“Can you remove the black bars that are at the top and bottom of the picture I see on other blu-ray players? I realize you need to make the picture bigger but why not use the whole screen if you can.”
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Since most movies use a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and TVs are 16:9 you'll almost always have black bars. There is an option on most TVs to expand the view, but you will be cutting off some of the picture on the sides.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.Hi removeBlackBars, the black bars you're seeing at the top and bottom of the picture depends on the aspect ratio or resolution of the movie you're playing. You may follow the steps in the link provided for you to be able to adjust, remove, or lessen those bars: https://us.en.kb.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/40227/p/47329,47564,96649/c/65,66/kw/black%20bars Thanks, -Mark
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.The correct answer is "no" -- but that is not a technical answer. Many TV's have the capability of taking an input and deliberately distorting it to fill the entire screen. Assuming you have a TV with this function, you can go ahead and try it to see if you like the result. My correct answer -- no -- was correct because the content (e.g., a movie) was shot in a given aspect ratio. Most TV's today use what is called a 16:9 aspect ratio. This simply means that the picture's width is almost double it's height. TVs are rectangular, most BluRay and 4K content is shot at least at 16:9 -- I say at least because the director may have decided to shoot in an even wider aspect ratio. The wider the aspect ratio, the larger the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen will be. Essentially, today, there are two primary aspect ratios in use -- and oddly enough, neither one of them work out to 16:9 (also called 1:77 to 1, because literally 16/9 is 1.77, "almost" twice as high as it is wide). The most common ratios used today when movies are made are 1.85:1 and 2.39:1. Many movies are 1:85 since this size is very close to a 16:9 TV (1.77:1). Your objection is likely when you watch a 2.39:1 aspect movie on a 1.77:1 UHDTV (4K) -- but, were you able to expand the movie to squeeze out the black bars, you would LOSE a significant portion of the movie since the screen can't adapt to the size of content and the content is therefore "distorted/cropped" to fill the screen. Doing so literally "cuts off" a decent part of the recorded material and/or enlarges it causing details to be lost. I'd rather see the "WHOLE" movie's video content than have the screen be filled with only a fraction of the content. I'm sure you'll come to see a 2.39:1 aspect ratio as the highest quality and best way to see the director's original vision -- especially if you are viewing it in 1080P (HD) or 2160P (UHD/4K). I'll take black bars any day over a full screen showing only a part of the movie -- and distorted too.
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