Robert Floto

Oscars aspect ratio? Does anyone know...

Here's a question for anyone who might know...

I'm having my annual Academy Awards party on the 29th (of course) and this will be the first time I've done this with my new 16x9 television.

My fiancee and I ALWAYS watch full frame material in the 4x3 mode, but zoom in on letterboxed television content (such as Star Trek: Enterprise and Justice League) because I do not yet have an HD box from Dish network, and won't be able to get one for many months...but for now the zooming usually looks pretty good...

The problem is...SEVERAL of the guests that will be at my Academy Awards party just can't stand the grey bars on the sides of my monitor. I simply make them deal with it when we're watching full frame television together (or an Academy Ratio film), but the Oscars are a special thing in my house...

So what I'm wondering is...what aspect ratio are the Oscars shot in? Is it broadcast in HD? If so, are the sides cropped in the regular broadcast...or is the top and bottom of the frame a "safe area" that are removed for the HD broadcast?

What I'm getting at is...would it be feasible for me to watch the Oscars in Zoom mode?

I would only do this if I were still maintaining the compositional integrity of the program. Otherwise my guests will just have to get used to it...

Can anyone help?

Movies I would purchase instantly if they were available in their correct aspect ratio:
Death Trap, Innocent Blood, The Shadow, and Remo Williams

Michael Reuben

Last year, the Oscars were broadcast in HD at 16:9. The standard definition broadcast was 4:3. I didn't compare to see where the cropping occurred, but it was probably at the sides.

M.

"Most people never have to face the fact that, at the right time and the right place, they're capable of anything." -- Chinatown

"What kind of movies would there be if everyone in them had to do what we thought they should do?" -- Roger Ebert

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