I HATE widescreen!!!

That is exactly how I feel. You do feel more like you are more in the experience than watching with the black bars. Last night I was watching a nature TV program that had the widescreen bars and I just couldn't really enjoy it. Then, right after that program another nature program came on and this one was Full screen. I enjoyed it, I felt like I was in the Antartic while I was watching it. Thanks for feeling my pain and thank you for your response!

I have a regular

I have a regular "square" 4:3 picture tube T.V (got it about seven years ago). So I hate widescreen too. If they must make widescreen movies, at least they could put it in the 1:85:1 mode so when I play a D.V.D. it will be displayed full screen when the D.V.D. player is set to widescreen. This works even on a 4:3 set so I love that. I try not to watch the D.V.D.'s with the big black bars (2:35:1) because it will not go full screen. It does get a little bigger with the aforementioned settings on my T.V. Movie studios should realize that not everyone has widescreen T.V.'s and a lot of us would like to buy full screen D.V.D.'s so why just make them 2:35:1 only? It really bothers me when that is the only aspect ratio some movies are in (National Treasure 2 and Spider-Man 3). I look it up on Amazon to find out what aspect ratios a movie is available in. And then they started charging more for two-disc sets (the earlier Harry Potters were two discs and you didn't have to pay extra; it was not issued as a single disc movie). Even with widescreen H.D.T.V. sets you may still get black bars. My dad has one and I was watching a 2:35:1 movie and to get the picture to fill the screen I used the Picture Size (zoom) button. I don't think anything got cut off.

I agree exactly! If only those movie studios could hear us . Yeah, I have never enjoyed movies any less when they fit them to full screen, so I don't know why they changed it. Oh well maybe one day the studios will get nostalgic and go back to the old way LOL. I won't hold my breath though .

Is anyone reading these posts? I think all the changes are merely for making money. I literally HATE widescreen everything. I don't want a widescreen tv nor do I want hdtv either. Widescreens require too much room. I want a square type of screen. If I want the high quality I go see it on the big screen. Why does anyone need all of that in the home? Make it for those people who are obsessed with stuff like that. You know like the guys who have to have all the speakers. I was mad when they stopped VHS and cassette tapes for music. They give the buyers no choices and now they have blu-ray. Why do we need that? I have heard we will be forced to use those and the DVD will be obsolete. I am sick and tired of being forced to go a certain way just because someone invents something new. I don't like widescreen on my computer but I had to get one. They don't last very long like the old monitors. I am really disgusted with technology and being forced to buy something I don't want.

Yeah, I have one DVD like that, that you can flip over. I like being able to have the choice. I think they should have the options on all DVD's. I have seen lots of DVD's sold either Widescreen or Fullscreen. If they are doing the fullscreen option anyway why not just put the 2 on the DVD for people to choose. Though, they probably make more of a profit selling them seperately. Especially if someone buys full screen and later gets a new widescreen TV, they might end up buying the DVD all over again, because fullscreen DVD's cause bars on the sides of the TV, on widescreen TV's. A long time ago I bought Finding Nemo and it came with 2 seperate discs, one was full screen and the other was widescreen. It didn't cost any more and they still gave both disc, so I could choose. Well, thanks for feeling my pain ! I know we can't change it, but it is nice to know someone else feels the same.

I have full screen TV's, but I have friends that have the widescreen TV's or monitors and they still have the same problem. It is rather annoying, I don't know why nothing is done about it. Thank you for taking the time to respond!!!

I will have to try changing it to 4:3 ratio. I use to use my DVD players zoom feature on the movie to remove the black bars. Though with that you don't get the same results as with it being made to be full screen. I think I will try to set the ratio and see if it makes it better. Thank you for responding. I appreciate it!

I have satelite, so I run a digital signal. The picture on my TV is great, it is just the widescreen bars at the top and bottom that bother me.

Yes, it is the same here. Our TV shows and news most of them have widescreen bars on the shows too. Still annoying, though the bars are quite thin compared to some they place on movies.

Yeah but like every new Tvshow is shot in widescreen. Even the evening news is in widescreen. But this may not apply to your country...

I completely agree! If I only wanted to watch the movie on a small screen I would watch all my movies on my laptop. Thanks for responding!

You know what I use the DVD's to change the language and the subtitles too, except I do it with Spanish language. You know, I have never noticed where the subtitles were placed. I don't think they were on the bar. Hmmm...now I am going to have to put a movie in and check. Your lucky with French, I noticed more DVD's have the French option than Spanish, maybe for Canada. Ok, i'm off to check where my subtitles are placed .

