Are we seeing Hitchcock's FRENZY in OAR? (1 Viewer)

[Michael Boyd]

Watching this last night I noticed the opening titles/credits were letterboxed a little smaller than the rest of the feature. The change was jarring to me even at 1 am. So was that initial sequence shown 1.85? And is the feature in 16x9 or 1.78? I checked on IMDb and they listed FRENZY as being shot 1.85 "spherical". Could they have just opened the matte a little in the transfer?

 

[Patrick McCart]

Usually, this is done to make sure credits aren't cut off on your monitor.

1.85:1 is indeed the correct aspect ratio for the film, although a tighter one for the credits is NOT what you'd see in a theater. It's not a bad thing...many DVD's have windowboxed credits.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Keep in mind that TVs run with overscan from 5-7%. Yes, that's kind of a lot of space, but not the end of the world.

Still, with titles better safe than sorry.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Why is it that TVs have such huge overscan? I have taken to scaling the picture in my Malata DVD player so I get the whole width of the movie (and height, if it's Academy ratio). I tried to get my ISF calibrator to reduce the overscan to near zero but he outright refused to do so. Pissed me off....

 

[Carlo_M]

Mark, if you watch TV at all you don't want O% overscan. Cable signals assume a certain amount, so you'll have garbage on the edges if you're at zero. Also the geometry on sets isn't perfect, and the closer you get to zero, the more distortion you will see.

I have heard this from several respected ISF guys, including the one who did my set (TLV tour).

 

[Richard Kim]

The credits in 1.37:1 Looney Tunes on Cartoon Network are sometimes windowboxed.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

OK, a little is understandable, but 6%? That strikes me as truly egregious. I'm just glad I now have a DVD player that can eliminate it for discs.

 

[Carlo_M]

Mark,

Absolutely 6% is a lot. I was referring to the fact that you said the ISF'er not putting yours to 0% pissed you off. I was defending his/her judgment. IMO, I think between 3%-4% is fine, and what any conscientious ISF'er would aim for.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Carlo, yeah, sorry, I forgot to mention that he wouldn't even reduce it below 6%, which was the factory preset. I think he was just being lazy. I will not be using him for my next calibration.