Damn Black Bars!! Why are TV's 1920x1080?

[Sylar]

This drives me nuts.

• Almost all movies are at a resolution of 1920x800. When viewed on 1080p TV sets there appears 280 rows of black bars on top and bottom.
• I understand TV shows are made to cater to TV sets and hence many shows fit the screen well.
• Some TV shows are zoomed in to fit the screen while cutting off the sides.
• IMax are the sole exception which are at 1080p. Yet they are far few in number to even be considered.

So...Does it not make sense to make TV's at 1920x800. Hence the movie fits the screen completely while maintaining the original aspect ratio. (...and TV show creators hopefully create shows to cater to 1920x800 resolution)

 

[Adam]

You put it in terms of specific resolutions, but you're just talking about aspect ratio. Because it's unlikely that all programs will ever be created in the same aspect ratio, and there are many (many) existing programs that are different, no fixed-sized display panel will ever be able to display all of them in their original form over 100% of the display. Perhaps a projector would suit you better?

Personally, I'd hate to see us lose information in newer TV shows by stepping back from 1920x1080 to 1920x800.

 

[adk highlander]

I'm not sure where you come up with 1920x800. I have never seen a Blu-ray in that resolution. HD is 1080p and therefore has 1080 vertical lines of resolution. You may be speaking of aspect ratio of 2.35:1 instead of 16:9. Almost all HD TV shows are 16:9 and should take up the entire screen although I am sure there are a few that are 2.35:1 but that is mostly movies.

 

[mtrycrafts]

This drives me nuts.

• Almost all movies are at a resolution of 1920x800. When viewed on 1080p TV sets there appears 280 rows of black bars on top and bottom.
• ...)

Perhaps when you understand TV and movie aspect ratios, you will understand why the black bars appear with movies.
May want to just Google it.
IMAX mostly uses the 16:9/1.77 aspect ratios hence it fills your screen.

 

[crossedover]

Don't pick up a display with a 21:9 aspect ratio, you'll be real annoyed

 

[xboxweasel]

I prefer the ultra wide 2.35:1 with horizontal black bars. Human vision is much more wide than tall. A wider field of view in a movie feels more natural for me to watch.