why 2.35:1?

[yoda313]

I have a small 4:3 (NTSC) sitting next to the 16:9 (HDTV). Interesting to watch how they crop for 4:3

I did something similar to that once.

I set up two tvs with one playing the ORIGINAL Star Wars A New Hope and the other playing the A New Hope Special Edition VHS version 1 release (the first videotape SE release).

In one instance they recropped the full screen differently. In the original when the Falcon is leaving TATOOINE with Luke and Obi Wan and the rest there's a line with 3po saying how much he hates space travel. In the original full screen they cropped 3po who was speaking the line. In the Special Edition they cropped Obi Wan who was just sitting down and not speaking. What a weird way to crop a scene. Now I haven't seen the 2000 release full screens that don't have the special edition name on it but really are the special editions. I bought the widescreens of those. So I don't know if they rerecropped that scene correctly in the vhs full screen.

Just an odd occurance in the full screen cropping world.

[Steve Stepoway]

Have you ever actually used the zoom function on any DVD player or plasma screen? No? Well let me tell you the *smallest* zoom increment you can get is 2x. Just so you know, 2x zoom will convert 2.35:1 straight into 4:3 (or actually it's even smaller than that).

Both my 5 year old Toshiba mid-range player (at the time) and my 18 month old Chinese POS have zooms less than 2x. In fact, neither of them zoom to as much as 2x.

Steve

[dvd3500]

You'de think they'd use all the money they save with pirate copies to buy a TV that ios big enough so the bars aren't obtrusive (32 inch and above)

[FulciLives]

For the recored since it was asked I currently have a 51" 16x9 TV

Is that a CRT? If so I'd seriously like to know what make & model. I wanted to buy a CRT 16:9 screen and couldn't find one this small anywhere.

That's a very small screen for a 16:9. And you're the one pushing for watching in OAR. All I can say is you must either be sitting 2 feet away from the screen or you have the eyes of a hawk.

I have the Hitachi 51F710A which is a 51 inch 16x9 CRT Rear Projection HDTV. It was purchased December 2005 from a USA retail store called Circuit City for $1,350.00 which was a sale price. On top of that I paid about $50.00 for delivery and about $180.00 for a 2-year extended Warranty (which can be extended at the end of 2-years). I also had to pay 7% sales tax. These figures are in US Dollars.

As dictated by the size of the room I am sitting approximately 7 feet from the TV. According to various methods of calculating "optimal viewing distance" I am either more-or-less "optimal" or "slightly too close" depending on what method you subscribe to.

In my opinion anything bigger would have been overkill for the size of the room although I am lucky in that department as this TV was towards the upper limit of my "budget" meaning I would not have been able to afford anything bigger. Luckily this TV seems to be a "high-end" 51 inch 16x9 CRT as I saw several lessor models, same size, at lower prices.

I am very happy with it especially since it has HDCP HDMI making me ready for HD-DVD and/or Blue Ray although the TV is limited to 1080i whereas those formats can do up to 1080p but there is no TV anywhere near the price range of the TV I bought that supports 1080p in fact to the best of my knowledge you have to spend at least $2,000 + to get 1080p on a TV today.

All in all I think I got a great TV at a great price and to say that a 51 inch 16x9 is too small for OAR's over 1.78:1 is just being silly now. With 2.35:1 there are only very tiny amounts of black above and below the picture. Basically it looks like what a 1.85:1 movie looks like on a 4:3 TV when it comes to the amount of black present.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[DRP]

Hi-

There is no zoom function I've ever seen that will provide this.

My Oppo will do a 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, etc. Zoom, not that I ever use it.

I *think* you'll find it will only do those increments on still pictures. My MPEG-4 player is the same. It will do an amazing range of fractional zooming but only when viewing still pictures from either digital camera connected up for example or even on video but only when it's been paused. It seems the function is only designed to be able to zoom in on specific detail in a digital photo for example and not intended to be watched that way full time. When the video is actually running the smallest zoom factor available to you is 2x again, which is way too much to be of any practical use.

I wanted to buy a CRT 16:9 screen and couldn't find one this small anywhere.

That's in inches and not centimeters. I'm too lazy to go find where you gave the size of your TV sets, but I believe it's larger than your plasma. Didn't you say it was something like 108 cm?

Oh yeah, whoops. My mistake. Had cm on the brain there. Yeah I have 42" = 106cm

[DRP]

[quote="FulciLives"]

For the recored since it was asked I currently have a 51" 16x9 TV

As dictated by the size of the room I am sitting approximately 7 feet from the TV.

Wow. You sit 7 feet away to watch a 51" screen!! I sit 10 feet away from my 51cm (20") 4:3 and at least double the distance you sit away from my 42" plasma.

I pity your eyes.

[ember]

Oh bugger, it's the aspect ratio argument again!

I prefer to watch movies in 3:4 aspect; it gives the impression of looking past a door that's ajar.

[InXess]

A subject no different then any other....!