ok, let me see if i understand this correctly. i just got a new 53" WS television. now, anamorphic DVDs i know will display using the entire screen area, unless it has an aspect ratio greater than 1.78:1, in which case there will still be black bars. anamorphic DVDs make sense.

however, when i play non-amamorphic DVDs i get somewhat confusing results. Good Will Hunting has a 1.78:1 aspect ratio and it fills the entire screen. however, when i play Boondock Saints there are black bars on the top, bottom, and sides. is this supposed to be this way? the only thing i can figure is that if a non-anamorphic disk with a 1.78:1 AR is played it will take up the entire screen since a WS television has the same ratio and if a disk with a higher ratio is played then the black bars appear. is this correct? if so, how can i watch a non-anamorphic disk at full screen without always messing with teh DVD and TV settings (zoom and such)?

Most WS TV's will have an EXPAND setting that allows you to vertically stretch a non-anamorphic DVD so the ratio is correct, it just won't have the added clarity of it's anamorphic counterpart. Bars on the sides have to do with TV settings not DVD's

well, the Hitachi that i have does have four options as far as the viewing is concerned. they are Normal (4:3), Full (16:9), Fill and Smooth Wide. the only way i can get a 2.35:1 DVD to fill the screen is by setting the player to display a 4:3 picture and then setting the TV on Fill so that it stretches the picture vertically. you are right about the clarity, it sucks, but it is nice to have the larger picture.