Best DVD Viewing - 'Squeezed' Widescreen or Fullscreen (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Feil]

Hello,

As an owner of a flat screen TV that has the 'squeeze' functionality, will the picture quality be better when viewing a 'squeezed' widescreen DVD or a fullscreen version of the same DVD. I would think the squeezed widescreen will be better but want to confirm. Thanks in advance.

 

[Lew Crippen]

This pretty much depends on the definition of “best”. Personally I would chose the mode that displays, with no distortion, the entire picture, with nothing cropped. I’m sure that you’re aware that the “best” mode, given this criteria, may change from DVD to DVD.

 

[Michael Reuben]

You're comparinng apples and oranges. Widescreen and fullscreen versions are fundamentally different; they may not even be from the same transfer. Also, depending on the original filming style, the fullscreen may be based on a blow-up that significantly changes the grain and overall look of the image (not to mention cropping it substantially).

If you're viewing a widescreen DVD with anamorphic enhancement (a/k/a "enhanced for 16:9"), then the squeeze mode will give you the best possible widescreen picture. Since the official policy of this forum is to support and preserve every film's original aspect ratio (OAR), you'll find that most people here think that's the "best" image.

BTW, the above assumes that you're talking about a 4:3 flatscreen TV with a 16:9 squeeze feature. If you're talking about something else, please let me know.

M.

 

[shane_watson]

i agree with michael,ive watched alot of dvds lately and i have been comparing the two versions of the same movie(and since my undereducatedhardheaded brother in law simply refuses to buy a widescreen dvd, i usually have access to both.and there truly is a difference on some dvds,most of them in fact,on my 4:3 set my LOTR 16:9 does look better than his fullscreen version on the same tv.

 

[jeff lam]

Why would anyone want to squeeze a 4x3 image? Wouldn't that distort the picture and add black bars? IMO, that would defeat the purpose of having the disc in fullscreen.

What you need to do is get the widescreen, set your DVD player to 16x9, then squeeze. Much added resolution!

 

[Michael Reuben]

Why would anyone want to squeeze a 4x3 image?

I don't believe anyone in this thread has suggested doing so.

M.

 

[jeff lam]

oops, I misunderstood the original question. I thought he was asking which would look better when squeezed.
Now that I reread the original post I see what he was asking.