Still puzzled about my Laptop ?

jamjar · 15 Feb 2012 at 17:45

Hi All i,m still puzzled about the playback on my Dell XPS L702 3d laptop i know the res is 1920x1080 16:9 but every blu ray and dvd i play i get these black bars at top and bottom .I have tried every player i can also changed the AR but still nothing :confused:

am i missing something here or is this normal with these widescreen films ? :confused:

The only film that plays full screen without black bars is The day after tomorrow on dvd useing the Classic Media Player

bremen1874 · 15 Feb 2012 at 18:06

What does the packaging say the film aspect is? If it's wider than 16:9 there are going to be black bars.

(IMO this makes a nonsense of the claims that 16:9 monitors are better for watching films)

jamjar · 15 Feb 2012 at 18:33

bremen1874 said:
What does the packaging say the film aspect is? If it's wider than 16:9 there are going to be black bars.

(IMO this makes a nonsense of the claims that 16:9 monitors are better for watching films)

the box says 16:9 2.4.1 whatever that means ? :confused:

d_brennen · 15 Feb 2012 at 18:37

What does Windows report it as on the desktop?

jamjar · 15 Feb 2012 at 18:51

d_brennen said:
What does Windows report it as on the desktop?

where do i find this ?

beermonster · 15 Feb 2012 at 20:13

2.4:1 is the aspect ratio of the film presented on the BD, its 1920 x 800 hence you get black bars.

jamjar · 15 Feb 2012 at 20:19

beermonster said:
2.4:1 is the aspect ratio of the film presented on the BD, its 1920 x 800 hence you get black bars.

oh okay thanks so most of the films i have are like that i,ve noticed it on Final Destinataion 5 star wars box set and Alien

beermonster · 15 Feb 2012 at 20:22

It's mainly used as that's the format for film camera and lenses, digital HD films are 16:9 I think.

jamjar · 15 Feb 2012 at 20:30

beermonster said:
It's mainly used as that's the format for film camera and lenses, digital HD films are 16:9 I think.

oh right so its normal then ? to have the black bars on most blu rays ?

TheVoice · 15 Feb 2012 at 20:36

Yes, cinema screens are a far wider aspect ratio than most consumer displays are.

jamjar · 15 Feb 2012 at 20:49

TheVoice said:
Yes, cinema screens are a far wider aspect ratio than most consumer displays are.

oh right thanks i just played Aliens and thats full screen and its 1,85.1 if that makes any sense ha!

beermonster · 15 Feb 2012 at 21:16

16:9 is 1.7 so 1.85 is fairly close to same aspect as your LCD.

cmndr_andi · 15 Feb 2012 at 22:29

Yea, the majority of films aren't presented in 16:9 (1.77:1) aspect ratio - mostly it is 1.85:1 or 2.39:1. Therefore, when you watch one of these films on your display then you will see black bars at the top and bottom. You do have the option on most video players to crop the image so it fits the image to the whole screen - however it has to chop off the side of the image to maintain the proper aspect ratio of the image - so this isn't always the ideal solution.

16:9 displays (like your monitor) were introduced first in the TV market before they crossed over to computers - since they offered better presentation of widescreen movies (compared to the more square 4:3) and eventually allowed 16:9 TV shows to become the standard.

16:9 is basically a trade-off for PC monitors - it is perfect for TV shows and films shot in 16:9, looks nice is games (though many would argue that 16:10 is better) and is superior to 5:4 or 4:3 for widescreen movies - however it generally isn't as good for desktop work (where vertical height and resolution are often more important than width).

You actually can get TVs specifically made for widescreen movies, for example Philips make the "Cinema 21:9 TV" - which is a big telly with a 2.33:1 aspect ratio. So using this TV for 2.39:1 films there are basically no bars. However, for other content the aspect ratio isn't ideal -as you can imagine.

jamjar · 15 Feb 2012 at 23:22

cmndr_andi said:
Yea, the majority of films aren't presented in 16:9 (1.77:1) aspect ratio - mostly it is 1.85:1 or 2.39:1. Therefore, when you watch one of these films on your display then you will see black bars at the top and bottom. You do have the option on most video players to crop the image so it fits the image to the whole screen - however it has to chop off the side of the image to maintain the proper aspect ratio of the image - so this isn't always the ideal solution.

16:9 displays (like your monitor) were introduced first in the TV market before they crossed over to computers - since they offered better presentation of widescreen movies (compared to the more square 4:3) and eventually allowed 16:9 TV shows to become the standard.

16:9 is basically a trade-off for PC monitors - it is perfect for TV shows and films shot in 16:9, looks nice is games (though many would argue that 16:10 is better) and is superior to 5:4 or 4:3 for widescreen movies - however it generally isn't as good for desktop work (where vertical height and resolution are often more important than width).

You actually can get TVs specifically made for widescreen movies, for example Philips make the "Cinema 21:9 TV" - which is a big telly with a 2.33:1 aspect ratio. So using this TV for 2.39:1 films there are basically no bars. However, for other content the aspect ratio isn't ideal -as you can imagine.

Thanks cmndr Andi that has cleared up my problem ha! i thought it was to do with my settings of the Laptop ,but when every film and software i tried was the same i knew it was a more deeper thing , if i,m honest i quite like the bars and don,t find it a problem as the picture quality is what its all about and on blu ray its awesome