Greg_Y
Screenwriter
- Joined
- Mar 7, 1999
- Messages
- 1,466
NxNW = North by Northwest
Two questions here:
1. The aspect ratio listed on the back of the Rear Window DVD is 1.66:1. WidescreenReview.com (a pretty good source for the actual aspect ratio used on the DVD, in my opinion) also says 1.66:1. North by Northwest is listed as 1.78:1 at WidescreenReview.com and on IMDB's DVD Details page for the movie.
Now, I thought that I originally read, a few months back, that both of these films were presented "windowboxed" on DVD. However, neither DVD seems to have any extra space on the sides of my widescreen set, which I think I would see on a windowboxed image. This makes sense for NxNW since 1.78:1 would perfectly fill a 16:9 set. But how come I didn't see any windowboxing on Rear Window? Is this due to overscan? And if I'm losing the vertical bars due to overscan on Rear Window, how much of the actual picture am I losing on NxNW?
2. How the heck can NxNW look so good and Rear Window look so (I hesitate to say bad, because it's not bad), um, dated? Same cinematographer and director. Yes, 5 years in age and 1 studio of difference, but NxNW looks beautiful while Rear Window appeared a bit soft, muted and in some scenes, smeared. I found myself leaning forward to try to get a better look at the stunning Grace Kelly. Robert Harris said that the restoration team chose color over sharpness, but I'm wondering how the actual elements got so bad in the first place. Was NxNW preserved well and Rear Window left in a gutter?
By the way, I truly enjoyed both of these films and their presentation on DVD.
[Edited last by Greg Yurkovic on August 14, 2001 at 07:26 PM]
Two questions here:
1. The aspect ratio listed on the back of the Rear Window DVD is 1.66:1. WidescreenReview.com (a pretty good source for the actual aspect ratio used on the DVD, in my opinion) also says 1.66:1. North by Northwest is listed as 1.78:1 at WidescreenReview.com and on IMDB's DVD Details page for the movie.
Now, I thought that I originally read, a few months back, that both of these films were presented "windowboxed" on DVD. However, neither DVD seems to have any extra space on the sides of my widescreen set, which I think I would see on a windowboxed image. This makes sense for NxNW since 1.78:1 would perfectly fill a 16:9 set. But how come I didn't see any windowboxing on Rear Window? Is this due to overscan? And if I'm losing the vertical bars due to overscan on Rear Window, how much of the actual picture am I losing on NxNW?
2. How the heck can NxNW look so good and Rear Window look so (I hesitate to say bad, because it's not bad), um, dated? Same cinematographer and director. Yes, 5 years in age and 1 studio of difference, but NxNW looks beautiful while Rear Window appeared a bit soft, muted and in some scenes, smeared. I found myself leaning forward to try to get a better look at the stunning Grace Kelly. Robert Harris said that the restoration team chose color over sharpness, but I'm wondering how the actual elements got so bad in the first place. Was NxNW preserved well and Rear Window left in a gutter?
By the way, I truly enjoyed both of these films and their presentation on DVD.
[Edited last by Greg Yurkovic on August 14, 2001 at 07:26 PM]