Video Asylum

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black bars explained

Posted by Joe Murphy Jr on May 20, 2012 at 09:31:52:
The station broadcasts in the 16x9 format. Any content that is in 4x3 format will show black bars on the sides. Content that was filmed in "widescreen" (formats > 4x3) will have black bars at the top and bottom if recorded to a 4x3 system without using the anamorphic process.

Here's an example: DVD is actually a 4x3 format. Using what's called the anamorphic process, a widescreen filmed is squeezed into the 4x3 format. When a widescreen display shows the anamorphic content, it unsqueezes the picture and, instead of black bars on the sides, you get a display filling picture. However, if the anamorphic process wasn't/isn't used -- early DVDs did not use the process -- you get a letterboxed image (top and bottom bars). And since this was/is recorded to a 4x3 system, bars appear on the sides as well.

So, in a nutshell, you're seeing exactly what you're supposed to see; therefore, you shouldn't blame PBS or any other station for sending you a picture in its native format.