Netflix on PS3 Aspect Ratio Problem

[JPBoston]

Hey all --

I usually only use Netflix streaming for kids shows for my daughter, so I've never really noticed this problem before...

But I tried to watch Cronenberg's Naked Lunch today, and noticed that the opening Fox logo appeared very zoomed-in on, as if was a 2.40 movie zoomed for 16x9 (all you could see was the '20th'). The movie itself looked okay, and a quick imdb check says the movie was 1.85:1, so it plays normally via Netflix.

But it made me wonder, so I fired up a movie I know is roughly 2.40, which is The Thing. And that has definitely been zoomed in on to fit a 16x9 screen without the black bars.

Is Netflix doing this from their end, or is there some obscure setting that I've over-looked? The only caveat is that The Thing is a 'starz play' movie, and I've heard people complain about their video quality via netflix a lot.

Any insights?

 

[Horhay]

I've had that issue happen on the Starz play movies only and quality isn't the greatest either.

 

[JPBoston]

Ah, makes sense. I always see Starz Play get mentioned as horrible quality.

Thanks for the reply -- That puts some fears to rest.

 

[Horhay]

Ah, makes sense. I always see Starz Play get mentioned as horrible quality.

Thanks for the reply -- That puts some fears to rest.

I think the rest of the content has the original aspect ratio. I watch a good amount of stuff on Netflix and haven't come across much content that suffers low quality or this zooming issue.

 

[JPBoston]

Yeah, I just had a few minutes to spare so I fired it up and started playing random movies I thought might be 2.40.... and several played fine with the OAR intact... must just be a Starz Play issue. Got nervous with all the new PS3 firmware updates lately that they messed up the service.

 

[Horhay]

Nah I watch Netflix from the app on my TV, so it's definitely Starz screwing around.