blue-ray setting output to 1080p I could then click on aspect which allowed me to access zoom and bingo.....sorted. I am so stoked. I will compare the picture to 4k non zoomed but call me old fashioned I love a full screen. A TV that shows 66% of the screen goes from being a magnificent 65 inch to 45 inch basically.
Again many thanks two2midnight fo that helpful suggestion...very much appreciated.....and it worked !!
 
Yay success. After changing my blue-ray setting output to 1080p I could then click on aspect which allowed me to access zoom and bingo.....sorted. I am so stoked. I will compare the picture to 4k non zoomed but call me old fashioned I love a full screen. A TV that shows 66% of the screen goes from being a magnificent 65 inch to 45 inch basically.
Again many thanks two2midnight fo that helpful suggestion...very much appreciated.....and it worked !!

A 1080p image zoomed in yuck! I don't want to sound rude here, but if you can't notice the difference of the 4k black bar image, I would highly suggest you book an eye test in.
 
Difference between 4k and 1080. I think there is a difference but there is debate about how crucial that difference always is for all viewing.
The higher the definition the better for me, hence, buying gear with great definition, but I will always have a problem losing 33% of my screen to movies and this is a compromise that works for me. Bigger size screen viewing area equals bigger presence and impact all round, which is why screens have got prorgessivly bigger over time. To slightly lose some comparative hair colour sheen on two men wearing toupees in different resolutions is a trade off I'll make for now. I love enjoying the highest resolutions in most TV generated media from most major platforms, it is just some movies I will watch in magnificent full scree not shrunk to 66%.
 
Each to their own I guess, but my mind still boggles that anybody would enjoy a film with the sides cropped out, and even less so when it's stretched so EVERYTHING is distorted. It's so preposterous that I initially throught you were trolling us.
 
Indeed. Funnily enough watched Dune and yes, Timothée Hal Chalamet did look slimmer than ever, but when I reverted to "two thirds" screen vision, the distortion does not really seem that bad and a trade off I am prepared to or forced to make to enjoy watching a 65 inch TV in 65 inches.

I still can't believe I am the only person on the world who doesn't enjoy seeing one third of my expensive screen blank. Since the vast majority of media is watched on screens that are "trimmed" there lies the problem in my opinion. I have felt the same for 20 years...ripped off !
 
I suppose it's really down to how you look at things. Your point of view (which is no less valid than mine) is that when watching cinemascope material you are not getting to enjoy the full screensize of your TV. The more common view is that it doesn't matter how much of the screen is being used as long as the filmmaker's vision is being preserved. They chose to shoot the film in the wider aspect ratio for artistic reasons. How the shot is framed is very important to the feel of the scene. Cropping the image takes something away from the art. And stretching the image just looks strange.

I have to admit that I do find it particularly enjoyable when the movie does naturally use the whole screen. Aliens (1986) is one that comes to mind.
 

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