the_cinemaphile's_lament digital widescreen wicker man i rent most of my videos through a little mom and pop store staffed by people who know their shit. i was in the store the other day and heard someone griping about the fact that now that they had a DVD player, they had to put up with "those annoying black bars" on top and bottom of the screen and that they wondered why they were there i almost crapped my pants with the help of the monitors in the store i gave a little object lesson in the widescreen versus full screen debate, i'm sure everyone but the clerks thought i was completely off my fucking rocker the reason that those "annoying black bars" are on your screen" is this: the "aspect ratio" (relation of width to height) of a theatre screen and the average film is not the same as that of a television the ratio of a TV screen is 4:3 (for every four inches of width, 3 inches of height) the ratio of most films is quite different, either 1.85:1 or (almost twice the width to height difference) in the case of films shot on a grander, more spectacular scope 2.35:1 so, when the film/digital source material is transferred for home viewing, to preserve the image as it appeared in theatres, the shot is pulled back slightly to allow the full frame, resulting in the black bars since an image shot at the standard theatrical aspect ratio cannot be "stretched" to fit a television screen to view a fullscreen image one must do one or two of the following: crop the left and right sides of the image to bring it into conformity with the 4:3 ratio of the TV screen or zoom in on the focal point of each shot through a series of new edits and cuts to the film to accomodate the need to "pan and scan" the image (for an example of the "Pan and Scan" method at work, there are a couple of shots in the movie "A League of Their Own" where you can see the the background of a shot go out of focus as the view is forcibly shifted from the left side of the image to the right side , in the widescreen presentation, the shift is unnecessary because both of the focal points of the scene remained onscreen and in view throughout, preserving the image the way the filmmaker intended....when you rent or watch a movie on TV and it includes a disclaimer in the beginning that it has been "formatted to fit your screen" then it means that the film has been subjected to one or both of the above mentioned processes for fullscreen viewing yeah, it might be a trivial thing and there are other more worthwhile topics under the heavens to discuss, but when i watch a movie, i wwanna see it the way it was meant to be seen, not have it tampered with because people who didn't know any better don't like their movies with "those annoying black bars" on them (i say that because Wal-Mart and Blockbuster, those two anti-christs of entertainment have on occasion, lobbied studios to make fullscreen the norm and widescreen the option the way it was back in the days of the videocassette just because people have complained about the black bars...sheesh.) 021006 ... Sonya I think the black bars aren't so bad depending on how big your television set is. Usually 30 inches or more practically makes a "home theater" viewing experience and the bars don't matter much because it's almost like being in a theater. The actual picture dimension itself is large enough and comfortable enough on the eyes. The main issue is that most people can afford DVD players and DVDs but they either don't want to or can't shell out extra money for a larger TV set that would make the widescreen experience better. I say keep the widescreen DVDs and adjust the the marketing/pricing/production of TVs of certain sizes. 021007 ... silentbob loves you when movies are filmed, they are made to be shown in theaters. one of the reviews chasing_amy got was bad because in one scene their heads are cut off at the top of the screen. the reason their heads were cut off at the top of the screen was because they were watching a vhs copy that had been formatted to fit the tv screen, and not the original version kevin_smith had filmed. movies aren't made for tv. they are made for theaters. watching a movie with the black bars is a small price to pay for actually seeing the entire movie, the way the director intended, as opposed to a cropped and stretched version of what they were trying to do. 021007 ... user24 If I am distracted by black bars while watching a movie, it is because the movie is not directed well enough to entrance me. 040723 ... newme widescreen is king 040723 ... mademoiselle amen to that 040723 what's it to you? who go blather from