Paramount + and Ultrawide Screens

[Tiberius Jim]

Has anyone else also tried to watch Picard on a 21:9 ultrawide only to be disappointed that "fullscreen" doesn't actually fill the screen? To make things more irritating, the first episode is available on Amazon Video and when watched there (the first episode, at least) it does fill the screen. I've reached out to Paramount+ about it but haven't heard anything back. I'll continue to watch on my other screen but I was really excited to watch on my much bigger curved ultrawide. :/

 

[James Cole]

I'd look up your TV model on the AVS Forum (US) or AV Forum (UK) and see if there's some way to zoom in and fill the screen. 16:9 tv's usually have this feature, like if you have something letterboxed within a 4:3 or the dreaded stretch a 4:3 to 16:9 mode.

 

[Tiberius Jim]

I'd look up your TV model on the AVS Forum (US) or AV Forum (UK) and see if there's some way to zoom in and fill the screen. 16:9 tv's usually have this feature, like if you have something letterboxed within a 4:3 or the dreaded stretch a 4:3 to 16:9 mode.

I feel like that's going to degrade the image quality, though. It looks great streaming through Amazon because they apparently don't mandate the use of the black bars on the bottom, but Paramount+ does.

 

[James Cole]

I feel like that's going to degrade the image quality, though. It looks great streaming through Amazon because they apparently don't mandate the use of the black bars on the bottom, but Paramount+ does.

Ahh, it sounds like the black bars at the top and bottom are hard coded in, much like on say a Blu-ray release. That would be more difficult to circumvent without effecting the PQ. Good luck!

 

[Tiberius Jim]

Ahh, it sounds like the black bars at the top and bottom are hard coded in, much like on say a Blu-ray release. That would be more difficult to circumvent without effecting the PQ. Good luck!

Exactly, which is frustrating since it's apparently something P+ is doing to the video itself since Amazon is able to present the show without them. All P+ would need to do is just not include those and let the user display the content as large as their screen will allow horizontally. I really don't see the point of adding the bars.

 

[Ovation]

Exactly, which is frustrating since it's apparently something P+ is doing to the video itself since Amazon is able to present the show without them. All P+ would need to do is just not include those and let the user display the content as large as their screen will allow horizontally. I really don't see the point of adding the bars.

Bars, either horizontal or vertical, are intended to preserve the original aspect ratio chosen by the director. Tinkering with them is possible but it’s akin to deciding the Mona Lisa needs to be zoomed or cropped to fit your display rather than examining it as the creator intended. Either way is a distortion of the original.

I’m not suggesting that a TV show or movie is the artistic equivalent of the Mona Lisa, of course. But on a purely practical level, what I stated remains true.

There are rare exceptions, mostly where some widescreen compositions were hard coded within a fixed aspect ratio (early non-anamorphically enhanced DVDs suffered from this problem and were “windowboxed” within a 16:9 HDTV). Today, however, if bars have “disappeared” it’s either the broadcast that’s been cropped/zoomed, or the viewer altering settings on a display. Many people think the bars are robbing them of the complete image when the opposite is the case Even the rare “windowbox” appearance still provides a full image, albeit smaller than expected.

 

[Lord Garth]

This is why I'm glad I have a projector that I put up against a wall. I don't see the black bars when I turn the lights off.

 

[Ovation]

This is why I'm glad I have a projector that I put up against a wall. I don't see the black bars when I turn the lights off.

Same reason I have one.

 

[Doctorossi]

This is why I'm glad I have a projector that I put up against a wall. I don't see the black bars when I turn the lights off.

It's all about light control. I have a direct-view panel and I don't see the letterbox bars, either.

 

[Tiberius Jim]

Bars, either horizontal or vertical, are intended to preserve the original aspect ratio chosen by the director. Tinkering with them is possible but it’s akin to deciding the Mona Lisa needs to be zoomed or cropped to fit your display rather than examining it as the creator intended. Either way is a distortion of the original.

I’m not suggesting that a TV show or movie is the artistic equivalent of the Mona Lisa, of course. But on a purely practical level, what I stated remains true.

There are rare exceptions, mostly where some widescreen compositions were hard coded within a fixed aspect ratio (early non-anamorphically enhanced DVDs suffered from this problem and were “windowboxed” within a 16:9 HDTV). Today, however, if bars have “disappeared” it’s either the broadcast that’s been cropped/zoomed, or the viewer altering settings on a display. Many people think the bars are robbing them of the complete image when the opposite is the case Even the rare “windowbox” appearance still provides a full image, albeit smaller than expected.

This all makes sense...but Picard is filmed at an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 which is incredibly close to 21:9, making an ultrawide screen an ideal display for a show filmed in that ratio. That much is apparent when you look at how the show is presented on Amazon...it fills the entire screen with practically zero modification or distortion. Technically it's Paramount+ that is altering the presentation by forcing it into a 16:9 ration by adding the black bars.

 

[drt]

lol

I didn't even know that 21:9 was a thing until I clicked on this thread.

 

[Ovation]

This all makes sense...but Picard is filmed at an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 which is incredibly close to 21:9, making an ultrawide screen an ideal display for a show filmed in that ratio. That much is apparent when you look at how the show is presented on Amazon...it fills the entire screen with practically zero modification or distortion. Technically it's Paramount+ that is altering the presentation by forcing it into a 16:9 ration by adding the black bars.

True. Paramount+ is clearly doing something to the signal (not the first complaint I've come across--in Canada, Paramount+ is not the Trek provider, so I don't have direct experience with their signal, though I've had plenty of experience with the overall phenomenon). I was addressing the general reason why there are bars in any situation. But you are correct, things should fit with a barely noticeable bar or bars (akin to when a 1.85:1 is displayed on a 16:9 (1.78:1) screen). Perhaps a setting in your 21:9 display can compensate (I'm not familiar with the model, so I have no specific advice).