Aspect Ratio nightmare on DVD - 2.35:1 instead of 16:9

[admin_exported]

I recently bought Pulp Fiction on dvd and although the movie is an ancient classic, I have never seen it.

I sat down to watch it last night, and popped the disc into my Sony BD Player; when the film kicked in, I couldnt not notice the two massive horizontal lines at the top and bottom of the screen; now I know that this is fairly common when watching quite a few movies but these lines made my 42" screen look like a portable!! ... therefore totally ruining the movie!

I was messing around with the settings for ages trying to make them go away but to no avail.

Does anyone know a way round this problem??

Kind Regards

Andy

 

[ElectroMan]

Hmmm, I believe that Pulp Fiction was made in full frame 35mm, and then cropped to a 2.35 aspect ratio for release, so that is how Tarantino intends you to watch it.

Is it the same as other 2.35 movies, or is the picture thinner? If thinner, then it would seem that it's not being displayed properly.

I'm not familiar with your television, and whether you can resize the image on that.

On my Onkyo, and assume yours, there is a zoom mode (this comes under the Advanced Setup section of the manual) which can change the aspect ratio, so it may be worth playing with that.

There are also some film modes, but I haven't used them.

And to make it even more confusing, I don't know if you need to change anything on the PS3 either!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Electroman, thanks for the reply.

I have just carried out a quick check with another 2.35:1 movie (Oceans Eleven) and the horizontal lines are alot thinner in this movie.

When watching Pulp fiction the horizontal lines took over half of the screen easily; I will have a play with the receivers settings later on to see if it makes a difference. There isnt anything on my tv or bd player settings that make a difference.

Cheers for your help.

Andy

 

[ElectroMan]

I have a PS3 and Onkyo amp, and I have an unwatched Pulp Fiction DVD somewhere (I saw the film in the cinema, and watched it a few times since - great stuff, unlike QT's last effort!).

I'll see if I can find it later tonight, and post back my findings tomorrow ...

 

[Anonymous]

Is the picture itself distorted? ie do the figures look wider than they are taller, for instance? I'm wondering if you've picked up an earlier, non-anamorphic version.

 

[ElectroMan]

Unfortunately, my DVD of Pulp Fiction is American, so it won't play on the PS3.

Played on the Blu-ray player through the Onkyo, it looks great, and correctly proportioned. If it's any help, both Output Resolution and Zoom Mode on the amp are set to auto, and Film Mode is off.

 

[Anonymous]

Ok thanks for your help; its a sony blu-ray ive got and not a ps3 anyway, but thanks again, I will check out the settings on my Onkyo like you mention to see if it makes a difference.

Kind Regards