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Can Apple TV HD 1080p go full screen?

Dstopsie

Dstopsie

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 22, 2010
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LOS ANGELES BABY!!
Hi everyone. I am new to apple tv and I just purchased the 3rd generation. I have a 1080p tv and when I rent a movie in HD it is in 1080p but I don't understand why it does not fill up the screen. It seems to be widescreen and not full screen? Like when u way pitch a DVD in widescreen mode.

Is there anyway to have the full screen in HD? I hope this makes sense.

Thanks in advance for ur help
 
I know what you are saying/asking, answer is, depends on the film and the aspect ratio. If you are watching a movie in a wider aspect ratio it will not fill the screen and will be letterbox just like DVD.
 
Any movie I rent. My apple tv is set to 1080p. I never had this when I rented movies on demand through my cable service. Don't get me wrong the pic is great but I want it full screen.
 
No distortion. I just dont get a full screen picture.reminds me when u rent widescreen movie and it doesn't fill up the entire screen. Picture looks perfect just not full screen.
 
Pretty much every TV show now is 16:9. Most movies are wider so you'll get letterboxing.
 
Dstopsie said:
Any movie I rent. My apple tv is set to 1080p. I never had this when I rented movies on demand through my cable service. Don't get me wrong the pic is great but I want it full screen.
Click to expand...

If it bothers you then your TV most likely has a zoom mode which will expand the picture so it fills a 16:9 screen (by cutting off the ends).
 
Try the Dark Knight movie. On my tv, playing the bluray through the PS3, it was letter boxed until it was an outside shot when he was rapelling to the building in Japan. Then it went full screen. It went back to letterbox when it was filmed inside.
 
There is nothing wrong with the movies or your TV.

This is how the movies are supposed to be. It's how they were made, how they are shown in a theater, and how they are released on DVD/Blu Ray. If you want them zoomed in so it fills your screen, you either need to use a zoom mode on your TV if it has one, or go back to watching movies on cable where they cut the sides off.

The Dark Knight switches aspect ratios depending on whether the scene was filmed with IMAX cameras or not, and that happened in theaters as well, so it's normal to change during the movie.
 
You are talking about 2.35:1 movies. Unfortunatly there is not any option in Apple TV 3 to zoom in. Using your TV's zooming capabilities usully distortes the image quality. It is really poor on Apple's part. WD TV Live does allow you that option and it is great. I believe the JB Apple TV2 also allow you to change it maybe just wait for the JB.
 
here2rock said:
You are talking about 2.35:1 movies. Unfortunatly there is not any option in Apple TV 3 to zoom in. Using your TV's zooming capabilities usully distortes the image quality. It is really poor on Apple's part. WD TV Live does allow you that option and it is great. I believe the JB Apple TV2 also allow you to change it maybe just wait for the JB.
Click to expand...

Why is it poor on Apples part? Why would you want to zoom in any content? Are we still at the point where black bars bother people?
 
omyard said:
Why is it poor on Apples part? Why would you want to zoom in any content? Are we still at the point where black bars bother people?
Click to expand...

I had the same thought, but I guess it is still a remnant of the good old Betamax/VHS days. I always preferred the widescreen edition, the black bars never bothered me. That format is how the director/cinematographer decided to tell their story, and it was framed for that.
 
Thanks for eveyone's help. I guess I just didn't understand why the tv shows filled the screen and the movies weren't. I understand the widescreen concept I just thought it would be full screen 1080p content. If others have the same issue then I guess this is how it is. Remember I never had ATV before.

Thanks again everyone
 
simsaladimbamba said:
I had the same thought, but I guess it is still a remnant of the good old Betamax/VHS days. I always preferred the widescreen edition, the black bars never bothered me. That format is how the director/cinematographer decided to tell their story, and it was framed for that.
Click to expand...

The key words you used "I" and "me". My point is that not everyone is in the same boat. There are a lot of people who don't want to have black bars on their tiny 50" screens (That's right 50" is no longer big anymore).

If apple had some sort of zoom adjustment then everybody would have been happy, you would have got your ultra wide angle and I would have got my full coverage of the screen, both happy! What is wrong with that option? Better sill if I like the movie I could watch it again in it's full glory.

Apple screwed it up in my mind.
 
