How do i know if a dvd or blueray is fullscreen?

I own over 1,000 DVDs and nearly 100 blu-rays (as well as a netflix account where I rent tons of blu-rays) and to this date I can't figure this out either. On DVD, it's usually those that say "anamorphic widescreen" but this is rarely on the blu-ray case. More importantly, though, are you suggesting that you won't rent a particular movie simply because of the black bars? If you wanna watch movie and it has the black bars in the blu-ray you're out of luck, plain and simple. Having a 51" 1080p LCD myself, I understand how much that sucks to see the bars, but I'm not going to avoid a specific film I want to watch because of the black bars.

To get back to your question, I can't seem to tell what's the indication and what isn't. I think the aspect ratio might help, but most blu-rays have the same aspect ratio regardless of bars or not.

Anyone know?

OK I think I might have figured this out, well I think.

I took a few blu-rays that I knew were in full screen 16x9 such as High School Musical, Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles series one, and Smallville and they all say 16x9 / 1.78:1

but other films I know have the bars top and bottom will read 16x9 2.4:1 (2.40:1) such as Spidey 3, AVP2, superman the movie, the new Indiana Jones film.

so stick with 16x9 1.78:1 if you want full screen 16x9 with no black bars.

OK I think I might have figured this out, well I think.

I took a few blu-rays that I knew were in full screen 16x9 such as High School Musical, Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles series one, and Smallville and they all say 16x9 / 1.78:1

but other films I know have the bars top and bottom will read 16x9 2.4:1 (2.40:1) such as Spidey 3, AVP2, superman the movie, the new Indiana Jones film.

so stick with 16x9 1.78:1 if you want full screen 16x9 with no black bars.

boyinfridge

Are you sure it reads 16x9 2.40:1?

16x9 is an aspect ratio (16/9) which when equals 1.78:1.

I've never seen a fraction associated with 2.40:1.

Motion Pictures are generally shot at either 1.85:1 (Flat) or 2.35:1 (Scope) and those will determine if you see black bars. 2.35:1 is a wider ratio which is not 16x9 and it is typically used for big budget movies, mostly action, movies like Pirates of the Caribbean or The Rock. 1.85:1 is predominantly used for dramas, but in both cases it is the directors preference.

Two of the materials listed above are modern day television shows likely shot with HD cameras for the purpose of 16x9 TVs, so that is why you see no black bars, but in reality you aren't seeing as wide a picture as a movie shot at 2.35:1.

I would really pity the person that wouldn't watch a movie just because it was shot a certain way.

Motion Pictures are generally shot at either 1.85:1 (Flat) or 2.35:1 (Scope) and those will determine if you see black bars. 2.35:1 is a wider ratio which is not 16x9 and it is typically used for big budget movies, mostly action, movies like Pirates of the Caribbean or The Rock. 1.85:1 is predominantly used for dramas, but in both cases it is the directors preference.

Two of the materials listed above are modern day television shows likely shot with HD cameras for the purpose of 16x9 TVs, so that is why you see no black bars, but in reality you aren't seeing as wide a picture as a movie shot at 2.35:1.

I would really pity the person that wouldn't watch a movie just because it was shot a certain way.

Large_Soda

Nail on the head right here. Don't bother to read anyone else's post. This one explained all you really need to know.

[QUOTE="boyinfridge"]

OK I think I might have figured this out, well I think.

I took a few blu-rays that I knew were in full screen 16x9 such as High School Musical, Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles series one, and Smallville and they all say 16x9 / 1.78:1

but other films I know have the bars top and bottom will read 16x9 2.4:1 (2.40:1) such as Spidey 3, AVP2, superman the movie, the new Indiana Jones film.

so stick with 16x9 1.78:1 if you want full screen 16x9 with no black bars.

PS2_ROCKS

Are you sure it reads 16x9 2.40:1?

16x9 is an aspect ratio (16/9) which when equals 1.78:1.

I've never seen a fraction associated with 2.40:1.

all I can tell you is it says 16x9 2.40:1 on all of those Blu-rays I have mentioned and I double checked that, Im in the UK if this makes any difference I dont know but that's what it says. oh and I checked the 16x9 1.78:1 as well and that's correct. I don't claim to know the ins and outs just whats on the boxes of the movies I know.

EDIT: Maybe the 16x9 means on a 16x9 TV the movie will display at 2.40:1also

EDIT2: or maybe they use this ratio as some TVs have a full screen of 2.40:1 and do away with the black bars

This is a great read for anyone really interested.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/aspectratios/widescreenorama.html

[QUOTE="boyinfridge"]

OK I think I might have figured this out, well I think.

