Topic: The dreaded black space on top and bottom of the screen

[qguy]

I tested a 1080p File,  Iron Man on an Sony LCD TV (16:9) and it still has the black space on top and at the bottom, For  older CRT TV (4:3), this is understandable but why do modern LCD still has this black spaces, Diba 16:9 na ang standard for current movies or I am wrong ?

Letter boxes ata tawag doon

[Tempter]

I tested a 1080p File,  Iron Man on an Sony LCD TV (16:9) and it still has the black space on top and at the bottom, For  older CRT TV (4:3), this is understandable but why do modern LCD still has this black spaces, Diba 16:9 na ang standard for current movies or I am wrong ?

Letter boxes ata tawag doon

Blame the filmmaker for using a wider film...

[mattia]

I tested a 1080p File,  Iron Man on an Sony LCD TV (16:9) and it still has the black space on top and at the bottom, For  older CRT TV (4:3), this is understandable but why do modern LCD still has this black spaces, Diba 16:9 na ang standard for current movies or I am wrong ?

Letter boxes ata tawag doon

Yes 16:9 widescreen but there are various ASPECT RATIOS or the size of the film originally intended by the director.  If the orig aspect ratio of the movie is 1.85:1 like Get Smart then there will be NO blackbars in your widescreen.  However, if the aspect ratio is 2.35:1 or in the case of Iron Man 2.40:1 then there will really be blackbars in your screen.  Normal lang yun kasi nung pinanood mo sya sa sine ganun talaga ang size nila.

Here's a link to let you understand better aspect ratio :  http://www.foolishpassion.org/vidding-tips/aspect-ratio-101.html

[Philander]

Standard (or usual) film formats in terms of aspect ratio are the following three: 4:3, 16:9, 2.35:1; there are so many formats available but these three are the most common

The one you are viewing is 2.35:1 (or sometimes Anamorphic) which was intended by the filmaker.

[kiwimig]

16:9 is not the size of a theatrical release. when the director or producer want the movie to be seen as it was shown in the theater, then chances are you will see the letterbox. if it's ok for them to crop certain portions of the screen, then they release the bluray/dvd in widescreen format in 16:9. a couple of years ago, philips released a tv which had an aspect ratio 21:9, closer to that of a movie screen. unfortunately, i don't think it did too well.  check out how wide it was.

[meat_eater]

I tested a 1080p File,  Iron Man on an Sony LCD TV (16:9) and it still has the black space on top and at the bottom, For  older CRT TV (4:3), this is understandable but why do modern LCD still has this black spaces, Diba 16:9 na ang standard for current movies or I am wrong ?

Letter boxes ata tawag doon

It depends on how the movie or tv show was filmed/recorded.

Check out the Batman and Transformers Trilogy, those movies have variable aspect ratios

One moment there are black bars, then biglang lalaki yung screen.

[barrister]

Diba 16:9 na ang standard for current movies or I am wrong ?

No, that's not right.  16:9 is the standard for current TVs, not movies.  There is no standard for current movies.
 
And the movie you viewed was originally intended to be seen on a movie screen, not on a TV.
 
I hope my old post from 2007 will be helpful:
 
 

The first thing you should be doing is familiarizing yourself with aspect ratios.

You might be under the impression that a "widescreen" picture has only one type of aspect ratio, namely 16x9, when there are actually more than ten different widescreen aspect ratios, the most common of which are: 1.78, 1.85 and 2.35.

Since your TV is 16x9 or 1.78:1 (16 divided by 9), any video source with a picture wider than 1.78 should give you a letterboxed image. The wider the aspect ratio, the taller the black bars.

However, 1.85:1 aspect ratios will require further explanation:

Almost all widescreen TVs overscan a 1.85 image to completely fill a 16x9 screen. Thus, as a result of the overscanning feature, you should have letterboxing only on pictures wider than 1.85. But the exception is for HDMI inputs, where overscan is usually (but not always) eliminated by manufacturers. Without overscanning, you will still see very slim black bars (sometimes only one very slim black bar) for 1.85 content on most widescreen TVs via HDMI connection.

There are many, many movies with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, so it would be easy to find examples.

For aspect ratios wider than 2.35:1, the most common is 2.40:1 (actually 2.39:1, but commonly rounded off to 2.40:1). Examples -- Minority Report, The Island, Terminator 3.

The widest aspect ratio I've ever seen on video is 2.76:1 on Ben Hur (Charlton Heston, 1959), shot on MGM Camera 65 (a.k.a Ultra Panavision 70), using 65mm film with 1.25x anamorphic.


