Ever distracted by widescreen? (1 Viewer)

[Ted Lee]

lynda-marie -- i'm not sure if you were being serious or not with your post. as you can tell by the previous posts, you struck quite a nerve with us.

in all seriousness, if you don't get oar, letterbox, widescreen, etc. -- let us know and we'll explain it to you.

there are a lot of benefits to widescreen movies!

 

[MarkHastings]

LOL - That was a good one. I don't remember if that was the one, but I do recall there were 2 men in an office. For some reason I believe one was a cop?

There were so many bad B&W movies on MST3K that you could name them all and I still wouldn't remember which one it was.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

I belive what lynda-marie is saying is that DVDs should be able to make her screen change shape.

 

[Malcolm R]

Oh, dear. Unless Lynda-Marie was making a colossal joke, methinks she's joined the wrong forum.

If a 27" square television is the "set of her dreams," then I KNOW she's joined the wrong forum.

 

[John Alderson]

I used to think about "what I WOULD be missing" all the time when I first got into DVD. But I'm so used to it now that I don't think about it at all, I just watch the movie.

Of course, both pan & scan and unmatted fullscreen INSTANTLY irritate me, and I can't believe I never used to notice it.

 

[Yee-Ming]

I have to agree there are times when watching something widescreen, I do think about how horrible it would be P&Sed.

On the flip side, sometimes when watching a 4:3 OAR TV show, I think about how much of the character's forehead or chin would get lopped off for a tilt-and-scan widescreen version -- a la Babylon 5 Season 1. Doesn't happen very often, though.

 

[John*P]

Heh, yeah I noticed a huge improvement when first watching Ghostbusters in widescreen. Goonies too.

 

[Zen Butler]

Really read this. This person is trolling for big brown bass.

 

[Ted Lee]

the troll will not let us pass. we must answer the riddle first....

 

[Zachary Cohen]

I don't think Lynda is joking. Checking her posting history it seems she first posted in this forum two days ago.

Let's educate--not bash and ridicule.

If she doesn't get it after awhile then you have my permission to beat her.

 

[Lev-S]

My head hurts. :frowning:

 

[Lynda-Marie]

Whoa!

First off, my apologies, gentle posters! I was not intending to upset anyone, start a war, nor did I make the above post as a joke. It seems I need to learn to curb my fingers on the keyboard as much as my mouth in the "real world."

One of the reasons I was looking to join HTF was not only to discuss TV shows and Movies I enjoy, but also to learn about various formats and things. Obviously, I have a LOT to learn about formats and such. I have only been a DVD owner for a little over a year. As to the comment about the 27" TV of my dreams, I am used to using a 13" screen, and the 27" is a vast improvement. Do you know how teeny widescreen format is on a 13" screen? I do not have the funds for a TV that is suitable to widescreen format.

Again, my apologies. I did not intend to anger or otherwise upset anyone. I think I will instead pull back a little, read and learn.

 

[Cees Alons]

Lynda-Marie,

No need to apologize.
If you want to read more about image formats and ratios, please consult our primary. There's a lot about it there!


The point is ... something has got to give. Your screen isn't made of rubber, so it's impossible to have any format fit your screen. Had you bought a widescreen TV, then 4x3 films wouldn't.
DVD's that claim to be 'reformatted to fill your screen' don't fill my screen! (One of these days I'm going to sue. )

And further more, do you really see any point in finally having the films of your dreams on DVD and then discover they cut off 25% of the image you paid for? Only so your screen will be completely filled with the rest?
Aren't the TV set and DVD player instrumental to get to watch movies (and TV programs) in the first place? I can hardly believe it would be the other way around and films are bought just to fill the screen of a proudly owned TV-set.

So what people should do is this: buy a TV (whatever format screen) with at least the width they want to see their biggest (widest) movies with - and then accept that some part of the screen simply cannot be used all the time. Some people attach a variable black mask (using velcro) to adjust their screens to the movie they're playing! It's true.

Your 27" boob tube of your dreams allows you to see those widescreen movies much wider than did the set you had before. If your set had a super-zoom function, you could even see a much larger picture - but only of a part at the time. Most people here simply choose to see the whole of the movie and zoom by the same means you did: buying a larger screen!

