On Monday, February 9, 2015 at 12:49:21 PM UTC-8, Jeroni Paul wrote:
In SD the stream has a 4:3 16:9 indicator that should be used instead of adding side bars into the picture. This has two advantages: first the full available resolution is used for useful video content and second the decoder makes the best fit in whatever screen size the video is being played with the possibility to be configured.

It is common nowadays to see 4:3 programs broadcast in 16:9 with side blackbars, I hate it, it makes an inefficient use of the available resources and looks really ugly in a 4:3 display.



4:3 stretched to fill 16:9 makes everyone look fat.

"Black Bars are stealing my screen real estate," is the absolute funniest Luddite response to technology today.