2.76:1 image from Ben Hur

The widest aspect ratio I've ever heard of is 4:1, shot on Polyvision using three 35 mm films projected side-by-side. It was only used once -- on the ending of Napoléon (French silent movie, 1927).

 
In the past, home video formats used cropped encodes to keep the mass market happy.  Today, we now have Blu-ray, a format that refuses to crop the image and uses only original aspect ratios.  Finally.

 

[Waxx]

and to add.. . if you will set your tv not to stretch the normal 4:3 aspect of older tv broadcasts... you will get those balck bars on the left and right side of your 16:9 tv... pero mas payat mga tao..

[Nelson de Leon]

and to add.. . if you will set your tv not to stretch the normal 4:3 aspect of older tv broadcasts... you will get those balck bars on the left and right side of your 16:9 tv... pero mas payat mga tao..

pwede din yun 14:9 setting. Some TVs have this setting. Or, zoom 1. Mawawala yun mga pictures sa edges pero sakto ang ratio.

[the_w0rks]

It depends on how the movie or tv show was filmed/recorded.

Check out the Batman and Transformers Trilogy, those movies have variable aspect ratios

One moment there are black bars, then biglang lalaki yung screen.

How I wish the blu ray release was just the full Imax shot. When the movie reverts back to the letterbox aspect ratio, pumapanget - very noticeable sa Dark Knight. :/

[Tempter]

How I wish the blu ray release was just the full Imax shot. When the movie reverts back to the letterbox aspect ratio, pumapanget - very noticeable sa Dark Knight. :/

I thought that was just because I got the jack sparrows copy...

[the_w0rks]

I thought that was just because I got the jack sparrows copy...

hah. lol, no. The PQ is ugly sa letterbox aspect ratio shots. Kaya I'm holding out for a new remastered trilogy of the dark knight and skipped on the current trilogy set.

[Tempter]

pwede din yun 14:9 setting. Some TVs have this setting. Or, zoom 1. Mawawala yun mga pictures sa edges pero sakto ang ratio.

That is why I love xtreamer, it has a variable zooming capability. Not sure if this is available on other media players.

[Clondalkin]

Actually tama ang proportion ng katawan ng tao if you do that - that's why I like doing that when watching a TV show or content that is in 4:3 aspect ratio, but I set the side bars to white (more of light gray actually) para iwas DAW sa IR.    Sa ABS-CBN and GMA-7 ang lalapad ng tao when viewed on an HDTV.  Di ko tuloy malaman kung talagang mataba si Ruby Rodriguez. 

and to add.. . if you will set your tv not to stretch the normal 4:3 aspect of older tv broadcasts... you will get those balck bars on the left and right side of your 16:9 tv... pero mas payat mga tao..

[Waxx]

Actually tama ang proportion ng katawan ng tao if you do that - that's why I like doing that when watching a TV show or content that is in 4:3 aspect ratio, but I set the side bars to white (more of light gray actually) para iwas DAW sa IR.    Sa ABS-CBN and GMA-7 ang lalapad ng tao when viewed on an HDTV.  Di ko tuloy malaman kung talagang mataba si Ruby Rodriguez. 

yup, 4:3 is the standard broadcast of those 2 stations since most of their target market tv viewers are masa people who have CRT tvs.. 

sayang no, if tv makers could have a stretch option for 4:3, sana they implemented a way to stretch other formats without cropping..

i do get annoyed rin with black bars e, kumbaga, langya, bumili ka ng kalaki laking tv, then ipapalabas sayo yung maliit..

[Clondalkin]

Ako naman I dont mind black bars at all.  Sometimes if I encounter a crappy SD content that looks terrible on an HDTV, I would even watch it at Actual Size on my 50 inch plasma.  That's like converting my 50 inch plasma into a 14-21 inch 4:3 TV with as much clarity as it can display a crappy SD content.  Cool!  hehehe

i do get annoyed rin with black bars e, kumbaga, langya, bumili ka ng kalaki laking tv, then ipapalabas sayo yung maliit..

[Waxx]

That is why I love xtreamer, it has a variable zooming capability. Not sure if this is available on other media players.

would xtreamer zoom 2:35:1 without cropping to 16:9?

