Widescreen/ Aspect Ratio

[Pezzy]

Hi all.

I've been watching DVD movies on my PC for years. I've used WinDVD, PowerDVD, and recently ArcSoft TotalMedia Theater 3. I also have a widescreen monitor.

The other day I popped in "From Dusk Til Dawn". I've got the Collector's Series edition (2 discs). The movie is supposed to be in widescreen. Now from what I'm about to describe, I can't recall if it did this some years ago when I last watched it on my PC.............

I'm sure all of you know that when watching a widescreen presentation, there will be those "black bars" at the top and bottom of the screen (how thin or thick they are depends on the aspect ratio; 1:85:1, 2:35:1, etc.).

But after I launched From Dusk Til Dawn and expanded the Totalmedia Theater 3 interface to fill my computer's screen.....there were black bars on the LEFT AND RIGHT of the picture, besides the top and bottom?!?!?!

Here's a screenshot, although it's not too great of one:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll217/PezzyDude/FDTD1.jpg

This particular screen capture doesn't really show the black bar that's on the left.......but believe me, it's there!!!!

The two yellow arrows I drew point to the "normal" black bars one sees in a typical widescreen presentation. This particular screenshot doesn't show it too well, but the white arrows I drew are pointing to black bars that are on the left and right of the picture/ movie.

Is this supposed to happen? Like many DVD software applications, there's a feature most of them have called "Stretch to fit the screen". I choose this, and it's like it's a simulation of widescreen.

Not that From Dusk Til Dawn is "old", but it's not exactly "new", either. I tried another fairly "old" movie (Event Horizon), and it did it, too (black bars on the left & right). But if I pop in a fairly contemporary film, no problem, "normal" widescreen with black bars at top & bottom only (I was watching From Paris With Love the other day).

I think one time I saw a similar posting, and a poster's response was to press "Alt / Enter"; that just takes your software's interface and expands it to fit the screen, not the movie picture itself.

With these black bars on the top & bottom and left & right, it's like watching the movie in a "little box".

Anyone else come across this before? Any suggestions or "fixes"? Or is this just "normal" for older movies?

Thanks for any info.
Pez

 

[Matt08642]

It seems like the black bars at the top and bottom of the actual movie is burned in to the DVD picture. The only way to get around this that I know if is to rip the DVD and crop them out

 

[Pezzy]

Hi Matt; thanks for the reply.

But perhaps you misunderstood me, though.

Black bars at the top & bottom of the picture is "normal" in widescreen movies. Depending on the scope of the widescreen (1:85:1, 2:35:1....), the bars may be thick or thin.

So, I know those bars can't be "moved", and this is normal.

I'm referring to the black bars that are at the left and right of the picture. Normally when I watch a film that's in widescreen, the picture expands to the furthest left and right of the screen.

But.....with this particular DVD of From Dusk Til Dawn (and I noticed it on Event Horizon, too), I get black bars on the left & right (besides the normal top & bottom). So.....it's like I'm watching the movie on my monitor in a "little box" since the picture is surrounded on all sides by black bars.

Matt.....or anyone else......ever see these black bars on the left & right of a widescreen movie? Is this just the way it is with a relatively "old" movie?

Pez

 

[carnageX]

Are you sure you have widescreen versions of the movies? If the discs are double sided, are you sure you're watching the widescreen side? Have you tried playing the movies in VLC player instead of whatever software you're using now? Or even WMP?

 

[Pezzy]

CarnageX; thanks for your response.

Oh yes, I'm sure I have the widescreen versions of the movies I've mentioned. It says so on their cases they come in. It's been a little while since I've watched them, but yes, I've watched them in widescreen before.

And yes, I'm familiar with discs that are double-sided, where one side is the full-screen version of the movie, and the flip side of the disc is the widescreen version of the film. The movies I mentioned (From Dusk Til Dawn & Event Horizon) are one-sided discs.

And......I happen to have the VLC player, but I usually don't use it to watch DVD's (and it's incapable of playing Blu-rays). But, the two movies I mentioned above are not Blu-rays, so I popped in From Dusk Til Dawn and launched it with the VLC player.....and I took a screenshot; here it is:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll217/PezzyDude/FDTD2.jpg

Do you see the black bars on the left & right side of the picture?

Black bars on the top & bottom of a widescreen presentation are normal.

But left & right side of the screen?!?!

Where those black bars are on the left and right.....normally in a widescreen presentation, those bars aren't there and the picture goes all the way to the edge of my monitor.

Like I mentioned previously.....is this because these movies are relatively "old"? Today I rented out the movie "Unthinkable" (regular DVD, not Blu-ray), and the widescreen presentation filled my monitor from left to right, with the "normal" black bars at the top & bottom.

So what do you think? When watching films like "Dusk" or "Event", should I just use that little neat feature of "Stretch to fill the screen"?

'Cause watching it with bars on the top, bottom, left, and right is like watching a boxed movie.

Pez

 

[carnageX]

Just loaded up my version of Event Horizon I have ripped on my computer, and it's in widescreen format.

 

[Pezzy]

CarnageX:

Event Horizon has had many versions released on DVD and Blu-ray. I went checking at some on-line retailers to see if I could find my exact version, but heck....nobody had it!!! I finally found a screen shot of it, though, on e-Bay. Just in-case the sale goes away on e-Bay, I captured a shot of the DVD case; here it is:

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll217/PezzyDude/EventHorizon.jpg

Is this the same as yours?

Or, how about this link to BestBuy.com; are any of these the same as yours:

event horizon - BestBuy

I'm starting to think that my "version" is so old (perhaps the first version released on DVD years ago), that it is somehow a "compressed" widescreen, hence, my black bars on the left & right.

Pez