20
Rosen A8 Owner’s Manual
Motion picture film and cameras, and later
television screens, were originally designed
around a screen size that was almost square - it
was one-third wider than it was high (another
way to say this is that it had a width-to-height
ratio, or aspect ratio, of 4:3. This ratio, 4:3, can
also be expressed as 1.66:1.)
When widescreen movies using technologies
like Cinemascope and Panavision became
popular, new aspect ratios were used
for them - 1.78:1, 2.35:1, and even 2.55:1.
When high-definition television was
developed, a screen shape of 16:9, or 1.85:1,
was selected as the best compromise for
viewing widescreen movie images.
When you watch widescreen movies on a
standard 4:3 television, there are “black bars”
on the top and bottom of the screen. This is
often called a “letterbox” image. The alternative
is called “pan-and-scan”, where the edges of
the image are “cropped” off.
This system uses a widescreen 16:9, or 1.85:1
display - the same aspect ratio as high-
definition televisions. This means that when
viewing widescreen DVD’s, these black bars
are either non-existent, or greatly minimized.
WHY ARE THE BLACK BARS STILL THERE SOMETIMES?
There are three possible reasons for black bars to appear on the top
and bottom of the system’s display:
1) You are watching a widescreen movie with an aspect ratio
greater than 1.85:1.
Check the disc jewel box to determine the DVD’s aspect ratio - if
you see “2.3:1”, ” 2.33:1”, or ”2.35:1”, this applies to you.
2) The internal DVD player has been set for a 4:3 display instead of
the built-in 16:9 wide display. See DVD Setup, Page 23, to correct
this.
3) The “widescreen” DVD movie you are viewing is not “anamorphic”
or “enhanced for widescreen televisions”. These films, often older
DVD conversions, are not recommended for viewing on
widescreen displays, since they will not flll a wide screen -
instead, you often end up with a “picture frame’ effect. You can
usually determine if your DVD was produced for optimum
compatibility with widescreen televisions by looking for the word
“anamorphic” or the phrase “enhanced for widescreen
televisions” on the box.