Why Are There Black Bars on My TV When I Watch Movies?

"Why are there black bars on my TV screen when I watch movies?" I've heard this question a million times. It was even more common a few years ago when we all still had the old style tube TVs, but even now, you'll occasionally see black across the top and bottom of your HD set. And now, there's black on the left and right sometimes! What's up with that?

After earning a Bachelor of Arts in film and video in college, working in the home entertainment department of a major retailer for a year, then at a video store for a year, and then at a major camera rental house in Hollywood for over 6 years, I've learned a little bit about those black bars on your TV set, and I'll attempt to explain them in layman's terms:

First of all, every TV show and movie you watch is shot for a particular aspect ratio. The aspect ratio is the length of the top or bottom of the frame divided by the length of the side of the frame. For example, old school tube TVs are a 4:3 aspect ratio ("Four by Three"). The frame is 4 units wide and 3 units high. Another way to express this is "1.33," since 4 divided by 3 equals approximately 1.33 (Folks in the industry say "One-Three-Three"). It doesn't matter if you had a big screen or just a little 13" set in your dorm room, it's all the same aspect ratio, and it has nothing to do with the size of the screen. It's really all about the shape of the screen.

All TV shows prior to the advent of HDTV were presented in a 1.33 aspect ratio. So, everything from I Love Lucy to Full House was 1.33, or 4:3.

Now, if you've upgraded to an HDTV set, you'll notice that the screen is significantly wider than your old TV. This new aspect ratio is 16:9 ("Sixteen by Nine"). Or, if you divide 16 by 9, you get "1.78" ("One-Seven-Eight").

Take a popular modern show, say, Lost, for example: If you're watching it on an HDTV set, not only do you get a better quality picture, but you get the wider 1.78 aspect ratio. People watching on the old style televisions can watch the same show, but they are viewing it in the old 1.33 aspect ratio.

So, when the camera guys shooting Lost start filming, they have to keep in mind two separate formats; all of the vital information must be contained within the 1.33 frame (for the people watching on old tube TVs), but the 1.78 frame can't pick up anything that shouldn't be in the shot, such as lighting equipment or the boom operator. The end result is that people watching on HDTV will get a more cinematic experience, and will actually see more information on the extreme left and right of the shot, usually just more beach or ocean or jungle; nothing crucial to the telling of the story.

Now, there are two common aspect ratios for cinema: 1.85 and 2.40. As you might have guessed, 1.85 ("One-Eight-Five") means that the top or bottom of the frame is 1.85 times longer than the side of the frame, and with 2.40 ("Two-Four-Oh"), the top or bottom is 2.4 times longer than the side. You may also hear people talk about 2.35 or 2.39 aspect ratios, which are, for all intents and purposes, the same thing as 2.40, or "anamorphic widescreen." Some of these movies were shot with true anamorphic lenses, and others were shot 2.40 with regular spherical lenses...but we'll talk about that in another blog. Movies like The Big Lebowski and The Truman Show were shot in 1.85. Movies like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings were shot in 2.40.

When either of the cinematic aspect ratios is viewed on an old tube TV, the frame must be "letterboxed."

That means that black bars are added to the top and bottom of the frame in order to preserve the original aspect ratio.





They used to offer "Full Screen" versions of movies for people who preferred to have the image fill their entire screen. However, viewing a film in this manner meant losing up to a third of the original cinematic image.




Now, with 1.78 televisions, the 1.85 films have an aspect ratio so close to that of the TV screen, that they can be stretched to fill the entire screen with no noticeable distortion, although to perfectly preserve the original image, there would need to be very thin bars at the top and bottom of the screen.




2.40 films are still too wide to match up perfectly to an HDTV screen, so when viewing a film of that aspect ratio, there will still be black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.









And, unfortunately, viewing any old TV shows on an HDTV means having black on the left and right of the screen.





Of course, most new TVs have a "fit to screen" option that will stretch an old 1.33 image to fill a 1.78 screen, but not without noticeable distortion to the image.

I've encountered a number of other scenarios since I've owned my HDTV. For example, I've noticed that very old DVD discs that have letterboxed 1.85 versions of films, when viewed on an HDTV, will have the correct aspect ratio, but will refuse to fill the entire screen. The image will be surrounded by black on all sides. Any attempt to force the image to fit to the screen will cause it to stretch to a 2.40 AR, filling the screen from left to right, but leaving black on the top and bottom, and causing significant distortion to the image.

If anyone else has encountered any other weird aspect ratio scenarios, please leave me a comment below, and I'll try to check it out! Thanks for reading.

