# Questions regarding black bars



## Akshay Dwivedi (Sep 26, 2010)

I know this might've been asked a couple of times but here goes:

My laptop screen resolution is 1366 x 768. I was watching the following movies on VLC media player:



> General
> Complete name : E:\Superbad.mp4
> Format : MPEG-4
> Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
> ...





> General
> Complete name : E:\The Amazing Spider Man 2.mp4
> Format  : MPEG-4
> Format profile : Base Media
> ...


My first question is, why does the Spiderman 2 have more thick black bars on the top and bottom of the screen when I play it on VLC in full screen mode as compared to Superbad?

Secondly, when I'm playing the movies in VLC and they're not in full screen mode, Spiderman 2 has black bars on the top and bottom and Superbad has black bars on the left and right. My question is why doesn't Superbad also have black bars on the top and bottom just like Spiderman 2?


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## Akshay Dwivedi (Sep 26, 2010)

> My first question is, why does the Spiderman 2 have more thick black bars on the top and bottom of the screen when I play it on VLC in full screen mode as compared to Superbad?


Okay so I googled around and my first question has been answered. My screen's aspect ratio is 1.78:1. Since Superbad's aspect ratio is 1.85:1, the black bars displayed are thinner than those of Spiderman 2 (which has an AR of 2.40:1).

So can someone please answer my second question?

It says here (Why am I seeing black bars when I watch movies? - The BigScreen Cinema Guide) that



> A movie with an aspect ratio of less than 1.78:1 will have black bars displayed on the sides of a widescreen HDTV. A movie with an aspect ratio greater than 1.78:1 will have black bars at the top and bottom.


Both Superbad and Spiderman have AR's greater than 1.78:1. Then why is it that Superbad has black bars on the sides of the screen while Spiderman 2 has black bars at the top and bottom?


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

Aspect ratio basics covered here: Aspect ratio (image) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and samples/descriptions here: Blu-ray and DVD Aspect Ratio


In regards to video files, AR can be controlled by the video encoding. If you have black bars on the left and right, the file was likely encoded improperly.

Both of the above files should have black bars top/bottom.


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