Full-Screen DVD Question ....

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Sylvia

Feb 24, 2009 - CST 3:29 PM

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These days, it seems that most dvds are released in either widescreen or fullscreen formats - sometimes with both versions on the same disc. Normally, I prefer widescreen, but there is the occasional movie that is only available in fullscreen. Case in point: earlier today (Feb. 24), Lions Gate released the Jack Nicholson/ Meryl Streep flick "Ironweed" on dvd, but only in fullscreen format! As I understand, some movies were originally filmed in such a way to accomodate airings on standard tvs. (I think the movie "Moonstruck" was filmed this way - so that the widescreen version actually features a truncated picture, thereby actually offering less of the original image in widescreen than appears in the full screen version.)

In any event, as a techno-fossil who still owns a standard, non-HD tv, I can live with fullscreen dvds if I have to, but what about people with newer HD tvs? How do fullscreen movies appear on the rectangular HD tvs? Is the image stretched and distorted, or does it appear as a box on the rectangular screen (with vertical black bars on the sides - as opposed to horizontal letterbox bars)?

[Post edited by Sylvia on Feb 24, 2009 - CST 3:33 PM]

wolfen

Feb 24, 2009 - CST 4:10 PM

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Good question, Sylvia.

Most HD widescreens have a feature where you can stretch the pan & scan image to fill the whole screen. This can give the image a...you guessed it - stretched/compressed look. If one does not like the compressed look, he/she can also view a pan & scan flick with bars on either side of the image.

[Post edited by wolfen on Feb 24, 2009 - CST 4:22 PM]

Sylvia

Feb 24, 2009 - CST 5:56 PM

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Thank you, Wolfen! I'm hoping to upgrade to an HD tv at some point, so it's great to know that I'll still be able to view my modest collection of fullscreen pictures without distortion when I do! It makes sense that HD tvs would display fullscreen dvds in their intended perspective, but it's best to learn this for certain from someone in-the-know! Thanks again!

John J. Puccio

Feb 24, 2009 - CST 6:33 PM

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Filmmakers can choose to shoot their movies in several aspect ratios, or they can shoot in 1.33:1 and matte/crop the picture later to whatever aspect ratio they want for theatrical showing. For standard-screen showings (1.33:1) of a widescreen theatrical movie, a studio can either pan-and-scan the widescreen, cutting off the sides, or the studio can go back to the original camera negative, which may be in 1.33:1 anyway. That's why with a movie like "Moonstruck," you'll see more information top and bottom in the 1.33:1 format than in its wider, but cropped, 1.85:1 theatrical ratio.

Anyway, you already got the answer to your question. Widescreen TVs give you the ability to watch material in whatever aspect ratio is being broadcast or whatever is on a disc, or to stretch it out of shape to fill the screen.

John

[Post edited by John J. Puccio on Feb 24, 2009 - CST 6:33 PM]

bladerunner1

Feb 24, 2009 - CST 9:47 PM

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do not be afraid to use any of the various stretch modes for some can work to good/great effect.

edit.
this post has been edited immensly due to the fact that it didn't come out right, theirfore my next post probably won't make any sense.

[Post edited by bladerunner1 on Feb 25, 2009 - CST 12:54 AM]

mvckalel

Feb 24, 2009 - CST 9:58 PM

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I just stretch it, no 'panorama' or any other modification, just make it fill up the screen...after a while you don't notice it at all.

John J. Puccio

Feb 24, 2009 - CST 10:25 PM

says... "It's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide." --A.E. Neuman

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After a while, even bashing your head against a wall feels good because there is only numbness.

I could never, ever, get used to distorting a picture in order to "fill up" a TV screen. I have yet to figure out why some people find black bars (top, bottom, or sides) distracting but don't find an ugly, distorted, stretched-out image distracting. But live and let live. If others enjoy it, more power to them.

John

bladerunner1

Feb 25, 2009 - CST 12:48 AM

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john,
some of these stretch modes work really well, some not so much. it depends on the set. i personally still use my trusty 27" wega for regular tv. viewing and will continue to do so until hdtv becomes the norm. i cannot stand watching an ntsc signal blown up on my 56"er. it drives me crazy. so..i use the big screen for movie playback only. i wasn't trying to suggest not watching movies in their normal aspect ratio for i agree with you 100 percent on that issue. i hate "fullscreen" unless the movie was intended to be shown that way, but even then it is not my favorite aspect ratio. (that would be 2.35.1-2.39.1-2.40.1..whatever). and i certainly despise it on my 16.9 set because as mentioned before, the bars on the sides just bother me for some odd reason. i say "odd" because watching widescreen material on a 4.3 set has never bothered me.

John J. Puccio

Feb 25, 2009 - CST 1:36 AM

says... "It's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide." --A.E. Neuman

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Everybody's different, Blade. One of my good friends always uses a stretch mode in his widescreen television because he wants to get the most out of his "wide" screen. Fair enough.

John

KungFuTaco

Feb 25, 2009 - CST 7:26 AM

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I have seen a good bit of hd set's (maybe this is the norm) with an setting called automatic or something that stretches the image more at the sides and less in the middle. So if you watch football as people run across the screen they start stretching out as they get to the side. I hate this as it makes me motion sick. I only use 2 setting on my TV 4:3 and Widescreen. I have yet to see a stretch that I looks better to me than the ratio it was meant to be seen in.

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