Dragonslayer (1 Viewer)

[Ernest Rister]

"Ernest - shouldn't that be de-hanced?

Glenn"

One would think...For those not in on the joke, the press release for the Bambi DVD says the classic 1942 film has been "enhanced for 4:3 televisions". No foolin'.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Wow! Ok, wait a minute. This is Disney, so it makes sense - compared to what they have been doing to other movies the last few years. Must be the same moron...

Glenn

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Well, in an objective sense both 4x3 and 16x9 are "equal" options for DVD encoding...so 16x9 is no more "enhanced" than 4x3...it's just one of two choices. So if it's legit to call "16x9" enhanced for any reason then the same term could apply to "4x3" with the same logic.

Actually, "enhanced for 4x3 televisions" has some real meaning with SD-DVD software...because with DVD it's possible to encode a 4x3 image using all available pixels. This isn't something that HD can do...though it would still be using more absolute pixels to capture a 4x3 image than standard definition, it only has a 16x9 frame to work with and thus must sacrifice some potential horizontal resolution (wasted on encoding side-bars) to accomodate a 1.33:1 image.

Point being that since DVD does have an actual 4x3 aspect ratio encoding option...there is some actual meaning to saying "enhanced for 4x3" because there are other options (like fitting the 1.33:1 image into a 16x9 frame instead) that would have sacrificed potential resolution.

Just me doing one of my technical/philosphical psychobabbles...

-dave

 

[Ernest Rister]

Yes, but aren't most fullscreen 1.33:1 movies on DVD presented in the same fashion? Personally, I've never seen a classic 1.33:1 movie windowboxed on 16x9. The closest I've come to that is the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" on the Fantasia/2000 DVD.

Was there some sort of brand-spanking new 4:3 enhancement technology they used? Or is it the same method used for all their other 1.33:1 animated features on DVD? Bambi is the first to claim that it has been enhanced for 4:3, in fact...it is the first fullscreen title I've ever seen make the claim that it has been "enhanced for 4:3 Televisions". This just reminds me of the infamous "special feature" listings on the back of the Disney Limited Edition series, i.e. "Full Color Artwork Printed on the Disc". They take something that is sort of standard and present it as if it is some sort of unique bonus feature.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Of course.

All 4x3 DVDs are "enhanced for 4x3" just as all 16x9 DVDs are "enhanced for 16x9".

But just as one could take a widescreen transfer and encode it in 4x3...the reverse, while rare, is also possible (and there are actually some special features on some discs that are done this way). I'm just pointing out that the term "enhanced" is just as fair to use with 4x3 as with 16x9 because the two are equal options on a format that is neither 4x3 nor 16x9 to start. Of course, this means that there's nothing special about using the word enhanced" rather than just plain-ole 4x3 because they are exactly the same (just like 16x9 and "enhanced for 16x9" are the same).