Why are DVDs widescreen?

[Phil_321]

Can someone tell me why nearly every DVD I rent out is widescreen, without an option to switch to standard aspect? The vast majority of people don't have widescreen T.V.s (or PCs ) so what's the reason for this? Are the electronics companies just trying to make more money by making people buy a new (widescreen) T.V., so they can watch their DVDs properly?

[BJ_M]

no -- because that is the way they were filmed .... and most people would prefer to see the whole film, not just a part of it ..

remember , film was around long before video ..

[adam]

If a movie is shot in widescreen and converted to fullscreen they just chop off the sides and then do their best to center the action on the space left. With some aspect ratios you literally lose almost 50% of the picture. There are websites which show screen grab comparisons of FS vs WS of the same movie so you can see just how much you lose. Most people who see this switch to WS and never go back.

You don't need a widescreen tv to get the benefits of a widescreen transfer. But the sad part is that if you go to just about any Best Buy or Circuit City they will tell you otherwise.

[Shudder]

It's like the difference between listening to a real 6-minute song on a CD or listening to the 4 minute censored and radio edit. Sure, you get the idea, but the original is sooo much better.

WIdescreen is why DVDs took off to begin with - people like me were sick and tired of scouring the earth looking for a widescreen VHS copy and of course usually paying 25 bucks for it. So DVDs came along, were about 15 or so, and had the movie the way it was meant to be seen.

You need to stop thinking you're missing information (top and bottom) and realize you're GAINING information on the sides. Some movies cut off 45% FORTY FIVE %, almost HALF. Action scenes are beyond pathetic to watch in fullscreen, you're doing yourself a disservice. You should probably just stick to VHS if fullscreen is your preference.

www.widescreen.org

[Phil_321]

Yeah, I'm after doing a bit of reading up on it. I suppose a widescreen TV is the only way to go.

[Shudder]

No.. if you don't want a widescreen TV, don't get one. If the fact that not every spec of the TV is being used, you're still going to be disappointed with just about every DVD out there. Widescreen TVs are about 16:9, or about 1.78:1 ratio. Most dvds are either 1.85 or 2.35:1 (most action movies are 2.35). So you're still going to have some letterboxing. Just buy a big standard TV if you wish. If you throw a Widescreen DVD into a dvd player on a regular 4:3 tv, you're still watching it "properly." The ratio of height to width is EXACTLY what it should be.

The "only way to go" is to buy the biggest TV you can afford that's a quality product and watch your movies on them and enjoy them in their original theatrical aspect ratio.

[Prot]

Shudder, your response about the minute CD could better be explained as listening to the song on a stereo system, then listening to it on a single speaker transister radio, Sure it's the same song, but NOT the way it is really meant to be heard.

Clay

[dwisniski]

The truth is, the future of TV is widescreen. As television is increasingly becoming digital and more HDTV's are being sold, widescreen is becoming more and more common and popular. I bought a widescreen HDTV for $800 recently, not an unheard of price. And watching widescreen DVD's on this set is the way to go, whereas full screen DVD's only fill up 1/2 the screen, unless I stretch the picture so everyone looks as if they had bad plastic surgery Widescreen IS the way to go.

[DTSL06]

no -- because that is the way they were filmed .... and most people would prefer to see the whole film, not just a part of it ..

remember , film was around long before video ..

Actually a lot of movies are made on super 35mm film stock and are matted/cropped to some form of widescreen format at post. Super 35 format fits a standard 4/3 TV perfectly. Its just a choice that the director picks as to how he/she want the final film to be cropped. I personally like widwscreens, for most parts I like to see a simiular viewing as it was presented at the theater. In the days of VHS WS were real hard to find and the image quality wasnt that good. Wasted a lot of lines in those black matted areas. LD was better. DVD is definetly a medium for WS, decent to good resolution and if u have a WS TV u loose min lines of res due to the black matting. WS was introduced in the 50's as a counter the the emergence of TV. Movie studios wanted to give the audience a viewing exper they could not get at home (Cinemascope, panavision, super 70mm etc). Actrually most of the old movies from the 40's and back are 4/3 format with a few exceptions. That was how the theaters was set up. That how TV more or less acquired a 4/'3 format.

