What's the deal with letterbox?

Why does every blu-ray dvd I play have the letterbox on top and bottom? I thought a widesreen tv is supposed to eliminate letterbox. if i still have letterbox bars on my widescreen, what's the point of having a widescreen????? annoying.

 

If AR is 2:35 you will have bars top and bottom. This is not restricted to BD players only. HD DVD and S DVD have them. Your choice: stretch it but PQ will suffer.
If AR is 1:78, movies will fill up the screen.

 

ok, can i change the aspect ratio or is it programed on the dvd and unchangeable?

 

Yes...it's called "stretch" mode on your tv. But not from the DVD.

 

yea but that sux too because it makes people look 30 lbs heavier

 

Some films have different screen format options in the settings I have noticed. The R5 Bourne blu-ray did.. I hope that becomes a feature of more and more now they have all that extra wasted space.
If they don't we will just have to put up and shut up.. they will sell us what they want us to have..
Speaking for myself... after a lifetime of watching a 4:3 tv with black bars top and bottom on films it doesn't bother me. I would rather see the whole film with the dark space than have a cropped or stretched version.

I was watching jerry Springer the other day on a 52" samsung plasma.. everybody was fatter than usual (even for the USA) It was quite funny.. especially some of the already grossly obese women.. and TBH I would be disappointed at a pixelated image like that from a 700MB avi.. Looks like the cable companies don't give a toss about HD.. the quality is lower than analog now, more like something you grab off youtube..

 

Some of the films can be changed, but not all.

 

You're not changing the AR but opting for WS or FS.

 

another thing that drives me nuts is the HD channels that have the black bars on the side. WTF?????

 

Let's use the correct terminology for the aspect ratios...

The formula is the first number represents width, the second height. So for example 4:3, means there is 4 parts width to 3 parts height. cheezzzz, I would wonder what a movie with an aspect ratio of 2:35 looks like. ;-) The proper way is 2.35:1 meaning 2.35 parts width to 1 part height. 1:78 should be 1.78:1 or 16:9 as it's more commonly known (in Australia, at least).

Not trying to correct you as you are being quite helpful, just want to help with more accurate information.

 

That's because they are still recording in the 4:3 format. The people still using CRT TV's dont mind this at all as it fills up their whole screen.

 

Just doing a shortcut since both end in point 1.

 

Really? So if I can ask... Why was ":" used in between the digits instead of "."?

It's ok... We can all make mistakes. One thing I notice on these forums is not enough humility. If we make a mistake and someone helps us then it is all in good steed.

Anyway, I don't want to start an argument. You did a great job helping here. :-D

 

Good!

 

Check out the old Ben-Hur with Charlton Heston. William Wyler used the then new camera 65. I believe it was a 2.65:1 aspect ratio.

 

Ok... What does that mean? I can see that is quite a wide aspect. Especially for the time it was made. Is that what you are saying?

 

Yup