I took a few blu-rays that I knew were in full screen 16x9 such as High School Musical, Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles series one, and Smallville and they all say 16x9 / 1.78:1

but other films I know have the bars top and bottom will read 16x9 2.4:1 (2.40:1) such as Spidey 3, AVP2, superman the movie, the new Indiana Jones film.

so stick with 16x9 1.78:1 if you want full screen 16x9 with no black bars.

PS2_ROCKS

Are you sure it reads 16x9 2.40:1?

16x9 is an aspect ratio (16/9) which when equals 1.78:1.

I've never seen a fraction associated with 2.40:1.

[QUOTE="PS2_ROCKS"][QUOTE="boyinfridge"]

OK I think I might have figured this out, well I think.

I took a few blu-rays that I knew were in full screen 16x9 such as High School Musical, Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles series one, and Smallville and they all say 16x9 / 1.78:1

but other films I know have the bars top and bottom will read 16x9 2.4:1 (2.40:1) such as Spidey 3, AVP2, superman the movie, the new Indiana Jones film.

so stick with 16x9 1.78:1 if you want full screen 16x9 with no black bars.

boyinfridge

Are you sure it reads 16x9 2.40:1?

16x9 is an aspect ratio (16/9) which when equals 1.78:1.

I've never seen a fraction associated with 2.40:1.

all I can tell you is it says 16x9 2.40:1 on all of those Blu-rays I have mentioned and I double checked that, Im in the UK if this makes any difference I dont know but that's what it says. oh and I checked the 16x9 1.78:1 as well and that's correct. I don't claim to know the ins and outs just whats on the boxes of the movies I know.

EDIT: Maybe the 16x9 means on a 16x9 TV the movie will display at 2.40:1also

EDIT2: or maybe they use this ratio as some TVs have a full screen of 2.40:1 and do away with the black bars

[QUOTE="boyinfridge"][QUOTE="PS2_ROCKS"]

Are you sure it reads 16x9 2.40:1?

16x9 is an aspect ratio (16/9) which when equals 1.78:1.

I've never seen a fraction associated with 2.40:1.

romans828_2002

all I can tell you is it says 16x9 2.40:1 on all of those Blu-rays I have mentioned and I double checked that, Im in the UK if this makes any difference I dont know but that's what it says. oh and I checked the 16x9 1.78:1 as well and that's correct. I don't claim to know the ins and outs just whats on the boxes of the movies I know.

EDIT: Maybe the 16x9 means on a 16x9 TV the movie will display at 2.40:1also

EDIT2: or maybe they use this ratio as some TVs have a full screen of 2.40:1 and do away with the black bars

sorry Im not making it clear 1.78:1 is equal to a 16x9 screen yes so it fills the screen, is that right? if so there are TVs out there that the screen is equal to 2.40:1 so when watching say indiana jones there will be no black bars. it doesn't stretch the screen to get rid of the black bars, the screen fits that image Ill see if I can link it to the TV I mean.

keep this going people Im learning all the time.

EDIT. its 21x9 and here is the site I think it looks sweet

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/01/16/philips-ultrawidescr.html

I know of no blu-ray movies that are fullscreen. I know that Pinocchio, when released this year, will be fullscreen, but only because it is the film's native aspect ratio. They won't release fullscreen blu-ray discs because the standard for HDTV is 16x9, or widescreen. It would be silly to make a fullscreen blu-ray because people who buy blu-ray discs have widescreen tvs. On a SDTV, you will see no improvement from blu-ray to DVD. Blu-ray discs are released in their original aspect ratio. If you want to know which version of your DVD you have, it will say so in the specs in the back. 16x9 is a 1.85:1 ratio, or the standard ratio of HDTV. If it says that, and you are watching it on an SDTV, you'll have small black bars. 2.35:1 (or some approximation thereof) is the aspect ratio of movie theaters. Even on an HDTV, you'll have small black bars with this ratio, but the bars are much bigger on an SDTV. Fullscreen crops the edges off of the film to make it fit on a 4x3 screen, which is the standard aspect ratio of SDTV. The specifications section on the back of the box will tell you what aspect ratio the disc is. Personally, even when I had an SDTV, I always chose widescreen because to me, the black bars were not as annoying as losing part of the picture. That was a barrel of fish hooks, but I hope it helped.romans828_2002

OK you seem to know what you are talking about, why do both 1.78:1 and a 1.85:1 both fill a 16x9 TV.

I think I keep getting my wires crossed as here in the UK 16x9 has been standard for many years now but in America when you all say full screen you mean a 4x3 screen. I havent seen any 4x3 Blu-rays but I do have the touched up original star trek series 1 on HD-DVD and that is in full screen (4x3)