Recently, I've picked up two new DVD's (Wolf Creek and Employee of the Month). Both of these disc's boxes and the disc's themselves say 'widescreen' on them.
Yet, when I play these movies in my DVD player, they both play in fullscreen. I've gone through and double-checked my settings on both my HDTV and DVD player, and both are set for 16:9 widescreen formats. Also, when I play an older widescreen movie (The Matrix, Napolean Dynamite), they play in widescreen perfectly.
The only thing that I can think of is if my idea of widescreen (long, narrow picture with black bars above and below said picture) has been wrong all along.
Anyone out there that can help me with this? I'm stumped as to what to do.
If you have an HDTV then it will be designed to take widescreen images so the bars won't be necessary. as they are designed with 16:9 or 16:10 aspect
The bars are called "Letterboxing" and it is designed so that Widescreen Films can be viewed on 4:3 TV sets.
What you're experiencing is perfectly normal behaviour
Okay, thanks for that clarification D4rk.
I actually enjoy watching movies with the letterboxing effect taking place. Oh well though.
hehe you could get two strips of black card and stick them to your television to recreate it
Don't forget that widescreen movies are anything wider than a 4:3 (or 1.33) aspect ratio. A 16x9 set will not have black bars for aspect ratios near 1.78 (like 1.85). Wolf Creek is 1.78. The Matrix is 2.35
if you're using the 360 to watch dvd's then youre also probably using the component cables, right? well, the 360 wont upscale movies to 720p unless you use the VGA adapter.
No, not using the 360 to watch DVD's. I've got a prog scan up-converting DVD player with HDMI for all that goodness. It was just a matter of AR confusion. I just need to take an extra minute and search the back of the DVD box to see what its AR is.
1.33 = 4:3 = Full Frame on standard old school tv. All old TV shows are 4:3, as are most/a lot of movies before the 50's or so. Kubrick also did some movies in full screen. You get bars on the left/right of the screen on WS tv's, unless you have certain stretch modes.
1.78 = 16/9 = Widescreen. Narrow bars on standard TV's (top/bottom), no bars on widescreen tvs. Generally used for comedies and HDTV shows.
Higher than 1.78 (2.35 for example). Most likey see bars on the widescreen and regular screen TV's (top and bottom). Generally used for action or cinematic films (like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly).
for 1.78 and higher, there is letterboxing (black boxes on top and bottom) on 1.33 ar tv's, and higher than 1.78 there is letterboxing on pretty much all TV's, minus stretching and what-not. Anamorphic Widescreen is a type of wide screen that basically allows for a better picture by using more of the film area and compressing it down to whatever desired AR. Hope this explains all.
Kubrick also did some movies in full screen.
Now that's a sign of a man that has some movie knowledge. Most people don't know that fact. Listen to Harmonica, people! He knows what's up.
Now that's a sign of a man that has some movie knowledge. Most people don't know that fact. Listen to Harmonica, people! He knows what's up.
I used to hate WS until I watched the good, the bad, and the ugly in widescreen. This completely turned me around to loving WS movies. I generally watch the classics, and I now do whatever I can to watch the director/cinematogrphers true aspect ratio, whether that be full frame or widescreen to whatever degree. Kubrick threw a curveball on me with Full Metal Jacket (of which the commentary or imdb.com set me straight), but then I knew what to expect on some of his other films.
FMJ was my first Kubrick experience. Good stuff. I was not so accepting of 2001 or A Clockwork Orange until 2nd viewings many years later. Now 2001 is one of my favorite all time flicks, after reading the book and discussing it with others. Makes so much more sense than it did in high school.