Westinghouse 37" LCD HDTV Monitor

[JustinTD79]

I bought it this weekend from Best Buy on sale for $1199. It's 1080P and has 1 HDMI and 2 DVI ports. It's pretty damn nice.

I'm hooking my computer up to it via one of the DVI ports and playing DVD's that way (I don't have a regular DVD player). I've never had a widescreen monitor, but are DVD's not supposed to fill up the entire screen? I still see horizontal black bars on the top and bottom. My roommate said I needed a regular "progressive scan" DVD player. Is that right?

 

[Todd33]

Depends on the aspect ratio, most movies are not 16:9. Read the back of the DVD box and see the ratio.

 

[ToXiCRaGE]

Even though you have a widescreen TV, whether or not you will see the black bars on the top and bottom will depend on the film format. I am not an expert at this but some movies don't trully fit perfectly into the 16:9 ratio. Based on the film and camera used for shooting the movie, some may fit the screen perfectly, while others will not, leaving you pissed off knowing that not all 'widescreen' movies fit the 'widescreen' (they will fit horizontally, not vertically).

I think that when you go to the cinema to see a movie, some of them are formated to fit the screen, fooling you to think that all movies are a perfect 16:9 aspect ratio.

I don't think progressive scan has anything to do with it.

Cheers!

 

[Todd33]

No progressive scan has nothing to do with it, your computer is playing it back non-interlaced scaled to your output resolution.

 

[JustinTD79]

Well, I'm not sure what that means, but do I need to get a regular DVD player or just stick with my computer's DVD drive?

 

[DBL]

Originally posted by: JustinTD79
Well, I'm not sure what that means, but do I need to get a regular DVD player or just stick with my computer's DVD drive?

Your computer dive should not have any issue displaying a progressive picture so that is a non-issue. Some movies are filmed in a 2.35:1 ratio which is even wider than your 16:9 screen. That results in space on the top and bottom, although significantly less than if you were using a 4:3 monitor. There is little you can do that is worthwhile. Turn down the lights and enjoy.

 

[Todd33]

It has nothing to do with stand-alone vs computer, it just the facts of life. Most movies are filmed wider than 16:9, so they will have black bars on top and bottom.

http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#1.38

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7809555&?post7809555

 

[Rage187]

I have the 37" westy as well, and the 32"

It's not the TV, it's the dvd itself.

 

[Rage187]

Originally posted by: JustinTD79
Well, I'm not sure what that means, but do I need to get a regular DVD player or just stick with my computer's DVD drive?

your computer will actually do a better job with the picture then a regular dvd player.

make sure you are also using the DVI or HDMI port, they both will let your computer display 1080P.

Also check out http://www.davestrailerpage.co.uk/ for a grip of 1080P trailers.