62 - Framing

Meh.

I switched to BBC4 and they're showing reruns of This Life and the picture's got black bars on all four sides of the screen. This is never acceptable. Picture squeezed to a little box in the middle of the screen. 

If there's black bars on two sides of the screen, that's fine. If it's a movie shot in 2.35:1 being shown on a 16:9 screen you'd expect bars at the top and bottom so you can see the whole picture as it's meant to be seen, without it being cut or stretched. 

Or if you're watching an old TV show shot in 4:3 on your 16:9 telly, you'd expect bars to the left and right, so you can see the whole picture as it's meant to be seen without being cut or stretched. 

But bars on all four sides? No. Never acceptable.

If the original ratio of the picture is not 16:9, in order to fit the telly one aspect, either the horizontal or vertical should fill the screen; thus giving black bars on just two of the sides. As it should be. 

Bars on all four sides. Sheer laziness. 

It takes me out of things and is a distraction. 

I mean; rather than giving it my full attention, I'm writing this... when I should be commenting on just how young that Rick Grimes looks...