[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       publib
Subject:    [PUBLIB] Re: DVD formats (fwd)
From:       plib2 () webjunction ! org (PUBLIB)
Date:       2002-12-26 19:27:00
Message-ID: Pine.GSO.4.10.10212261626570.25499-100000 () webjunction ! org
[Download RAW message or body]

Sender: Whitewright Public Library <wwpl@texoma.net>
Subject: Re: DVD formats

Susan Moreland wrote:
>Lately, more DVDs are available in either the full screen or the 
>widescreen format.  (For a while, it seemed that more DVDs were available 
>in widescreen only).  A lot of our patrons prefer the full screen version 
>of movies because they don't like the black bars at the top and the bottom 
>of the screen.

I used to work for the local cable TV company, and I can't tell you how 
many calls we got about the movies shown in widescreen format (mostly on 
AMC and TCM). Many viewers are absolutely convinced that widescreen (aka 
letterboxed) is cutting off part of their picture with the black bars, when 
in fact the opposite is true. Pan and scan (aka full screen) actually cuts 
off the picture wherever an editor feels it's necessary to smoosh the 
rectangular movie picture into a square TV.

There's a good comparison over at 
<http://www.starwars.com/episode-ii/feature/20020925/> showing the 
difference between widescreen and full screen version of Attack of the 
Clones. There's also explanations of why there's a difference between TVs 
and movie screen size (theater screens were once not as rectangular, which 
is why TVs are square). I've used similar web pages before to explain to 
those who didn't understand why there's a difference.

Most of our patrons want widescreen format, because they have home theaters 
which support the format much better than the average TV. We have some pan 
and scan copies, plus a few titles that carry both versions on one disc, 
but we primarily purchase widescreen editions.

In my personal opinion, purchasing full screen is a step backwards for 
DVDs, but for the black bar phobic, many DVD players offer a way to "fake" 
a pan and scan image to fill the screen. If the player has a "zoom" 
function, you can often turn it on to 2x and it will either completely fill 
the screen or leave only tiny black bars at the top and bottom, depending 
on what ratio the widescreen edition is in. The only issue with doing it 
this way is you don't have the human editor choosing which section of the 
screen to focus on, so if the widescreen image shows two people on opposite 
sides of the screen, in the zoomed version you may see an empty screen but 
hear the characters talking.

Chris Ely

=====================
Whitewright Public Library
Whitewright, Texas
P: 903.364.2955  F: 903-364-5680
www.whitewright.lib.tx.us  <wwpl@texoma.net>


[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]