A good example of what super 35 film is like is TOPGUN. For years when ever we visted the Pioneer booth at audio shows where they usually demo their LD with TOPGUN, we asked when will a WS version be out. Never got a straight answer, but at the release of the DVD TOPGUN, we found out that there was never a widescreen master and that it was filmed on super 35 film. The TOPGUN DVD has both the WS and FS versions of the disk. You can actually see that the WS version is just a cropped version of the FS one with some of the top and bottom cropped out. Another film is AIRFORCE ONE, this is less drastic crop as was with the TOPGUN DVD. Unless the primary filming was done using special lens and special (expensive, real expensive) film stock most features are filmed using super 35 stock and is cropped at post for WS.

[adam]

Yes not all aspect ratios require that the sides be cropped to convert to FS, they simply have to not add the matting. This has its own disadvantes though. That picture where the matting goes is not meant to be seen and it was indeed not seen at the theatrical playing of the movie. With FS presentations of super35 shot films it is quite common to see boom mics, spotlights ect.., or to see inappropriate technology in period pieces like streetlights and cars in the background. But of course this is minor because the point is that you are still not viewing the movie as it was intended to be displayed. Every single framing shot in the entire movie will be lost and things like force perspective are rendered useless.

The argument can be made that neither FS or WS is better than the other, but the point is that you have to view the movie in the same presentation format that it was filmed at, otherwise you are not seeing what the director intended you to see...even if that means you are seeing MORE than you are supposed to.

[cim]

Does anyone know of a source to tell me if a particular movie was filmed on Super 35? I have always opted for the WS version of every DVD (whenever possible) I've purchased, but now I'd like to know if I've made a mistake on some films.

[DTSL06]

Adam,

totally agree. I was just pting out that most movies are not filmed in WS. Its at post that they are cropped as to what the director wants. In some movies like TOPGUN and AIRFORCE ONE, there are no mics. booms lites etc. It seems that these movies are filmed to be viewed in FS and was converted to WS for the theater. Also maybe it depended on the director's background, was the directors training in TV or film. Most TV directors/cinamatographers that do film in Super 35 and will make sure nothing shows in the frame (TV habit) even tho they later will mat to WS. Most film background directors/cinamatographers dont care about the area that will be matted out and u'll see all the crap.

Also intersting in TV set overscan. Try using a capable PC monitor or pro TV monitor. U'll see a lot of crap that is covered up by normal TV broadcast overscan that u'll never see on air.

My pref has always been to see what was presented at the Theater. Thats what the director intended u to see.

I guess my pref is theatical presentation, then FS and I hate Pan and Scan. PS completely destroys a film.

[adam]

IMDB.com lists these types of specs but trust me you never miss anything by opting for the widescreen over the fullscreen release, unless you enjoy looking at boom mics.

[PCycle]

I cant say what this movie was shot on but i know, back to the future, you can see more on the fullscreen than on the widescreen and i wish i had the fullscreen!!!, Snatch is like that also, but on my snatch it has both ratios so its no big deal, if i think of any more ill post

[cim]

Thanks Adam, I just looked up Top Gun. Here are the results under techincal specs:
Technical Specifications for
Top Gun (1986)

Camera
Panaflex Camera and Lenses by Panavision
Film negative format (mm/video inches)
35 mm
Cinematographic process
Super 35
Printed film format
35 mm (anamorphic)
70 mm (blow-up)
Aspect ratio
2.35 : 1

Is it the Cinematographic process that tells me the original film format? If so, there are a ton of movies filmed that way of which have only been released in WS on DVD. This is interesting... I've only recently discovered that Super 35 = fullscreen.

