# Epson 6100: Tired of those stupid side bars on a "full screen" movie. What do I do?



## Rancho5 (Aug 20, 2009)

I have an Epson 6100, PS3 and an Onkyo 705, 16:9 8ft wide screen.

I have looked and looked for how to adjust the PJ so it doesn't show those horrible wide side bars when I play a "full screen" movie. I think there should be options from which to choose, right? It would be nice to have one set up automatically so it would default when a full screen movie was put in.

Any suggestions?


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## mechman (Feb 8, 2007)

Is the movie actually 1.78:1 full screen? Are you outputting the video at 720p from the PS3?


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## spartanstew (May 7, 2009)

do you mean a 4:3 movie?

How do you propose to eliminate the bars?

some displays give you the option to stretch the image and others might give the option to chop of part of the top and bottom of the picture, but would you really want to do either of those things?

You can't watch a 4:3 image on a 16:9 screen without distorting the image somehow so don't even worry about it. 

Watch it the way it was intended or get a masking system.


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## Rancho5 (Aug 20, 2009)

Yes 4:3. If I stretch it to fit the 16:9 you're staying it distorts the picture?


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## spartanstew (May 7, 2009)

Yes.

How else would it work?

The word stretch implies distortion.

It's impossible to take a shape (in this case a square) and make it another shape (rectangle) without STRETCHING it or cutting part of it off.

Here's a 4:3 image with bars on the sides:









One way to fill the screen is to blow up the image and cut part of it off. But that also changes the detail level (makes things blurry) and you lose part of the picture (where's the shot clock?):









Another way is to stretch the image. But then everything appears wider and fatter.


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## Rancho5 (Aug 20, 2009)

Thanks so much for posting those examples. It all makes sense to this newb now. Much appreciated.


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## mechman (Feb 8, 2007)

You have to buy the 1:78:1 version or the cinemascope version. And with the latter you'll have black bars on the bottom and top.

As soon as I bought my first HDTV, I made certain that none of my purchased movies were 4:3 full screen. :T

Nice images Stew. :T Displays the point nicely.


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## spartanstew (May 7, 2009)

mechman said:


> As soon as I bought my first HDTV, I made certain that none of my purchased movies were 4:3 full screen. :T


What if it's a 4:3 movie?


I was buying OAR movies long before I bought an HDTV. In fact, I don't think I ever purchased a "full screen" movie unless there was no other option. It's not about the shape of your display.


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## chadnliz (Feb 12, 2010)

The stretch doesnt bother me, I figure if it does the movie isnt that good to begin with, on some material you can also zoom the image and get a full screen but loose some of the image. On some movies its not an issue if its a more dramatic, or comedy type but with a visual sci fi for example your going to want to see all the movie has to offer. Try it with zoom, try it full screen stretched and see what you think. No matter what anyone tells you its all about what you think is preferable or at minimum exceptable.


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## mdrake (Jan 31, 2008)

Aspect ratios can get confusing. Here is a good explanation. 
http://www.divxland.org/aspect_ratios.php

Matt


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## mechman (Feb 8, 2007)

spartanstew said:


> What if it's a 4:3 movie?
> 
> 
> I was buying OAR movies long before I bought an HDTV. In fact, I don't think I ever purchased a "full screen" movie unless there was no other option. It's not about the shape of your display.


If it's a 4:3 movie I watch it 4:3. At this point in time though, I have very few, if any, 4:3 movies left. 

I purchased several 4:3 movies early on. And I continued to buy full screen kid movies (kids prefer a full screen) until finally buying my first HDTV. It was then that I started to really pay attention and buy the proper format. Most (probably 95%) of the movies I bought for myself back then were OAR.


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