Don't know anything about PS2, I have an Xbox, and it plays in widescreen no matter what setting I have it on. My TV is not widescreen, by the way. But when I take my DVD's to my buddies house, they play fullscreen on his regular TV. It doesn't look too good. A bit distorted, but watchable. I think it is because his DVD player is poor. All I know is that on the HDTV I have at home, it looks wonerful without the black bars. But now that I'm away at college, the bars are there to stay.