I was wondering is there a way to get rid of the Black Bars on the Blu-Ray movies via a PS3 option? I would rather not use my TVs stretch/zoom feature because this crops out part of the picture.
My TV is a KDS-r60XBR2
Also, would purchasing a Blu-Ray player eliminate the Black bars if the PS3 cannot?
The black bars are there for a reason - to keep the correct aspect ratio that the film was shot in. It doesnt matter what format something is in if the film is shot in a certain aspect there will always be black bars.
Pepp is right, the blu-rays that do this would most likely be 2.35:1 also known as anamorphic widescreen. This is an older aspect ratio that's not as commonly used at 16:9 (the aspect ratio of your TV). If you try a 16:9 aspect ratio film, it should work fine and there will be no bars.
I might have one or two more, but I can't think of them off hand, but all of the BD titles I own, have the black bars.
I thought there would be a way to stretch (not crop/zoom) the picture so that it would fit better. That is the type of option I am looking for... basically to be able to change the aspect ratio. I prefer having my screen filled and zooming cuts a little bit of the picture from the sides.
I cant say which films are 16:9, but there arent a lot of theatrical films that are filmed in 16:9, most cinema release films are usually 2.35:1 or 1.85:1 as this fits the cinema screen better. 16:9 or 1.78:1 is more often than not only used for TV shows and STV releases.
If you have a film with black bars at the top and bottom and you remove them without affecting the width of the picture then all the people/scenes would be stretched up and down and would look awful.
Originally posted by alex131: 2.35:1 also known as anamorphic widescreen. This is an older aspect ratio that's not as commonly used at 16:9
Huh?? Sorry... don't mean to pull you up on that but 2.35:1 is used for the TRUE Cinema aspect ratio. All the best films are released at this aspect ratio...
300, Transformers, Lord of the Rings series, Star Wars series, Spider-man 2 & 3 (1 was released as 16:9) etc...
I believe the simplest answer to your question may be it depends on the type of Blu Ray disc that you have.
If its a widescreen edition then no you cannot remove the black bars
If in the set up menu of the Blu Ray disc it idicates that you can watch the movie in wide screen or full then yes you can watch the movie without the black bars. So if your BluRay disc is in exclusively widescreen then no your stcuk with the bars.
Well, I guess I am stuck with the black bars then... It would have been nice to stretch them though. Even if it wasn't all the way just enough to eliminate some of the black bars. Yeah, I know that they would have been stretched (people and such), but I have a Samsung DVD player that does that, and I don't mind it. I believe it is better to have the option to do something that to be stuck with only 1 option. This way at least people can choose.