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A kind of stupid Rant!

RUGERGUNZ
As rants go this is not much of one.


I have notice on TV more and more that lots of programs will have a black bar on top and bottom of the screen. WHY?

When I moved into my house, I finally bought a big-screen TV. I bought it because I wanted a big picture and to be able to sit far away from the TV. But now at times there are 5 inch bands of black on top and bottom of the screen making a big-screen pointless.



Before anyone brings it up, Yes all my settings and aspect ratios are correct. It is a widescreen TV and I have it set to stretch SD channels and HD channels are normal. So the screen is filled with picture until one of these "new" shows comes on.

Off the top of my head I cant think of any offhand, but alot of new music videos are this way.


Has anyone else noticed this?

Stupid rant off.
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Comments

15 comments

Date Votes
  • cmd66
    I don't know why they put those freakin black stripe's across the top and bottom of the screen. Maybe it's to make it seem like your at the theater. I won't hardly watch a movie that's been done in this fashion.
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  • Warpig883
    supposedly you get a larger view is the reason for it

    I don't like it because to get the wider view everything is made smaller-thus the reason for a bigger screen

    tv and 99% of what is on it suckles anyway
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  • He Dog
    It is a movie formatted for widescreen, ie movie theater and the widescreen TV's. In time they will all go this way. That way they do not have to reformat the movie, and you get to buy a new, more expensive TV. Everybody wins right? Well, mabye not but you get to have non-consensual sex, with you on the receiving end.
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  • oldgunner
    Commonly known as "letterbox." Originally used for wide screen theaters. Your TV aspect ratio can be expanded to fit it with a click or two on the remote control, but when you do it, picture quality is degraded somewhat.
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  • dakotashooter2
    Movies and programs for TV are formatted to account for the narrowers screen. In the past in movies the were formatted for theaters and played on TV the outside edges of the movie were basically "cropped off" meaning that you were only getting a partial view of the action unless the whole image it was downsized to fit the width of the screen which would make it harder to view. Bigger TVs allowed them to still maintain a viewable size but show the movie as it was intended to be viewed (wide screen). The hitch is because a TV is closer to a square than a movie screen is in order get the full witdh you have some blank screen on the top and bottom.
    On some movies it really doesn't make much difference but on many if the full width of the scene is not shown significant parts of the movie are lost. For example a 4'x 6' screen filled with buffalo is going to mage a significantly larger impact on the viewes than trimming that view down to 4'x 4'. In most movies a wide view will be more desireable than a tall view. It's all about the visual impact the director wants to make.
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  • slipgate
    I don't think you should be seeing the lines if you have a widescreen tv. Try calling the manufacturer support.

    BTW: These lines are not added, on fullscreen, you are losing some of the shot, widescreen is as it was filmed.

    "If you measure your home theater in inches, you don't have a home theater!"
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  • Permanently deleted user
    ITs not all "made for tv movies" or made for widescreen...there are soaps that have the same thing....Guiding light is one I believe that has the black top and bottom.. ..but not all the way thru the show....If I remember right, it changed bout half way thru...will have to watch it and see...cant even remember what channel it comes on
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  • p3skyking
    A movie with panoramic views (Like How the West was Won, The Sound of Music or Lawrence of Arabia are best viewed in widescreen.

    It's like watching the action through a tank view port rather than a paper towel roll to put it simply.
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  • MosinNagantDisciple
    I will not buy a movie unless it is widescreen. Many movies formatted in fullscreen use a bizarre-looking technique called 'pan and scan', where in order to compensate for the reduced viewing area, the picture will shift left and right based upon where the most action or dialogue is taking place.

    Say, for instance, you had a scene in a movie where a character walks from the left side of the screen to the right side. Well, since you cant show both sides at once in fullscreen, the view will center on the character as he walks. Technically it works, but it is very noticeable and distracting. Look for it the next time you watch something that was "formatted to fit your screen."
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  • 11BravoCrunchie
    It's for widescreen format tvs. You actually see more on the sides of the picture because it's a wider angle lens on the camera.

    If you have a widescreen format TV, then you'll get a full screen picture.
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  • Colt Super
    I don't.

    Doug
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  • RUGERGUNZ
    Ok, most people have not noticed this phenomenon that I am seeing.

    Again, my TV is a Widescreen format and HD capable.

    I have all the aspect ratios correct. For SD channels I stretch the broadcast to fill out the left and right sides of the screen. For HD broadcasts it is normal aspect ratio.

    It is only on certain shows, not the channel that have these black lines. I have seen certain commercials, and mostly it is music videos but I seem to be seeing it more often.

    I think that BlackRoses has seen what I am talking about.

    For some reason the people producing the shows are thinking that adding black bars is a good thing.
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  • slipgate
    If the aspect ratio "looks" correct and the image is not stretched, then they may be adding these lines for "effect". That is really annoying.
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  • Colt Super
    I get the same effect.

    According to the people that should know, it isn't fixable.

    D.
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  • Brandon2e
    It basic by recording the movie is 2.85:1 we are able to watch the movie in its origional format (for widescreen this would be called anamorphic) if you are buying letterbox or 16:1 you will always have bars. BUY ANAMORPHIC NO BARS!!!
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