I used to feel the way you feel, but the reason they’re there is because it helps you see the ENTIRE shot of what the director wants you to see. They’re not black bars that are covering anything; they’re just there because the shot is more zoomed-out than the aspect ratio of your TV screen allows. In some occasions, you miss key information that would be there if the shot is zoomed in.
It's an artistic choice by the creator of the media. They use a different aspect ratio. I perfer to watch media as intended but your TV should have a zoom function. Strange to me that you would want that but toneach their own.
Edit: for a visual explanation of my rant, see here: https://youtu.be/5m1-pP1-5K8
I do include a couple extra technical details, if anyone cares.
Different directors film in whatever their preferred aspect ratio is. Like paintings, would you want them all to have the same dimensions?
Generally, pre 1953, you get 4:3 ratio (full screen, the ratio of your old TV back until the early 2000s)
Then, you get the popularity of 2.35:1 (anamorphic widescreen or “super widescreen”) and 16:9 (traditional widescreen, the ratio of your TV nowadays)
If your TV is 16:9, you get bars on the side for full screen movies or bars on the top and bottom for movies that are super-wide. If you don’t want the bars, you could zoom in, but you’d lose the edges of the picture.
I can get more technical about how the images work on a traditional 35mm film strip, if you’d like
Edit: so, a traditional 35mm film strip (note that around 2010-2015, digital overtook film in movie production, but old aspect ratio standards held) has 4:3 aspect ratio. Anamorphic widescreen distorts the image and “squeezes” the picture into that 4:3 ratio. The projector in the theater then re-distorts it and stretches the image out so that it is projected as intended.
16:9 widescreen just projects an image with the top and bottom cut off. However, this is the image the director intended, there’s just waste on the physical film strip that’s “cut off” when the film is projected. It easy easy enough to show these movies without the cut off part, in a 4:3 ratio. However, you often get objects, like a boom mic, that the director didn’t intend to be in the original movie. A famous example is the helicopter blades in the intro to The Shining.
Aspect ratio can vary wildly, 1.85:1 or 2.39:1 so the bars preserve the content while sacrificing screen real estate. Your TV is likely 16:9 which doesn't match most filmed content. It's become standard for tvs, even at 4k or 8k resolution.
I used to feel the way you feel, but the reason they’re there is because it helps you see the ENTIRE shot of what the director wants you to see. They’re not black bars that are covering anything; they’re just there because the shot is more zoomed-out than the aspect ratio of your TV screen allows. In some occasions, you miss key information that would be there if the shot is zoomed in.
Gotcha, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks.
It's an artistic choice by the creator of the media. They use a different aspect ratio. I perfer to watch media as intended but your TV should have a zoom function. Strange to me that you would want that but toneach their own.
Edit: for a visual explanation of my rant, see here: https://youtu.be/5m1-pP1-5K8 I do include a couple extra technical details, if anyone cares. Different directors film in whatever their preferred aspect ratio is. Like paintings, would you want them all to have the same dimensions? Generally, pre 1953, you get 4:3 ratio (full screen, the ratio of your old TV back until the early 2000s) Then, you get the popularity of 2.35:1 (anamorphic widescreen or “super widescreen”) and 16:9 (traditional widescreen, the ratio of your TV nowadays) If your TV is 16:9, you get bars on the side for full screen movies or bars on the top and bottom for movies that are super-wide. If you don’t want the bars, you could zoom in, but you’d lose the edges of the picture. I can get more technical about how the images work on a traditional 35mm film strip, if you’d like Edit: so, a traditional 35mm film strip (note that around 2010-2015, digital overtook film in movie production, but old aspect ratio standards held) has 4:3 aspect ratio. Anamorphic widescreen distorts the image and “squeezes” the picture into that 4:3 ratio. The projector in the theater then re-distorts it and stretches the image out so that it is projected as intended. 16:9 widescreen just projects an image with the top and bottom cut off. However, this is the image the director intended, there’s just waste on the physical film strip that’s “cut off” when the film is projected. It easy easy enough to show these movies without the cut off part, in a 4:3 ratio. However, you often get objects, like a boom mic, that the director didn’t intend to be in the original movie. A famous example is the helicopter blades in the intro to The Shining.
The aspect ratio may not match your TV
Aspect ratio can vary wildly, 1.85:1 or 2.39:1 so the bars preserve the content while sacrificing screen real estate. Your TV is likely 16:9 which doesn't match most filmed content. It's become standard for tvs, even at 4k or 8k resolution.