I just got my first powerbook and was wondering why there is still the "black bars" on the screen when I watch DVD's. I thought since my screen is a widescreen that it would not need those stupid bars. I realize that it might be in the DVD itself, but what gives?
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Widescreen
- Thread starter chrisleeroth
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I get the same on my iMac. I think it's because the ratios are actually slightly different. 16:10 versus 16:9 or something like that from memory.
The DVD you're watching is probably anamorphic widescreen. That means it has an aspect ratio of more than 16:9. The Powerbook is only 16:9 or 16:10
chrisleeroth said:
Are the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen or on the sides? If top and bottom, the DVD you are watching has an aspect ratio greater than 1.5:1 (for the 15") or 1.6:1 (for the 17"). Many Hollywood movies have an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and quite a few are 2.35:1. Therefore in order to preserve the aspect ratio of the original film, black bars will still appear on the top and bottom. If the bars are on the sides, the aspect ratio is less than that of your PowerBook. TV programs on DVD typically exhibit this behavior. Most TV programs are 1.33:1. Newer programs sometimes are in HD and then 1.78:1. Even in this later case you will still get (though hardly noticeable) very thin black bars top and bottom. This is because the aspect ratio of the PowerBooks is not exactly the aspect ratio of HDTV: 1.5:1 or 1.6:1 vs. 1.78:1.
If you get black bars around the entire picture, that usually indicates widescreen content, with the black bars recorded onto the DVD to make it a 4:3 picture. I have a couple of DVDs like this and I'm not really looking forward to watching them on the widescreen LCD I'm getting next week! 
Nermal said:If you get black bars around the entire picture, that usually indicates widescreen content, with the black bars recorded onto the DVD to make it a 4:3 picture. I have a couple of DVDs like this and I'm not really looking forward to watching them on the widescreen LCD I'm getting next week!
Also known as non-anamorphic widescreen DVDs. If you get a DVD with an aspect ratio greater than 1.78:1, make sure it's also anamorphic. I have a few of the non ones and watching them on my HDTV bites, in particular the movie Breakdown. It's aspect ratio is 2.35:1 and I almost feel like I'm watching a postage-stamp with all the black screen I get.