Why does my PS3 display black bars when playing Blu Ray DVD's?

Question

I have a new Toshiba 63" 1080p TV connected to a PS3 via HDMI.

When playing Blu-Ray movies, I get black bars on the top and bottom. Also, the quality of the film is not any better than standard DVD's? I've checked the setup configuration on the PS3 and most all display settings are on 'automatic'.

Any advice?

Thanks!

Answer 1

You're going to get those black bars whether you're on a full screen TV or widescreen TV. While there are the black bars, you're still getting a much wider picture than a standard definition picture. Don't ask me why they do this, I don't know. I'm not sure about the quality though. You're sure that you've only used HDMI cables, and nothing else? Are you buying Blu-Ray DVD's? sorry if that sounded condescending.

Answer 2

Also make sure that your display is HDCP compliant because blu-ray is sometimes scaled down if not compliant

Answer 3

A lot of films use aspect ratios wider than 16:9. The black bars are normal. Also, make sure your PS3 is outputting 1080p, and getting your TV calibrated (using a calibration disc is a good idea, and some movies have the THX Optimizer on them for video calibration) in order to get the best picture possible. And I'd suggest watching an actual DVD and comparing it to Blu-Ray to see just how much of a difference there really is...