If you've just bought a DVD player and ...

I've tried to present answers to some of the common questions audio enthusiasts have when first getting into DVD.

Q: A film I'm viewing shows those black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. When I compare the same scenes from the disc to those on tape I can see there is some missing content. Am I being cheated?

No. You see more on tape because it the particular title was filmed using the "Super 35" process, which records more image area than is intended for use in the theatrical release. The extra filmed area might be full of dead space or film equipment such as microphones or dolly tracks. It would fill the 4:3 fullscreen area well, but only a film buff would want to see this material. A widescreen transfer shows you everything you're meant to see and nothing you're not. See widescreen for details.

Q: My new widescreen TV displays the correct cinematic aspect ratio. Why am I still getting those black bars with widescreen movies?

A: The widescreen television aspect ratio is 16:9, which is not a "cinematic" aspect ratio, but a video standard. Films come in a variety of aspect ratios. Some of the most popular widescreen cinema formats are close to 16:9 (1.78:1), which is one reason this was chosen for televisions. However any film that is not in 16:9 aspect ratio will display with bars (Note: I do not know of any film shot with a 16:9 aspect ratio). For historic reasons, nearly all films are in one of the following aspect ratios: 1.33:1 (will have side bars), 1.66:1 (small side bars), 1.85:1 (very small top/bottom bars, possibly hidden by overscan) and 2.35:1 (larger top and bottom bars). The 1.85:1 is the closest fit to your widescreen television. Please see widescreen.org for details and examples. You also might look to the "Widescreen-O-Rama" article on The Digital Bits for a well-written introduction to aspect ratios.

Using your dvd player with an older stereo system.

Q: I have an older receiver that I want to use with my just purchased DVD player. This recife has a digital audio input (optical) for connecting to CD players. I expect to listen to DVD's on my stereo system. If I use this connection will I get digital surround sound? Or should I hook the DVD player to the analog stereo audio inputs on the receiver instead? I tried the hook-up to the "CD" optical receptor on the receiver from the DVD Optical output but got nothing but static.

A: I'll answer these questions in order.

1. Unless your receiver is capable of decoding digital surround sound (Dolby Digital "5.1" or DTS) then you will not obtain surround sound playback. I expect your older receiver is only capable at most of decoding Dolby Pro Logic. This is the older analog "matrix" type of surround sound, which many films offer. So yes, you can listen to the analog surround sound when available should your receiver have a decoder for it.

2. If you use the "CD digital audio" connection to a receiver with no DD/DTS capabilities you must set the DVD player output to "PCM" rather than "bitstream". Otherwise you will be sending raw digital data to your speakers (that "static" you hear), which can at loud volumes damage a speaker. You may find using the analog stereo cable more convenient to use.

You should be aware that Dolby Digital "5.1" audio may not playback with the best sound quality on a stereo system. For improved stereo sound, you may have to go to the audio options menu on the disc in order to select an alternative audio track. These are provided for improved stereo playback. Choose either "PCM" or Dolby Digital 2.0 track.

Q: I have an older DVD player with Dolby Digital capabilities, but not DTS. I can play a DTS audio CD through my DTS capable receiver, but when I play a DTS DVD I hear only white noise.

Your DVD player does not support DTS. It does not pass the bitstream from the DVD. Be aware that supporting DTS and decoding DTS are entirely different matters. A DVD player that supports DTS (it will display the DTS logo) passes the digital audio from the DVD through to your receiver, which decodes it (unless of course you DVD player contains a DTS decoder). The DTS CD's play because your player does not need to support DTS in order to pass the bitstream, which is why DTS CD's will work with any ordinary CD player that has a digital output. To hear DTS DVD audio, you need to upgrade to a player that supports DTS.

Q: I have a DVD that states Dolby Digital 5.1 audio on the package but which turned out to be 2.0. with no 5.1 option. Is this a mislabeling problem?

A: Sometimes there is no menu option for alternate sound tracks. To access them you must hit the audio button on your remote to change to the 5.1 track. Occaisionlly there is a menu option to select which audio track you want to hear, but the audio button is locked out so it appears as if there's only one track. There are also cases of misprinted labels. This may occur because "5.1" sound does not have to contain any particular number of channels and is used as a generic term for Dolby Digital by some.

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