Posted by chris@ukaskew at pc-80-192-34-99-tr.blueyonder.co.uk on December 31, 2002 at 12:56:54:
In Reply to: Who can clear up a widescreen tv question for me? posted by Jewelz on December 31, 2002 at 11:45:56:
: Ok, so why is that even though I have a widescreen television, I still have the black bars when watching some widescreen version dvds? For example, I still have the black bars when watching Attack of the Clones...am I doing something wrong? Thanks for your help!
: -Jewelz
Widescreen TVs are a trade off, the 16x9 aspect ratio (of which 99% of TVs are) are a kind of halfway house between a cinema screen and the traditional TV screen, therefore a 2.35:1 movie will still show black bars top and bottom because the image is still "too wide" for the screen, but a 1.85:1 probably wont. If it bothers you too much you can zoom the picture in but you will lose some information from either side. I did find a really good technical explanation on the web once but I can't remember where it is now.
Chris