[Nelson de Leon]

Ako naman I dont mind black bars at all.  Sometimes if I encounter a crappy SD content that looks terrible on an HDTV, I would even watch it at Actual Size on my 50 inch plasma.  That's like converting my 50 inch plasma into a 14-21 inch 4:3 TV with as much clarity as it can display a crappy SD content.  Cool!  hehehe

Yan ang masarap sa big tvs. Kaya yan din ang masarap sa PJ. 

Black bars can be an issue sa mga plasma tvs.

[Tempter]

would xtreamer zoom 2:35:1 without cropping to 16:9?

Any ratio sir. You could vary the width and length as much as you want. Yun nga lang medyo stretched ang tao. Pero for me basta sakto sa screen ayus.

[markcrenz]

Black bars can be an issue sa mga plasma tvs.

kahit sa new models master?

[markcrenz]

That is why I love xtreamer, it has a variable zooming capability. Not sure if this is available on other media players.

my R6aii has that. siguro depends on the chip

[Nelson de Leon]

kahit sa new models master?

Yan ang hindi ko sure. mas less prone ata ang newer models. Mine is a 42PV80. Nawawala naman pero inaabot minsan ng 5 minutes.

[Clondalkin]

I mean I watch crappy SD content at their Small actual size that is mapped 1:1 on a full HD 50 inch panel. It's like having a rectangular island right in the middle of the screen, and all around is a sea of black bars.  Hehehe.   Medyo critical focusing ka nga lang because ang laki ng black background pero ang linaw ng PQ kahit crappy SD source.  I did this with old DLs of 24 Eps in SD in particular.

No problem with black bars.  Very easy to deal with, with the likes of Pixel Orbiter or Pixel Flipper (if necessary).

Yan ang masarap sa big tvs. Kaya yan din ang masarap sa PJ. 

Black bars can be an issue sa mga plasma tvs.

[Tempter]

Yan ang masarap sa big tvs. Kaya yan din ang masarap sa PJ. 

Black bars can be an issue sa mga plasma tvs.

AFAIK, hindi na sya issue (or hindi na masyado issue?) sa mga bagong plasma. I think Plasma manufacturers implemented a system that randomly changes the pixel color of static pixels to prevent burn-in...

[meat_eater]

How I wish the blu ray release was just the full Imax shot. When the movie reverts back to the letterbox aspect ratio, pumapanget - very noticeable sa Dark Knight. :/

Sa transformers naman, Ive noticed na lumalaki yung screen pag buong robot kita, I just thought baka yun gusto ng film maker, para mas kita lang yung robot and scenery.

Same din sa batman, usually yung mga aerial shots yung ganun. Honestly, I have no idea bat ginanun pa, sana full screen nalang all the way hehehe

[the_w0rks]

Sa transformers naman, Ive noticed na lumalaki yung screen pag buong robot kita, I just thought baka yun gusto ng film maker, para mas kita lang yung robot and scenery.

Same din sa batman, usually yung mga aerial shots yung ganun. Honestly, I have no idea bat ginanun pa, sana full screen nalang all the way hehehe

Haha ewan ko kay Nolan. Dapat talaga full imax shots na lang. Sobrang ganda ng pq sa imax shots e. Really hoping for a remastered version.

[Dan]

Haha ewan ko kay Nolan. Dapat talaga full imax shots na lang. Sobrang ganda ng pq sa imax shots e. Really hoping for a remastered version.

Kahit magkaroon ng "remastered" version hindi mangyayari yan. Hindi kaya ma-convert ang mga non-IMAX scene. Isa syang storytelling device.

[the_w0rks]

Kahit magkaroon ng "remastered" version hindi mangyayari yan. Hindi kaya ma-convert ang mga non-IMAX scene. Isa syang storytelling device.

no, im just saying na maganda pq ng imax shots. i didn't say im expecting a remastered imax shot version. just want a better transfer with better PQ. lalo na sa Batman begins.

[Dan]

no, im just saying na maganda pq ng imax shots. i didn't say im expecting a remastered imax shot version. just want a better transfer with better PQ. lalo na sa Batman begins.

OK.

[barrister]

Haha ewan ko kay Nolan. Dapat talaga full imax shots na lang. Sobrang ganda ng pq sa imax shots e. Really hoping for a remastered version.

Ang hirap daw gamitin ng IMAX camera sir. 
 
Sobrang laki.  Sobrang ingay, istorbo sa dialog recording (OK yan sa Tagalog movies, laging dialog dub sa post-processing ang gusto  ). 
 
The biggest problem --- the film load is only two and a half minutes.
 
Kaya nga walang movie shot entirely in IMAX.  Docu meron, pero feature film, wala.