How to get rid of the black bars, on my widesreen TV while watching Blu-rays on my PS3?

May be...

My PS3 is connected to my TV using the HDMI inputs. Whenever I watch Blu-rays on my TV (I have a 50" 16:9, HD TV) I still get the black bars, as if my TV was 4:3... My Xbox can stretch the images to delete the black bars (with no distortion, because its a 16:9 TV) on DVDs and such. I was wondering if theres a similiar function on the PS3. When I set up the PS3 for HDMI, there is no way to choose the aspect ratio, so I don't know what to do, I've looked through every 'setting' listed in the PS3s menus too...

You may have a widescreen TV, but not all movies are 16:9 ratio. The movies that will fit your TV without any black bars are 1.85:1 Widescreen . Some movies are 2.35:1 Anamorphic Scope Widescreen (and other aspect ratios like 2.40:1, 2.55:1, etc.) which will cause black bars to show up like they were on an analog TV (If you view these movies on an analog TV, the black bars are even bigger). This is because the image is the same width as a 1.85:1, but shorter in height than a 1.85:1, which causes black bars when put on your 16:9 (or 1.78:1) TV. (Actually, the height is the same and the width larger, which causes bars at the top and bottom when made to fit on your screen, but wanted to make it easy to understand).



You can zoom in on the image to get rid of the bars, but then you cut off the sides of the movie, just like analog TV's do.



To zoom in on the image and cut off the sides of the picture (remove the black bars), press triangle, select AV settings, then adjust your picture settings.



You need to check the back of the Blu-ray and see what the aspect ratio is. If it is 1.85:1 Widescreen, it will fit your TV with no black bars. If it is Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1 or 2.40:1), it will have black bars on the top and bottom unless you adjust (zoom in) the picture to cut off the sides of the movie.



Your XBox stretches the picture to fit your screen with no black bars if it is a 2.35:1 movie (or any ratio other than 1.85:1). You can do the same thing on the PS3 but need to adjust your video settings (XMB > Settings > Video Settings) on the PS3 for it to do the same thing.



The higher you go in aspect ratio, the bigger the top and bottom black bars will become on your widescreen TV: 1.85:1 = no black bars, 2.35:1 = medium black bars, 2.55:1 = large black bars.

Push the triangle button and search for screen options there you will fix it. (While your playing the blu ray movie of course)