811 - Curious of Picture

[Luther]

I am on the waiting list for the 811. I am just curious of the HD picture. I have a Sony Plasma 42" with a 16 x 9 screen. When you watch HD movies and such, does it fill the screen or are there bars on top and bottom. And how about regular broadcast's? Thanks for any info.

 

[Whiskey]

I am on the waiting list for the 811. I am just curious of the HD picture. I have a Sony Plasma 42" with a 16 x 9 screen. When you watch HD movies and such, does it fill the screen or are there bars on top and bottom. And how about regular broadcast's? Thanks for any info.

Well, I have a 6000 but the answer is the same, it depends on the program material. If the HD channel you are watching is broadcasting material that has a 1.85:1 aspect ratio(16:9), then yes it's full screen. If they are broadcasting a movie in it origional aspect ratio (usually 2.35:1) then there are black bars at the top and bottom of screen (letterbox). If the program material was 4:3, then you'll get vertical black stripes(unless you use the gray stripe option). To sum it all up...although the channel may be broadcast in full screen, the program material itself may not be.

 

[aperry]

This is also quite noticeable on OTA HD (especially during commercials). They change to the vertical black bars (4:3) during most commercials.

Some noticeable exceptions were some of the movie previews during the Super Bowl were broadcast in all their 16:9 glory! The preview for Van Helsing was particularly stunning!

 

[Luther]

Thanks for the good info. I was begiining to wonder, I had assumed it would all be in 16x9. I have to be real careful about screen burn-in. Maybe as more people get HD it will all be in 16X9.

 

[Broadband Lab Rat]

Thanks for the good info. I was begiining to wonder, I had assumed it would all be in 16x9. I have to be real careful about screen burn-in. Maybe as more people get HD it will all be in 16X9.

Some more info can be read here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=332900

Native HD content is usually 16:9, but for movies, especially the major ones, probably over half of them will result in black bars at top and bottom... this is not likely to change, if you want to see the entire movie... You can always choose to fill your display, and cut a little off the sides of the movie if you like, and you can also stretch SD to fill in the sides. There are ways to fill your screen if that's what you wish to do...

BTW, I understand that HBO-HD zooms their movies to fill the screen before transmission... some owners like that, purists hate it... I prefer to let the consumer decide for themselves... see this link for lots more info:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=164671