Cees

 

[SteveK]

Lynda-Marie - First of all, welcome to HTF, and congratulations on the purchase of your 27" TV. I had a 27" TV until only about a year ago, and even now I only have a 32" television. Many of the members here have a much larger TV, or even a projector with a huge screen. But I find 32" more than adequate for my tastes, and I still use the 27" set in my computer room, and I now have a DVD player connected to it, too.

Yes, it does take getting used to widescreen. I didn't like widescreen when I first bought my DVD player in 1999, but I knew that I would have to get used to it. I was accustomed to the P&S (Pan and Scan) that you almost always see on VHS and pay cable channels. I now prefer widescreen, and refuse to watch a movie in Pan and Scan. I found a very useful site to learn about widescreen; it's http://www.widescreen.org . It has many examples of images from widescreen movies and that same image from the same movie in P&S format. It truly is an eye opener. Think of it this way: if you watch a movie in P&S, yes your TV screen may be filled, but you're not seeing one single image the way it was filmed. Every single shot will have either the left or right side cropped, or perhaps a little bit from each side.

Does this change the plot of a movie? Of course not. But it certainly changes how a movie looks. Example: let's say two people are having a conversation. Which one is more important: the one speaking or the reactions of the one listening? On a fullscreen version, you'll rarely have both individuals on screen at the same time; instead the camera will keep switching back and forth between the two. The frequent cuts back and forth are very distracting, and probably not the way it was filmed.

Please give widescreen a chance. It does take some getting used to, but now that you have a larger TV, hopefully you won't find it quite as objectionable. The image will still be somewhat smaller than the "fullframe" image would be, but you'll be seeing the movie exactly the way it was filmed. Once you get used to it, you'll prefer it over the wild camera movements you see in a P&S movie. Please learn and enjoy, and make the most of your new television. There's thousands of wonderful movies available on DVD, so you'll have a huge selection.

Enjoy!

Steve K.

 

[Zen Butler]

Yes Lynda-Marie, my sincerest apologies. Believe it or not your use of terminology had me believing you were but a bored enthusiast posting in disguise. I stand corrected. As you can tell our body is made up of passionate folk. Don't let that discourage you. This is a knowledgeable place. Mostly, we are quite friendly, I promise.

It's more a testament to your wonderful vocabulary, that had me suspicious.

 

[Ric Easton]

Lynda-Marie,

Welcome to the HTF

I think we sometimes forget that new members can join up from time to time, and are not as knowledgeable as some of the folks who have been around here for years. Please don't be afraid to post! You'll discover that most of us are friendly and helpful.

OAR (Original Aspect Ratio) is a cause that the folks here have been battling since the beginning, so many of us are a little more than passionate about it.

The specific place at this site to learn about why movies are letterboxed is right here.

There are also some good links in that same section, one of them is Ryan Wright's excellent widescreen tutorial.

Ric

 

[PaulBigelow]

It's just a different perspective. Some people who buy widescreen sets are annoyed when they find out that the "dreaded black bars" STILL remain with many movies. "Fill the screen, I don't care how" is a real desire for many people -- that's why we see so many widescreen movies released with 4:3 counterparts (*if* there is a widescreen version).

For some folks it takes "getting used to". Some people don't like it -- period. Some widescreen sets have automatic, advanced stretch and zoom modes so that any material can fill the screen.

I've accepted OAR widescreen because it reflects the original presenation and the director's vision. That presentation isn't for everyone and that includes many, many casual viewers. Education might help, but in many cases, I suspect it won't -- people have other things to do with their time.

Still, there are "converts" everyday, so there is hope.
Maybe Lynda-Marie will be one of them.

 

[Sean Moon]

The cutting off a painting analogy is my new favorite. I was watching TCM the other day and they had this short thing about letterbox on with Scorcese, Michael Mann, Sydney Pollock, and Curtis Hanson all talking about letterbox and showing examples from films and whatnot. Scorcese (I think) had the best way to describe it though, where he showed a the painting of The Last Supper and asked "would you like to see all the apostles or just four of them? So why would you only wanna see half a movie?" and they showed what the painting would look like if altered from its original size.

 

[Ted Lee]

see lynda-marie ... we're not bad. we're just drawn that way.

be sure to check out this link as well. it quickly and graphically illustrates why you should stick with wide-screen.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articl...eenorama2.html

if you have any other questions, definitely just ask. we're always more than willing (to a fault) to help convert someone to oar. aka "the only way to watch movies!"

 

[Ted Lee]

or...as sean put it.

pan and scan


widescreen


well, that *almost* worked. :b