Whats the point in buying a big tv and the films are in letterbox mode?

[admin_exported]

I have a 46" 1080p Sharp hd TV with blue ray player. But I'm considering getting a projector in the near futer now as I dont think i'm getting the cinematic experience I was expecting. Why is it when adverts for films that come out on dvd on the tv the preview is full screen. But when you put any dvd in the machine you get the black lines top and bottom supposed cinematic look. The only thing you seem to be able to do is zoom in but that chops off some of the sides. When you are using the HDMI lead that takes away the functions of the visual formats in your menu so you have to watch it with the black lines. I take it then the best home cinema set up is to go for a projetcor?

 

[Andrew Everard]

It's because that's the format of the original film

 

[Anonymous]

Matty Fegan:I. When you are using the HDMI lead that takes away the functions of the visual formats in your menu so you have to watch it with the black lines. I take it then the best home cinema set up is to go for a projetcor?Why would a projector be any different? If the DVD is recorded in 2.35:1 aspect then you'll get black bars top/bottom irrespective of the display technology.

 

[Anonymous]

With a projector and the right lens and screen set up you can calibrate it to fill a screen with a 2.35:1 image. You'll need to have the screen set up at 2.35:1 and these are very expensive if you also want the flexibility to show full 16:9 format standard wide-screen.

TV is usually broadcast in 16:9 so the chip in projectors is of a 16:9 format to give you maximum flexibility. Basically you have to accept that different media is recorded in different formats. You either accept the black bars, or spend about £10k to build a projector and screen system capable of tailoring itself as you change mediums, but this usually means a special screen with drop down black bars at the sides made of light absorbent material that raise and lower and even a lens change on the projector.

The black bars aren't really that bad!

 

[Anonymous]

rewerb:Matty Fegan:I. When you are using the HDMI lead that takes away the functions of the visual formats in your menu so you have to watch it with the black lines. I take it then the best home cinema set up is to go for a projetcor?Why would a projector be any different? If the DVD is recorded in 2.35:1 aspect then you'll get black bars top/bottom irrespective of the display technology.

The difference is he will be able to project a larger picture than his LCD to achieve his "cinematic look", regardless of the aspect.

 

[Anonymous]

If you cannot change the fact that when you buy a 46" tv and watch a film and are never going to be able to watch it using all of the size of the screen at least a projector would then project a larger screen size. So now whatever size of screen you buy it is impossible to watch a film on that size of screen.

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers guys thanks for clearing that up.

 

[Anonymous]

Well it's pretty simple. TV's and Projectors either have a screen with pixels or a chip with reflectors (in DLP's case) and they're designed today in a 16:9 format with 1920x1080 pixels. If you wanted to change them into a 2.35:1 ratio, you'd end up with black bars to the left and right whenever you showed broadcast, 16:9 format content. So until you persuade all the content producers to use the same format you'll have to accept a one size fits all (with compromises) solution.

I'd get a projector though, because a big image thrown by a good modern projector is an awesome sight!