Blu-ray Hi-Def Equipment : screen size question

My blu ray plays everything fine with one exception. The House MD dvd set plays with a frame around it. Why? I've tried everything I can think of. I can get it to be stretched side to side, but that just looks weird.

---

What we have here is failure to communicate!

---

There are DVDs out there which are widescreen but letterboxed within a 4:3 frame. What you need is a zoom function that enlarges the picture by about 20% (horizontally and vertically). Neither my TV nor my DVD or Blu-ray player will do that, so I have to rip such DVDs to an mkv (using MakeMKV, which is free), then play them back using the WDTV Live media player, which happens to be able to enlarge them by a factor of 1.2.

My TV does have a couple of zoom and stretch modes, but they don't work with high-def inputs, just composite video (yellow) and S-video. Perhaps your TV works the same way.

Thanks for the answer! I have no idea how to do that stuff (I am 58 and a computer newbie) but it was nice of you to let me know so I don't go crazy thinking it was my fault!

---

What we have here is failure to communicate!

---

Some TVs may not have any zoom/stretch modes at all. I checked the manual for an LCD TV that I picked up at a yard sale for free (needs a power supply), and there is NOTHING in the manual that suggests a way to adjust the screen aspect ratio or size.

Post a review at Amazon and anywhere else that's appropriate, stressing the problem with the letterboxing. Then write a letter to the DVD publisher complaining, and provide links to your review. Maybe they'll do something.

Thanks!

---

What we have here is failure to communicate!

---

Meny of the new TV's don't call it "Zoom" any more. Some one like Panasonic has a "ASPECT" botton instead, where you can choose from a whole list of different screen ratios.
These old 4:3 Letterboxed DVD's i usually use the 14:3 setting to zoom propperly in on the image.