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Armagedon and DVD database (1 Viewer)

John Royster

Screenwriter
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Oct 14, 2001
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Seems strange but I watched "Armagedon" with Bruce Willis widescreen lastnight (2.35) and the bars seemed huge.

Is this an anomaly with this title and is there some kind of "dvd database" that shows bitrate, soundtrack, flag and true aspect ration? (I remember a few titles that were mislabeled on the case..."Blade 2" comes to mind)
 

Scott_MacD

Supporting Actor
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May 13, 2001
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All R1 releases of Armageddon are non-anamorphic 2.35:1.

What kind of television or display device do you have?

A non-anamorphic disc on a widescreen television will be stretched incorrectly, and the black bars will appear larger, by comparison to an anamorphic 2.35:1 title. (if you have such a facility, then you can temporarily use the 16:9 Zoom function on your display device and it will be proportioned correctly)

A non-anamorphic disc on a 4:3 television will appear correct. (with large bars.) If you have a 4:3 television, perhaps you have the DVD player set up incorrectly to display 16:9 images.

Do the images appear unnaturally stretched in either case?
 

John Royster

Screenwriter
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Oct 14, 2001
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Thanks guys.
That answers the question. However I didn't notice any geometry or stretch problems.
The TV is a mits 65" 16x9. I always watch in standard mode and DVD player is a rp56 (no scaling). Thought I was going insane!
And to think I thought I had aspect ratio/anamorphic totally figured out a year ago. :)
 

Qui-Gon John

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But where is the DVD Database. It seems I've seen some list that just about answer this.
 

Vince Maskeeper

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Look again- you were watching it at an approximately 3:1 apect ratio. Non-anamorphic discs like these should be watched zoomed. By running it as a full mode, like you would for anamorphic, you are stretching it out laterally without inflating it vertically.

-Vince
 

Rob Gardiner

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Feb 15, 2002
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For accurate OAR info I go to widescreenreview.com. They are the only source that I know of that actually measures the aspect ratio of the picture rather than simply repeating what is on the packaging.

However, if anyone knows of a site with more thorough or more accurate info than WSR, I would love to hear about it.
 

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