maybe multiple questions is a tad over rated...

recently I bought an HDTV (1080i)

am currently watching E4, Star Trek Insurrection is on, and the whole image fits the screen (TV setting @ 16:9)

Have purchased an HD-DVD player as well, and when I watch a film it has black bars at the top and the bottom of the screen, yet the whole image looks like its in the screen (PS: the image is excellent; there is definitelyt a noticeable difference in pic quality)

my HD-DVD player is connected via HDMI, and its settings are 16:9 also...

Why would both images be different, 1 filling the screen, and the second a higher quality but not filling the screen

Check the DVD box to see what it says the aspect ratio is. If it's 2.35:1 then that's why you're getting black bars. The film is not 16:9 - it's "Cinemascope" format which is what is seen in cinemas and is wider than 16:9. Even though Star Trek Insurrection is filling your screen, the left and right edges have probably been cut off to fit into 16:9.

Cheers... Unfortunately the film in question is rented from lovefilm, so comes with less of the information than had i bought it..
On a similar note, I bought HD-DVD 300 film t'other week, and it looked similar (film in the main screen, black bars top and bottom) and it's labelled on the box as 16:9 2:4:1


just to put my mind at ease, have i nought to worry about with the equipment i have, or are there further settings i could fine tune to get maximum quality

You can check places like IMDB to get the specs on a movie and it's DVD/HD release.

HD movies on HD DVD and Blu-ray are all 16:9 framed, that is the default ratio for HD regardless of how it gets to the user. In the case of 300 the movie was made at 2.4:1 ratio and mastered on HD and DVD at that ratio but within the 16:9 frame.

A more clear explanation and one seen more often may be the way some UK digital broadcasters show older 4:3 material in a widescreen frame (16:9) and have black or coloured pillar bars either side. The actual broadcast frame is widescreen but within that the picture can be anything.

You mean 2.4:1? Yes, this is cinema format. It means it is a 2.4:1 ratio picture squeezed into 16:9.


Everything's working fine as far as I can see.