Sony DVP-NS70H HDMI Single Disc DVD Player
Black bars and anamorphic widescreen
Expecting my unit next week and can't wait until I plug it to my Pioneer plasma.  <br /> <br />On a side note, there are some misconceptions about widescreen formats. Black bars appearing on your TV is irregardless of your DVD player. Older CRT TVs are in 4:3 format so if you project a movie that was shot in widescreen (1.85:1 or 2.35:1) you will see the black bars top and bottem. This is because the movie format is wider than your TV can handle.  <br /> <br />Newer TVs like the widescreen plasmas are now at 16:9 or 1.78:1 format. This is the format for over the air HDTV so this is why on your widescreen TV, HDTV is in full screen. However, DVD movies are shot at much wider formats (1.85:1 or 2.35:1) than the widescreen TV sets today.  Viewing DVDs that are shot in these formats WILL result in some black bars on the top and bottom.  <br /> <br />Some of the older DVDs are shot at 1.78:1 (or lower) and that is why it fills the screen. Newer movies like Episode III are shot at 2.35:1 and so you will have black bars. The wider the movie is shot in, the bigger the black bars you will see. This cannot be helped and is no fault of the TV or the DVD player. <br /> <br />There are a couple of things you can do to minimize this: <br /> <br />1. On some higher end widescreen 16:9 TVs, you can adjust the screen size to your liking. My Pioneer plasma allows me to adjust it.  <br /> <br />2. Make sure that your DVD player is outputting in 16:9 format if you have a widescreen TV. If you have a 16:9 TV but the DVD player is outputting in 4:3 Letterbox, the black bars will be quite noticeable. Next time you buy a DVD, look in the back and see what aspect ratio it was shot in. <br /> <br />For more information on widescreen, just search on \\"Widescreen Anamorphic\\" on the web and read all about it.  <br /> <br />Bottom line: The black bars are not a result of the DVD player. You can buy a $2000 DVD player or a $150 one, both will give you black bars. It's encoded in the DVD itself.