Movie aspect playback

[dcorrea]

I noticed something last night that kind of baffled me. I noticed that some dvd movies that are widescreen still show bars at the top and bottom of my 50 inch dlp television even though my tv is set to widescreen. I noticed this on Tombstone and on one of the Lord of the Rings movies. Most of my other movies take up the full screen like its supposed to. Are these movies purposely like this or is it something else?

[PolkThug]

They are purposely like that. Directors have the freedom to use different ratios, which may translate to black bars on our TV's.

Regards,
PolkThug

[Dr. Spec]

Agreed, anamorphic widescreen aspect ratios will differ.

Also, be careful with the older "non-anamorphic" widescreen releases (like Titanic). These need to be viewed in the "4:3 Expanded" (or equivalent on your set) aspect ratio, NOT the usual "16:9 Full" reserved for all current anamorphic releases.

[gregure]

Any movie that boasts a 16x9 ratio will fill your screen when the DVD player is set to widescreen tv. This aspect is also shown as 1.85:1. The wider aspect that will show bars even in widescreen, like LOTR, Master and Commander, etc. is 2.35:1. This is used for "bigger" films like epic movies and such. Sometimes just a stylistic thing too. You can usually tell in the movie theater. When a film is 2.35:1 the screen will be wider and shorter (usually), but when it is 1.85:1 the screen will be thinner and taller. Again, 1.85:1 will fill your screen, 2.35:1 will not. Every DVD says on the back of the case which aspect it's in.
Some movies, like older DVDs or foreign films, like Dr. Spec mentioned, do not use anamorphic, or are not programmed for wide tvs. Often, you will need to use the ZOOM setting on your screen, or STRETCHED to expand the picture to full screen. Most DVDs are not like that these days, except for small budget foriegn films.