Cameron500 said:
Try the Dark Knight movie. On my tv, playing the bluray through the PS3, it was letter boxed until it was an outside shot when he was rapelling to the building in Japan. Then it went full screen. It went back to letterbox when it was filmed inside.
Click to expand...

Dark Knight was shot partially in IMAX, the IMAX scenes (several throughout the movie) are shown in full-screen 16:9, the standard scenes are in a letter-boxed format (2.40:1). so you get roughly the same experience as seeing it in IMAX theatre where it would fill the screen for those scenes.

IMAX is natively 1.44:1 (or 13:9) so there is some image that is lost on the sides when they expand it to full screen for the blu-ray

i'm not sure if the version available in the iTunes store does this, I'm guessing probably not.

----------
here2rock said:
The key words you used "I" and "me". My point is that not everyone is in the same boat. There are a lot of people who don't want to have black bars on their tiny 50" screens (That's right 50" is no longer big anymore).

If apple had some sort of zoom adjustment then everybody would have been happy, you would have got your ultra wide angle and I would have got my full coverage of the screen, both happy! What is wrong with that option? Better sill if I like the movie I could watch it again in it's full glory.

Apple screwed it up in my mind.
Click to expand...

50 is pretty big, i've got a 47, and if i upgrade, i'll need a bigger living room.

if you've got a 50" screen, you have a zoom function on your TV.
and you'll have to have your regular TV remote out anyway, since the aTV has no volume control built in.
 
here2rock said:
The key words you used "I" and "me". My point is that not everyone is in the same boat. There are a lot of people who don't want to have black bars on their tiny 50" screens (That's right 50" is no longer big anymore).

If apple had some sort of zoom adjustment then everybody would have been happy, you would have got your ultra wide angle and I would have got my full coverage of the screen, both happy! What is wrong with that option? Better sill if I like the movie I could watch it again in it's full glory.

Apple screwed it up in my mind.
Click to expand...

Seems like most tvs nowadays have a zoom option on them. My 2008 46" tv does. So why would Apple need to get involved? I would never use it because I want to see the entire movie. Do you really want to watch people talking to people you can't see because they are off your screen? You watch these wide movies in the movie theater no problem, right? If your room was darker you wouldn't even notice the black bars. I really don't get the whole "I've been gypped because the movie isn't filling my screen" thing. But then, I'm constantly trying to explain to my clients why their 4:3 powerpoint slides need to be reformatted because they ordered 16:9 screens for their meeting :mad:
 
here2rock said:
You are talking about 2.35:1 movies. Unfortunatly there is not any option in Apple TV 3 to zoom in. Using your TV's zooming capabilities usully distortes the image quality. It is really poor on Apple's part. WD TV Live does allow you that option and it is great. I believe the JB Apple TV2 also allow you to change it maybe just wait for the JB.
Click to expand...

TVs do not generally distort the image when zooming, unless maybe you are talking about an old or crap TV. Most HD TVs have several zoom modes, one of which is designed specifically for the purpose of expanding 2:35:1 to 16:9. Why would Apple duplicate a function which belongs in the TV set? Just because someone else does it is not a compelling reason. My satellite box doesn't do it either.
 
People who think that the zoom on modern TVs and built into the media player is the same thing then I am afraid you don't know what you are talking about.

BTW my 50" is Pioneer Kuro not a cheap Korean built Samsung.

Zoom built into your TVs is crap (They either distort the pircture too much or zoom in too close), why would ruin your movies? If you don't have the option in the media player then just watch with the black bars. Proper zoom built into the media player is so much better, try WD Live TV for a change.

Having a proper variable zoom built into the system allows you to lose a little on the sides but gain a lot more of your screen therefore a more enjoyable movie experience at home.
 
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here2rock said:
People who think that the zoom on modern TVs and built into the media player is the same thing then I am afraid you don't know what you are talking about.

BTW my 50" is Pioneer Kuro not a cheap Korean built Samsung.

Zoom built into your TVs is crap (They either distort the pircture too much or zoom in too close), why would ruin your movies? If you don't have the option in the media player then just watch with the black bars. Proper zoom built into the media player is so much better, try WD Live TV for a change.

Having a proper variable zoom built into the system allows you to lose a little on the sides but gain a lot more of your screen therefore a more enjoyable movie experience at home.
Click to expand...

I don't see any distortion when I turn on the zoom on my Samsung, it also doesn't have a problem with over zooming.
 
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