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A dumb question about dvds, players and tvs

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PabloP

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I brought home a 16 by 9 widescreen tv the other day. Put a movie, one of the recent James Bond movies, in my old Toshiba 3109 dvd player, and couldn't make the picture fill up the screen. Black on top and bottom, like with my old 4/3 tv. Used the setup function on the dvd player to improve matters by setting it for 16/9, but still, with the tv set on widescreen, there are black bands on top and bottom.
Except . . . the intro materials on the dvd fill up the screen, as does the extra cd they give you about making the movie.
So, here's my question, are new dvds formatted wider than 16/9, and do new dvd players have a facility for filling up a 16/9 tv picture with the newer wider format?

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Re: A dumb question about dvds, players and tvs - rico 13:30:50 12/26/03 (3)
There are two theatrical aspect ratios mainly in use today: 1.85 x 1 and 2.35 X 1. Widscreen 16.9 TV is 1.78 X 1, a hybrid, chosen because it is an average of the two film ratios and standard TV's 1.33 X 1.
When a theatrical film is shown on DVD (or laserdisc or VHS) if the correct FILM aspect ratio is maintained, then you won't see quite all of the 1.85 films and the 2.35 films will still be letterboxed, although much less so than on standard TV.
Cinematographer argued for a 1.85 ratio for TVs but they were too late.
- Thanks - PabloP 14:15:03 12/26/03 (2)
  So most dvds will still be letterboxed. Do new dvd players have a way to play them fullscreen, other than zooming?
  - Re: Thanks - rico 06:32:57 12/27/03 (1)
    Fortunately for those of us who want to see films on video in the correct aspect ratio DVDs were never "dumbed down" like most VHS tapes and most are letterboxed. Further, almost all of the letterboxing (except for early DVD efforts) is "anamorophic"
    (i.e., enhanced for widescreen TVs). This provides even more resolution.
    A few DVDs are issued in an alternative "full screen" edition or offer full screen as an option on one side of the disc or on a separate side. Of course with full screen (AKA "pan and scan") you are missing up to 40% of what is on the original film.
    - plasma problem - PabloP 10:12:36 12/27/03 (0)
      I don't think I would lose 40% with a widescreen tv. I understand what happens when you fill a 4 by 3 screen with a widescreen dvd. I can just about fill my tv by using "zoom 1" on the dvd. My concern is that the plasma tv maker says not to do too much viewing with black edges or still pictures. Otherwise the black on top and bottom wouldn't bother me. I bought it as a space saver with a big screen. The utmost in resolution was not a priority.

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