DVD Aspect Ratios - Can someone explain?

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I have a 19 inch widescreen monitor at 16:10. Most movies seem to have the Anamorphic Widescreen option which is 16:9 - that fills up almost all the screen.
One such example is Chicken Run.

Then there are movies with the Widescreen option which is 2.35:1
I didn't realise this until now (only got the computer recently) but there is a lot of black space above and below. I just found that strange since I have a widescreen monitor. Lord of the Rings and Narnia are both like this.

I find this a bit disappointing and I know it's due to the aspect ratio, but is there anyway to remedy this? Or is it normal?

Thanks of any help in advance!

[Arnobius]

The ratios are the ratios they had in the theater. 16x9 (1.7778:1) is popular with the widescreen HDTVs, but not all are done in that ratio. 1.85:1 and 2.35:1 are others.

Yes it's normal. You'll have less black than a 4:3 TV would, but that's about it

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Hmmm... Okay, thanks AnimeHeretic!

[Bobtheduck]

I have a 19 inch widescreen monitor at 16:10. Most movies seem to have the Anamorphic Widescreen option which is 16:9 - that fills up almost all the screen.
One such example is Chicken Run.

Then there are movies with the Widescreen option which is 2.35:1
I didn't realise this until now (only got the computer recently) but there is a lot of black space above and below. I just found that strange since I have a widescreen monitor. Lord of the Rings and Narnia are both like this.

I find this a bit disappointing and I know it's due to the aspect ratio, but is there anyway to remedy this? Or is it normal?

Thanks of any help in advance!

Ok, while this won't help you understand it, just me making a comment... The idea behind widescreen is that your field of vision is supposed to be roughly 2:1. So, if you have widscreen, the experience is more immersive, particularly when it's the big theater screen. That concept flies out the window when the screen is 17 inches (unless you sit really close) In any case, different type of film have different ratios... The earliest movies were more box shaped until anamorphic lenses came out... They were more like television or even more square than that before then... There has never been one standard on film aspect ratio... So, the best TV makers can do is create screens that accomodate for the highest number of films, (an average, or something like that) and strive to reach a television standard for wide screen... I believe the most common aspect ratio today is 16:9, so it makes sense for TVs to be made with that... 16:10 sounds rather odd to me... As for LOTR and Narnia being wider, that may be because they want to create a sense of breadth in the film... To make it feel larger than it actually is. There have often been even wider screens, far beyond the aspect ratio of human vision. to force people to turn their heads to see everything, making it seem a lot bigger... Either 2:1 (the most natural, I'd assume) or 16:9 (the most common) will likely be the standard in things designed for HDTV...

EDIT:... Wow... I'm really late with this... I didn't realize when this thread was started, but... yeah...

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Thanks Bobtheduck. No, your not heaps late (only 5 or 6 days).