Alien Film Invasion: The Ten Best Alien Movies of All Time

We love extraterrestrials! Check out our freaky and fantastic picks for the greatest alien movies ever...

Alien movies have been a staple of the science fiction film genre since it began. From the cute and cuddly, to the gruesome and grotesque, outer space aliens have captured our imaginations, filled us with fear, and made us re-contemplate our place in the cosmos. Here are our picks for the 10 best alien flicks ever:

1) Our first pick is the original Ridley Scott "Alien." If the title of this film isn't imaginative, then the film itself makes up for it with originality, groundbreaking effects, and an H. R. Giger-designed monster. A young Sigourney Weaver heads up the brilliant cast, which also includes Tom Skerritt, Ian Holm, and John Hurt. While visiting a distant planet, the crew of the Nostromo picks up an extraterrestrial killing machine that begins terrorizing the people on board. It's as much a suspense/horror thriller as it is a science-fiction film.

2) Next is Steven Spielberg's touching alien drama, "E.T." Has anyone not seen this movie?

3) A new addition to our favorite alien movies list is the Peter Jackson produced "District 9." Shot documentary-style, this movie chronicles the arrival of an alien spacecraft, the extraction of its inhabitants, and their incarceration at a detention facility full of dilapidated shacks and shanties. It's a unique alien invasion scenario; malnourished prawn-like aliens travel many light-years across the galaxy to become oppressed by the human race.

4) Also making the list is James Cameron's "Aliens," a follow-up to the Ridley Scott film. This time Ripley finds herself in the company of a rough and tumble unit of space marines, armed to the teeth with cool weapons and tech gadgets, ready to fight their way through not just one alien this time, but a whole swarm of the vicious creatures. Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, and Paul Reiser join the cast for this critically-acclaimed sequel.

5) Although this film has hardly stood the test of time, we're going to have to drop another Cameron film into this list: "Avatar." Recently smashing box office records, employing brand new 3D technology, and introducing audiences to a new breed of blue extraterrestrials, this Golden Globe winner has already made its share of waves in the ocean of science-fiction filmmaking. Greedy humans begin mining operations on a distant planet, inhabited by a troublesome native population, the Na'vi. Military forces are deployed to "relocate" these aliens. Military scientists combine the DNA of human soldiers with that of the Na'vi, thus creating big, blue super-soldiers; or avatars, controlled remotely by the thought patterns of their human counterparts, of course. The avatars, bringing with them the cruel agenda of the human mining operation, intermingle with the natives. Big budget action ensues as Sam Worthington's avatar leads a rebellion against the well-armed human oppressors.

6) "Contact." Robert Zemeckis helms an adaptation of the Carl Sagan novel by the same name. The astronomy community is all aflutter after receiving a mysterious message from deep space. Jodie Foster's character, Ellie Arroway, is an astronomer at the center of all the commotion. Her foil, Palmer Joss, played by Matthew McConaughey, is a man of faith. They face-off in thought-provoking philosophical debate about God, science, and life on other planets. Pay close attention to the character named S. R. Hadden...Is he an alien?...Or is he an angel?...Or perhaps both?

7) "The Day the Earth Stood Still"(1951). Robert Wise directs. An humanoid alien, Klaatu, does his homework on planet earth to make the ultimate decision: whether it should be destroyed or not. Meanwhile, his giant robot buddy, Gort, intimidates the U.S. Army with fancy lasers that melt tanks.

8) The original "War of the Worlds"(1953) makes our list. This Oscar-winning sci-fi flick, directed by Byron Haskin, is as classic as they get. The first film adaptation of H.G. Wells' terrifying alien invasion tale is still worth a watch today. **SPOILER ALERT: Wells surmised that alien intruders would die from our common cold. Imagine how safe Earth is now we have H1N1.

9) Next up, "Lilo and Stitch." That's right, we put a Disney cartoon on this list. Full of off-beat humor and plenty of heart, it's a tale of a misfit Hawaiian girl adopting an intergalactic fugitive as a pet. The two title characters are sophisticatedly strange for a children's movie. Artfully drawn figures and beautiful renditions of Hawaiian scenery add depth and style to this quirky, Oscar-nominated film.

10) Another Spielberg movie, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" rounds out our top ten list. Featuring special-effects that still hold up to modern standards, this film, starring Richard Dreyfuss as Roy Neary, takes place in remote parts of New Mexico. Neary and others spot UFO's in the skies. Visions of a mountain and mysterious music run through Neary's head, eventually leading him to the rendezvous point where he'll meet advanced interstellar visitors.

If you love aliens as much as we do, then you've probably seen most of the movies on this list. But these are essentials, so if there's one you haven't seen, then you're missing out. Check it out today!