Welcome to a new recurring feature on the HomeTheaterFocus blog, “What sucks about HDTV” is going to try to illuminate common complaints, shortcomings and general misconceptions about HDTV. We all love HDTV but many people have shelled out thousands on an HD monitor expecting to be in total Television/Movie viewing nirvana only to find there are limitations. What sucks about HDTV will have its own category so you can compile a list of; what sucks about HDTV!
One of the most pervasive complaints about HDTV has to do with aspect ratio or the feeling of being imprisoned in black bars. It goes like this: I bought a new widescreen HDTV hoping to escape black bars on the top and bottom of widescreen DVD movies, but many DVDs and even some movies on HDTV channels still have black bars on top and bottom. Why do I have to put up with black bars on the sides when watching regular TV shows, even on HDTV channels? Why can’t there be a universal standard aspect ratio used by film and television?
The quick answer to this problem is; get over it! If the black bars are so bad chances are your TV can stretch the picture in one of several modes to fill your screen, or just hit zoom on your DVD player’s remote control. But that means contorting the images so they’ll either look stretched or cropped at the top and sides. To see a movie as the screenplay demands you have to view in its original aspect ratio, or OAR, this means your 16:9 screen isn’t always going be filled completely.
For a deeper understanding of what aspect ratios are, what they look like and the consequences of pan and scan check out this excellent guide.
There will probably never be a universal aspect ratio no matter what kind of TV you buy. There will always be movies made in a variety of aspect ratios because there will always be a variety of movies, directors and tastes; this is a good thing that should not be seen as a limitation. At the theater you watch movies in different aspect ratios and you’ve probably never noticed black bars on the projector screen.
HDTV programming uses 16:9; all HD programs will fit perfectly into your new widescreen HDTV. The sad truth is that programs produced for HDTV are still a minority even on HD channels where you’re still likely to see a lot of features in the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio. Movies are another matter. Created to drum up business at the local megaplex before DVD, the film industry has every reason to present a unique experience at the theater and therefore aren’t likely to embrace a standard intended for home viewing.
Early TVs were in the 1.33:1 (4:3) aspect ratio, the standard square screen we’ve all known and loved for generations. It was also the same aspect ratio of movies at the theater. The movie industry created wider screen formats in the 1950s to set their product apart from TV. Today movies appear in a variety of widescreen formats 16:9 is a happy medium that fits reasonably well in between most aspect ratios you’re likely to see on TV and film.