You're welcome...LOL One thing that annoys me. As you said most DVD movies do come with French subtitles (sometimes the audio as well)....ALL except the Lord of the Rings movies...they only have English and Spanish....would love to hear those movies or have the subtitles in French

I just checked. Oh my gosh, all this time using the subtitles and I never noticed that they played on the lower widescreen bar. Well, now that you brought it to my attention... thank you for giving me a brighter side to the horrible widescreen bars.

I do the same thing when I buy new movies. The widescreen without the bars, on a widescreen tv, still has bars on a full screen tv, though not too bad. The widescreen with the bars is just pointless no matter what tv you have. I haven't figured out the point to that one yet. My parents have a widescreen tv and my mom complains about the bars and hates them too. She figured a widescreen tv would take care of that, but it doesn't. Thank you for taking the time to respond. It is nice to hear from people who understand .

That is great that you like it and can block out the bars. That is better than not being able enjoy a movie because of them. I agree about the multiple tracks of commentary. How many people talking over a movie do you need? Thanks!

I don't think it is hard to put both on a DVD, especially since they usually make both anyway. But, who knows... I guess there is nothing that we can do, but it is nice to find people who feel the same. Thank you for taking time to respond!

They probably make more money on the ones they sell seperately. If someone buys a Full Screen version and then buys a widescreen TV they will probably end up buying the DVD again in Widescreen version, because the full screen version will end up adding bars on the sides (instead of top and bottom) of a widescreen TV. So, they may end up making 2 sales. I am not sure if that is their method behind their madness, but seem like it. Though, it doesn't explain why some are and some are sold together and some are not. I have these movies that are Part 1 and part 2. The first of the movie came in a double sided disc with full and widescreen choices. The second movie only came in widescreen. That was rather disappointing. Thank you for responding!

I love the ones that have both too. I am still confused as to why they only offer some with both and some sold seperately!? There must be method to their madness :o). Thanks for responding!

I agree! Plus, if you do buy a widescreen TV you have to almost double the size to get it looking anywhere near as big as a full screen TV. I guess one day after all our full screen TV's die out we will become accustom to the wide way and think the full looks wierd...uh, maybe. If they could get rid of those bars I wouldn't complain so much. Thank you for your time!

Ok I'm the minority here but I love widescreen! Growing up if i saw my favorite movie in the theater it was a treat, but latter when that same movie was broadcast on tv it felt weird the scenes did not look right and the movie did not flow the way remember. Latter as an adult I discovered widescreen which preserved the movie the movie the way wanted it to be. This even before i got a widescreen TV. Full screen looks cheesy to me the face are all blown up and blurry and characters drop in and out of frame I really hate it!

I am talking about the bars they put on the top and bottom of the TV when you view a widescreen movie. It happens mostly on Full Screen TV's (square tv's,) but it still happens sometimes on Widescreen TV's (rectangle tv's.) I have tried zooming in, but it cuts off more than a fullscreen made version would. Don't worry, I am slightly calmer now. I was in the process of watching a widescreen movie when I wrote, so I was not happy. Though I still hade widescreen bars with a passion . Thanks for taking the time!

That is exactly what I thought. Everyone I know that has a widescreen TV still gets those bars on a lot of movies. If that is the case, I don't think I ever want a widescreen TV. Yeah, I don't complainas often about the small bars, but the type that literally take half of your screen should be outlawed or something. They are awful! I sure hope they fix it some day! Thank you very much for your reponse!

I have seen a side by side comparison of the widescreen and pan and scan. I know it cuts parts off, but I still prefer it over the big bars that cut off my TV screen. To me I can get more immersed in a movie with full screen. I feel it is harder to get into a movie when it cuts off part of my screen. When it has the big letterbox bars I often find myself distracted with other things, instead of watching the movie. Thank you very much for your response!

Awww, I miss that disclaimer ! That is great that you found a new CRT TV. You might have bought the last one. Yes, I think very few people are buying a TV just to get the LCD/Plasma choices. It is their only choice when they go to buy a new TV. I agree about not buying till the price comes down. The prices are insane. Oh well, here's to the "formated to fit your TV" memories .

I don't really know if you could say that it is what people want (that they don't want full screen) because people want flat TV's. Flat TV's (LCD/Plasma) were never offered in the full screen format. So, if you want a flat TV you have to buy a widescreen TV. So, the demand is for flat TV's and the supply is only offered in widescreen. You might compare beta more to HDDVD and Blueray. Blueray beat out HDDVD. Back in the 80's VHS and Beta were competing at the same time similar and VHS won. I haven't given in to Blueray yet. I think it will be many years till I do, because I am happy with normal DVD's and most of all they are cheaper. But, I do like that I heard that normal DVD's can be played in Blueray players. If that is true that would make a switch more worth it. I am not sure if you could get a "normal" TV anymore, possibly, but few and far between I would say. Thank you greatly for taking the time to respond!