Widescreen TV????

[Thors1982]

I am very new to audio and video. Including Home Theater. I just got a 42 inch widescreen HDTV 1080i. I also just bought Lord of the Rings Two towers widescreen version. I set my DVD player on 16:9 widescreen, I thought that was correct. However, the lord of the rings still didn't fill up the screen. There were black lines on the top and the bottom. Is this normal, I thought with a widescreen TV and DVD I wouldn't have those.

Can someone point me to a link that will explain this or tell me what im doing wrong. I tried changing the format of the TV but it doesn't really work either.

[kenratboy]

There are many different widescreen formats. Other can explain better, but you will not always have the perfect fit on your screen.

However, you are close, and thats WAY better than LOTR widescreen on a 4:3 TV

[garymd]

Nothing wrong with your set. I have widesceen also and few movies are formatted to fill the screen in w/s format. You can always get a full screen version but you'll miss out on some of the picture. I don't recall he exact format you need to fill the screen entirely but there aren't many movies out there yet in that exact format. Someone in the biz should chime in and give you the technical info.

[Malcolm]

There is wide screen. And there is wide screen. A 16:9 (1.78:1) aspect ratio was chosen for HDTV. Programs produced for HDTV will utilize this format and fill up the screen. OTOH a variety of widescreen formats have been used in the past, and will continued to be used, for motion pictures targeted for theatrical release. Aspect ratios of 1.85:1 and 2.35:1 are common. Some formats have had even higher aspect ratios. Your choices for viewing movies shot in these widescreen theatrical formats are either to get a cropped or pan-and-scan edition that will fill up the screen, or to get the wide screen version and put up with the bars on the top and bottom of your screen.

[nicholtl]

Even though your TV is a mitsubishi, I'm sure it also has different viewing display modes, like the Sony I use. It's probably because you have the picture mode on either "zoom" or "widezoom" or something that artificially converts 4:3 source to widescreen, so you can watch tv without those black bars on the left and right sides. Put it on "full" or something named to that effect and that is the true 16:9 display format. When displayed correctly, LOTR 2 should not have the black bars at the top and bottom.

And by the way, you claim that you're "very new to home theater." Given the system you've put together, it seems you know more about quality components than you give yourself credit for!

[chuckears]

nicholtl is incorrect (sorry); The Two Towers, and any other DVD film with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, will still have black bars on the top and bottom on a 16x9 screen. Malcolm explained it very nicely. Listen to him.

And, once involved in a film like TTT or FOTR, I don't even notice the bars...

[lancestorm]

Yep, everyone seems to have it right on the ratios. The one thing I would look out for the most is avoiding too much of not watching the full picture on your tv. If you are not careful you will get a 'ghost image' of these bars forever on your picture. Just something to be careful about. The booklet that came with the tv will likely describe this as well...something in the range of 15-20% or less of your time should be with pictures not filling the entire screen.

[Thors1982]

Thanks everyone, I read the back of the Two Towers box and it does say 2.35:1 ratio. I just had no clue that there were 3 different widescreen ratios.

And thanks for the comment on my knowledge :-) I did a lot of research and had some help from friends. But I still think my dvd and CD player aren't up to par with everything else. Afterall my DVD player was only like $60.

Also, I did know that the black bars were bad for the TV, usually in a movie like lord of the rings I try to take a 15 minute break in the middle and I switch it back to cable, so it is full screen. I have no clue if that break makes a difference but it can't hurt.

Thanks for the help.

[DrPyro]

Thor-

Actually there are a ton of video formats. To name a few

4x3 = 1.33:1

16x9 = 1.78:1

1.85:1

1.66:1

2.35:1

2.21:1

2.55:1

As you can see, there are quite a few, the most common are the 1.33, 1.78, and 2.35. If you would like to learn more about these formats take a look at the following pagres

http://www.technosound.co.uk/printer.php?pageid=hcg_widescreen

http://hometheaterinfo.com/video1.htm

For a very good description of Anamorphic DVDs, an ABSOULUTE MUST for widescreen TV owners!!!! Read this

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_6_4/feature-article-enhanced-widescreen-november-99.html

Hope this helps understand your new playtoy!! If you have any other questions just ask....

[Lone Palm]

Some movies are letterboxed for 4:3 TVs. Ihave a 16:9. When used in the full screen mode they are stretched. This is really annoying to buy a 16:9 and have to use Cinema2. This fills the screen but the res. goes south. Titanic,The Horse Whisperer, and wing Commander comes to mind.