[DTSL06]

Does anyone know of a source to tell me if a particular movie was filmed on Super 35? I have always opted for the WS version of every DVD (whenever possible) I've purchased, but now I'd like to know if I've made a mistake on some films.

No, stick with WS since thats was what the director intended. U dont miss much since most so call FS versions of DVD are actually PS which are actualy the worst way to view a film IMO

[cim]

Yes, I definately do not want any PS. I was just interested in perhaps a list of movies available on DVD in un-matted fullscreen.

[Bob W]

There is a good explanation of this at http://www.fakes.net/widescreen.htm

[BJ_M]

Thanks Adam, I just looked up Top Gun. Here are the results under techincal specs:
Technical Specifications for
Top Gun (1986)

Camera
Panaflex Camera and Lenses by Panavision
Film negative format (mm/video inches)
35 mm
Cinematographic process
Super 35
Printed film format
35 mm (anamorphic)
70 mm (blow-up)
Aspect ratio
2.35 : 1

Is it the Cinematographic process that tells me the original film format? If so, there are a ton of movies filmed that way of which have only been released in WS on DVD. This is interesting... I've only recently discovered that Super 35 = fullscreen.

that movie is wide screen - not full screen , look at the aspect ratio ..

it is typical of anamorphic 35mm .... the 70mm version is 2.1:1 also

[cim]

One that comes to mind quickly is The Shining. The director's version is fullscreen. So I can assume that it was filmed in Super 35.

Sorry to carry on about this subject... but like I said, this fascinates me!

[macleod]

another option to try if you get a widescreen movie is to simply press the zoom button 1 or 2 times. I will do that with my widescreen movies if I dont want the black bars on top and bottom. Some players/tv's will goof up the look (stretched necks, etc.), but my dvd player and Tv combo works just fine (actually the apex 1225 has a aspect adjuster).

[DTSL06]

One that comes to mind quickly is The Shining. The director's version is fullscreen. So I can assume that it was filmed in Super 35.

Sorry to carry on about this subject... but like I said, this fascinates me!

Kubrick didnt like WS so all his films are FS. I mean would any other director have made 2001 in FS rather then WS.

Also TOPGUN was released in the Thearters as WS, but if u look at the FS one u see a lot of stuff (not crap) that was cropped out at the top and bottom. Doesnt make the movie better or worst...just diff perspective. Pioneer...who presented TOPGUN on LD always used the FS version since it gave the best (Max) resolution for 4/3 TV (pre WS TV's).

[BJ_M]

yep - Kubrick didnt like WS is right ... but 2001 was filmed in Super Panavision 70 which IS wide screen 2.2:1
as were several of his films (aspect ratio - not proccess)

his fav. aspect ratio was 1.66 : 1 (Clockwork Orange, Lolita and others) ..

[BJ_M]

One that comes to mind quickly is The Shining. The director's version is fullscreen. So I can assume that it was filmed in Super 35.

Sorry to carry on about this subject... but like I said, this fascinates me!

it is also 1.66 : 1 , instead of 1.33:1 or 2.35:1

[DTSL06]

yep - Kubrick didnt like WS is right ... but 2001 was filmed in Super Panavision 70 which IS wide screen 2.2:1
as were several of his films (aspect ratio - not proccess)

his fav. aspect ratio was 1.66 : 1 (Clockwork Orange, Lolita and others) ..

I stand corrected...it seems that the 1st time I saw a directors cit of 2001, it was FS...my memory fading with age i guess ..LOL

[BJ_M]

there are about 9 different versions of 2001 in fact ... but all are wide screen , some a little wider than others ..

there WAS a cropped version done also -- but it suxs ...

[staivn]

So for all of you people that have full screen TV's, you watch your widescreen movies letterboxed?

[Shudder]

Yep. you make it sound like it's a bad thing. But then again I watch movies with decent lighting (or lack of it) so I only see the movie anyway, I don't scream about black parts that are invisible.

[babyboo]

Yes...I watch my WS letterboxed on my 4:3