Why would some of my movies play window boxed?

[woody777]

Both Rushmore and A Bug's Life playback with very severe windowboxing. The bars on the sides are your standard fullscreen size and the bars on the top and bottom are larger than even a normal 2.35:1 size. Out of my entire collection, these two movies have this issue. Can anyone with the same movies confirm that this happens on your system? Are there any options to make this stop? I know I can zoom in, but it just seems odd. Both discs are supposedly 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

[ebr]

If it's the original DVD of A Bug's Life, I know that it was not an anamorphic disc which could produce this behaviour.

[Dudley]

the non-anamorphic thing is one of the reasons I handbraked everything

[woody777]

I think it's the original DVD of A Bug's Life... you can select between fullscreen and widescreen.

According to Amazon, here are the specs for each disc:

A Bug's Life
Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC

Rushmore
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC

Is it because it specifically is listed as "Letterboxed?" I see other versions available for each film that say "Anamorphic." Is that the one I should have bought if I wanted widescreen that stretched all the way across the screen?

[ebr]

I think it's the original DVD of A Bug's Life... you can select between fullscreen and widescreen.

According to Amazon, here are the specs for each disc:

A Bug's Life
Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC

Rushmore
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC

Is it because it specifically is listed as "Letterboxed?" I see other versions available for each film that say "Anamorphic." Is that the one I should have bought if I wanted widescreen that stretched all the way across the screen?

Some will say "Anamorphic" but the key phrase most of them will use that you want to look for is "Enhanced for widescreen TVs".

[karlos65]

Use the aspect key on your remote.

[FlyGuyAZ]

the non-anamorphic thing is one of the reasons I handbraked everything

I wouldn't go so far as to say this for myself but I'm definitely liking this as a side effect :D


Maybe try the zoom options 1-4 in Media Center?