Home Theater Forum - View Single Post

Adam Lenhardt · 03-14-2002, 05:54 PM

Are my Citizen Kane and Wizard of Oz DVDs pan and scanned? There's no black bars!

No, they're not. All films prior to 1953 (the introduction of Cinemascope - think Star Wars wide) were filmed at roughly the same aspect ratio as your T.V. This means that you get the best of both worlds... No black bars, but no loss of picture! When widescreen TVs become the norm, these "Academy Ratio" films will feature grey bars on the sides of your widescreen set to maintain the proper shape.

All this widescreen stuff is bull! I compared the widescreen and pan and scan version of so and so movie, and the pan and scan version has MORE picture!

You may be experiencing one of two techniques... Super 35 or Open Matte. Super 35 is primarily used for films which feature a lot of special effects or movies where the director wants to acheive deep focus. They have the side effect of having an exposed frame area closer to your TV screen. Air Force One is an example:

This frame, taken by The Digital Bits shows the difference between the two versions. The inner rectangle is the widescreen version.

However, the Super 35 version is not always protected to be "opened up" or to reveal the extra picture information. In addition, the special effects guys only bother working on the section of the frame that will be visible in theaters, so any special effects shots will be pan and scanned. The movie is also framed for the widescreen version, so some of the impact can be lost in the opened up version.

For 1.85:1 movie, you'll be noticing a similiar event called Open Matte. The shape of film and lenses didn't change when the switch to 1.85:1 films... Only the framing and theatrical presentation did. So once again, you get some extra picture information on the top and bottom. However, since this information isn't meant to be seen, it's not protected for. A huge variety of hollywood goodies (boom mikes, lighting rigs, etc.) can pop up in this extra space. Like Super 35, all f/x shots are hard matted to 1.85:1 when the effects are done, so these scenes must be pan and scanned. With the widescreen version, you are garenteed a presentation that was meant to be seen.

**HTF Ads**

03-14-2002, 05:54 PM
Adam Lenhardt Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Local Time: 06:29 AM Local Date: 07-19-2008 Posts: 8,411	Are my Citizen Kane and Wizard of Oz DVDs pan and scanned? There's no black bars! No, they're not. All films prior to 1953 (the introduction of Cinemascope - think Star Wars wide) were filmed at roughly the same aspect ratio as your T.V. This means that you get the best of both worlds... No black bars, but no loss of picture! When widescreen TVs become the norm, these "Academy Ratio" films will feature grey bars on the sides of your widescreen set to maintain the proper shape. All this widescreen stuff is bull! I compared the widescreen and pan and scan version of so and so movie, and the pan and scan version has MORE picture! You may be experiencing one of two techniques... Super 35 or Open Matte. Super 35 is primarily used for films which feature a lot of special effects or movies where the director wants to acheive deep focus. They have the side effect of having an exposed frame area closer to your TV screen. Air Force One is an example: This frame, taken by The Digital Bits shows the difference between the two versions. The inner rectangle is the widescreen version. However, the Super 35 version is not always protected to be "opened up" or to reveal the extra picture information. In addition, the special effects guys only bother working on the section of the frame that will be visible in theaters, so any special effects shots will be pan and scanned. The movie is also framed for the widescreen version, so some of the impact can be lost in the opened up version. For 1.85:1 movie, you'll be noticing a similiar event called Open Matte. The shape of film and lenses didn't change when the switch to 1.85:1 films... Only the framing and theatrical presentation did. So once again, you get some extra picture information on the top and bottom. However, since this information isn't meant to be seen, it's not protected for. A huge variety of hollywood goodies (boom mikes, lighting rigs, etc.) can pop up in this extra space. Like Super 35, all f/x shots are hard matted to 1.85:1 when the effects are done, so these scenes must be pan and scanned. With the widescreen version, you are garenteed a presentation that was meant to be seen.