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HATE 4:3 - TV on DVD.... (1 Viewer)

Andrew_Sch

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I never stretch 4:3 material. The grey bars on the side don't bother me at all and even the best stretch modes still just don't look right.
 

MishaLauenstein

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Hang on, are those Friends DVDs in 4:3?

I just assumed that they were being put out at a wider size!

When watching them tape an episode, I was surprised that it was being filmed in wide-screen and just assumed that this was for eventual HDTV and DVD sales.

They went to all the trouble of re-editing them to put back the extended scenes (or perhaps kept the first edit for just such an eventuality) so why wouldn't they put out a wide-screen version?

Anyone? Anyone?

Bueller?
 

Michael St. Clair

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When watching them tape an episode, I was surprised that it was being filmed in wide-screen and just assumed that this was for eventual HDTV and DVD sales.
If they started composing Friends for widescreen, it wasn't until the last year or two. The DVD boxes out are from several years ago.
 

Tom Boucher

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I've been playing with my new 57" TV to some length. I have the Sony 57W600 HDTV.

The 'gray bars' as I heard them called on many a TV aren't gray bars on mine.

Their reflections of the light from the projectors. What is actually projected is the 4:3 frame, and the 'gray' is the washout form the light bouncing around inside the box.

At least that is my experience, and testing (sticking hand inside with the back off, etc) shows me that the grayness is not projected, but reflected.

Is that not the case with all RPTVs? Or do some actually put up gray bars?
 

Brian McHale

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Toshiba RPTVs put up gray bars when showing 4x3 material in Normal mode. There is even a way to adjust these and make them darker (I'm not sure you can go all the way to black), but you have to really be comfortable in the Service Mode.
 

TheoGB

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I watch everything on my 16x9 tube television in it's OAR.
David, I'm pretty sure the burn-in thing is only for projection TVs. Tube ones like the majority of those here in Europe say, don't suffer.
I think that's right...:confused:
 

MishaLauenstein

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QUOTE:
If they started composing Friends for widescreen, it wasn't until the last year or two. The DVD boxes out are from several years ago.

===

Hmm, this could be correct. The episode I saw them filming was the one where Rachel is in a cheerleader outfit, which was around January, 1998, I believe.

The monitors on the cameras showed a widescreen picture with several different 'corners' painted on to show the framing for 4:3 as well as a wider one as well.
 

Adam Horak

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Well, I used to not worry about burn in. I had properly calibrated my 47" Panny, so I didnt think I would have a problem. I watched all 4:3 material in OAR. Now the gray bars are burned into my display. It isnt much of a problem usually, unless I try to display a uniformly bright scene (like pure white or a picture of the sky on a sunny day). I learned my lesson.
 

Lew Crippen

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Generally speaking, I don't put TV shows on the same artistic level with movies. On DVD, however, I'll probably watch them in OAR.
And I agree, ‘generally speaking’. After all the time demands of series TV does not allow for as much care to be taken in the ‘filming’. Mostly actors hit their marks, say their lines and rock ‘n roll to the next scene. Retakes, especially ones that are done to get a different artistic interpretation happen much less frequently than for even low-budget movies. And the time taken in post-production is dramatically less.
I’m not saying that TV can’t be good, only that in general, the requirements allow for much smaller chances for the kinds of ‘artistic’ manipulation frequently found in movies. And much of what does occur is in the pre-production (writing, casting, etc.).
Not (as Jerry and co. would say) that there is anything wrong with this, just that you are dealing with demands of the moment.
I’d no more expand The Sopranos than I would Citizen Kane. On the other hand, Monica could use a little weight. :D
 

David Lambert

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I’d no more expand The Sopranos than I would Citizen Kane. On the other hand, Monica could use a little weight.
Funny you should use the first example, since all Sopranos DVDs are in 16x9!

And if you want to see Monica with weight, may I suggest "The One With The Prom Video"...an excellently shot TV episode that has better plot twists in under a half hour than most 2-hour films do!
 

Michael St. Clair

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Funny you should use the first example, since all Sopranos DVDs are in 16x9!
Yeah, except the DVDs from Season 1 and Season 2 probably should have been 4:3 on DVD. It was composed more for 4:3 than 16:9, when you watch it in widescreen everything is bunched up in the middle of the frame!

For Season 3, they switched and the 16:9 is the preferred version.
 

Jenna

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What do you do about watching TV seasons on DVD?
I usually watch 4:3 TV shows (both live and DVD) on the 36" set in my bedroom. I save the 57" Sony Widescreen in my great room for viewing DVDs and widescreen TV broadcasts.
 

Daniel J

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I wonder what you would find if you compared posts from this thread with those in threads about Disney/Warner/CTHV/etc. pan and scan releases...
 

TheoGB

Screenwriter
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Color tube TVs do burn (ever see an old Pac Man machine with the maze burned in?), but it takes a lot longer.
Of course, hence screen savers.

What I meant was that this discussion basically doesn't apply to tube tellies as you would be VERY unlucky to experience burn-in, whereas the TVs that have 'grey bars' seem to be very prone to it - hence why they can display coloured bars at all. Isn't that right?
 

David Lambert

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Yeah, except the DVDs from Season 1 and Season 2 probably should have been 4:3 on DVD. It was composed more for 4:3 than 16:9, when you watch it in widescreen everything is bunched up in the middle of the frame!
Hmmm. In reaction to that, I would want to start a typical-on-HTF "do you have facts to back that up or is that simply your opinion?" debate over those remarks. But I shouldn't; is it worth the effort? Hmmm, again. I will point out that a wise man recently said "Generally speaking, 90% of everything is shit. The 10 percent of that remains deserves to be watched the way it was originally composed, whether it be movie or 'tv'. "

I have to agree with that in general...but I don't see why the rest of the 90% should be ignored. To me, EVERYTHING deserves to be seen in the format in which it was originally presented and composed...even if we perhaps cannot agree on HOW it was composed. But it's not like I've been on the set of The Sopranos or anything, or know the producers, so if you have some insight that I don't then perhaps you DO know better than I do.

I've never seen Sopranos in any format but widescreen (I don't have HBO, or any cable/satellite at all for that matter...with 1500 DVDs in my library I hardly need more entertainment choices). I have never experienced difficulty with the show's screen composure. I think it is best if we just agree to disagree here.

Noone should get me wrong: I don't think that the vast majority of TV can be categorized as "art"...but then neither again can the vast majority of movies. I hope we can all agree that the best TV easily beats the pants off of the worst film (just for grins, let's put Sybil vs. Glitter on the table). Just like a great graphic novel like "The Watchmen" - even though it's 'just a comic book' to many people - will beat the pants off of the typical, say, Harold Robbins novel (pun intended). It's not the media, it's what they DO with it.

And ALWAYS remember that one man's "shit" is another man's shinola. Cheers,
 

richard plumb

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Jul 5, 1999
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I've had my Sony 32" widescreen TV for over 4 years now, with no burn in that is noticeable.

Most TV viewing is now widescreen, and has been for about a year now, but before then most of my viewing was 4:3 with no zooming.
 

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