Bill Hunt
Insider
- Joined
- Dec 5, 1998
- Messages
- 434
As many of you know, The Digital Bits has long been an advocate of anamorphic widescreen and films being released on DVD in their original aspect ratio. We've been very active in trying to educate both the studios and consumers on this subject, and we created our widely-read Guide to Anamorphic Widescreen for Dummies for this very reason.
But as DVD becomes more mainstream, the wider audience of average consumers seems to be having a much greater influence over the studios' decision-making in terms of how to best present their films on the format. As you all know, this audience has absolutely zero understanding of the importance of aspect ratios. And the studios seem to be reluctant to educate their consumers on issues like anamorphic widescreen and original aspect ratio. So we believe it's time for the experts to step forward, and for websites like The Bits to make a new push to take on this responsibility.
We've been closely following the educational efforts of Bob Harris here on HTF, and in particular, his comments in this thread on aspect ratios:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=66933
We've known Bob for a long time now. And among his recent comments, Bob specifically mentioned The Digital Bits as a good place for such an educational push. I speak for everyone at The Bits when I say that we'd be honored to support his efforts in any way we can. We're in a unique position at The Digital Bits, in that our readership doesn't just include cinephiles and hard-core home theater enthusiasts. Our audience is wide and varied, from the most savvy studio insiders and DVD producers to the most recent, mainstream consumers to jump on the DVD bandwagon. We think we're in a pretty good position to take these issues, and Bob's arguments in particular, to a much wider audience.
For this reason, we've invited Bob to write a regular column on The Digital Bits on this very subject, wherein his own unique voice of reason can have a greater impact. Who better to educate the masses on the value of anamorphic widescreen and original aspect ratio than an expert like Bob - a man who has been responsible for some of the most important efforts to save and restore classic films in the industry?
I hope you'll all join us in supporting both this and other efforts to educate mainstream consumers in the weeks and months ahead.
Sincerely,
Bill Hunt
But as DVD becomes more mainstream, the wider audience of average consumers seems to be having a much greater influence over the studios' decision-making in terms of how to best present their films on the format. As you all know, this audience has absolutely zero understanding of the importance of aspect ratios. And the studios seem to be reluctant to educate their consumers on issues like anamorphic widescreen and original aspect ratio. So we believe it's time for the experts to step forward, and for websites like The Bits to make a new push to take on this responsibility.
We've been closely following the educational efforts of Bob Harris here on HTF, and in particular, his comments in this thread on aspect ratios:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=66933
We've known Bob for a long time now. And among his recent comments, Bob specifically mentioned The Digital Bits as a good place for such an educational push. I speak for everyone at The Bits when I say that we'd be honored to support his efforts in any way we can. We're in a unique position at The Digital Bits, in that our readership doesn't just include cinephiles and hard-core home theater enthusiasts. Our audience is wide and varied, from the most savvy studio insiders and DVD producers to the most recent, mainstream consumers to jump on the DVD bandwagon. We think we're in a pretty good position to take these issues, and Bob's arguments in particular, to a much wider audience.
For this reason, we've invited Bob to write a regular column on The Digital Bits on this very subject, wherein his own unique voice of reason can have a greater impact. Who better to educate the masses on the value of anamorphic widescreen and original aspect ratio than an expert like Bob - a man who has been responsible for some of the most important efforts to save and restore classic films in the industry?
I hope you'll all join us in supporting both this and other efforts to educate mainstream consumers in the weeks and months ahead.
Sincerely,
Bill Hunt
