Stupid 16:9 TV

I just purchased a new 16:9 TV and a DVD player. I was sooo looking forward to thumbing my nose at every "widescreen" formatted movie. I hate those black bars.

Once I got everything hooked up, I went to Blockbuster and specifically rented a widescreen movie just so I could laugh the whole time while not seeing those black bars. Here's what pisses me off...the bars were STILL THERE! I tried every format my TV was capable of outputting. (Stretch, zoom, standard, narrow, etc...) Still, those damnable black bars persisted.

What good is getting a 16:9 TV if you still have to see those bars?! :mad: Well, anyway, if anyone out there is a home entertainment buff and knows what my problem is, I'd love to hear how to fix it. Otherwise, I guess I'm just posting here to blow off steam.

The DVD player is going to format the picture for output...so you need to check your settings there. If it's anything like my DVD player it'll be in the generic setup. Look for "TV Type" or something similar.

Check settings on your DVD definately. You should be able to select what aspect ratio you want to view it at.

Oooohhh.....duh. I didn't even think about that. I thought the TV would handle all of that. I'll tell you, if it ain't computers, I don't know how to do it.... :rolleyes: Thanks!

Wow, this is interesting. Let us know how it turns out. I always thought it would automatically take care of those black bars too.

I have the Sony KV-36FV16. It has enchanced 16:9 enchanced.

I pulled this from a Website selling the TV: "If you like movies on DVD, you`ll love this TV; although its screen has the standard 4:3 aspect ratio, Sony`s ingenious 16:9 Enhanced mode makes the most of "anamorphic" widescreen DVDs by displaying them in a 16:9 widescreen "window." So basically, when I start a DVD, the picture is in a screen with bars, and when I enable 16:9 it compresses the screen for unbeleivable clarity, still with black bars.

Just a question, why do some people hate the black bars and or Widescreen? My sister hates widescreen because she oddly enough thinks that having black bars she misses some of the picutre!!!

well, I have always hated the black bars. I can't seem to forget about them while I'm watching the movie. It's very distracting. But now, it's doubly worse. I already have a "short" screen, so when the black bars come out, I have a very wide and very short viewing window.

BTW...I'm at work right now. I'll go home and try out that VCR setting thing and post what happens with it, just in case anyone is curious.

Yea, it's sort of like games on a computer. You set your screen to 1024X768 but when you enter most games, they default you to 640X480 or 800X600. Go figure.

I just bought a 47" HD TV 16:9 Widescreen TV. The make is a Panasonic. I messed up just like you but I fixed the issue in the DVD Player. I bought the panasonic brand because it has a "Justify" Feature that pretty much stretches the image upwards so the lines aren't too appearant. It also makes the people look less fat on the screen.

By the way - Does anyone run HDTV at home? Any Home theater people out there? I need to know if Componant output is better or Svideo output better. I just want to make the best use od my 1080 lines od resolution.

I work at the shack and from what I have been told and read comp is better, we also have alot of people using fibre.

Thanks Radical, I just wanted to re-affirm what I've read. I'm using Fibre for sound but I've always thought the Svideo was the best until I heard of the Componant. Another question though... must you use the componant wires to achieve HDTV or can you use the Svideo aswell?

Fixed it! Thanks. There was a setting on the DVD player that defaulted the output to 4:3. I just set it to 16:9 and voila! I also figured out that the DVD player wasn't outputting in "Progressive Scan" mode by default. I had to turn that on! What the he!! is that about?!

Anyway, thanks for the advice. Oh...and I do know that component video gives better picture than Svideo. I'm not sure about fibre. Actually, I think this is the first I've heard of it.

Home entertainment is getting so complicated... Now I know how a novice computer user feels. :p

Glad to see it all worked out, Fool.

[quote]Originally posted by FooL:
<strong>I also figured out that the DVD player wasn't outputting in "Progressive Scan" mode by default. I had to turn that on! What the he!! is that about?!</strong><hr></blockquote>

Progressive Scan gives you Better picture. It's just better than the cheaper DVD Players. Thanks for the bit of information on the Component input!