What's the answer? Numerous times on this site, people are bragging that widescreen DVD's are outselling their pan and scan counterparts, if both are available...even family titles. If this is true, why are there any pan-and-scan-ONLY releases of films made in widescreen? Studios are simply not stupid when it comes to the bottom line. If they thought they'd make more money releasing only the widescreen version instead of only the pan and scan one, wouldn't they make the right choice? I assume they are savvy about their own sales and make these comparisons. I wonder if the sales specs touted here are accurate. There are still an awful lot of uneducated, "fill-the-screen" dolts out there. Might it all be wishful thinking?
What's the answer? Numerous times on this site, people are bragging that widescreen DVD's are outselling their pan and scan counterparts, if both are available...even family titles. If this is true, why are there any pan-and-scan-ONLY releases of films made in widescreen? Studios are simply not stupid when it comes to the bottom line. If they thought they'd make more money releasing only the widescreen version instead of only the pan and scan one, wouldn't they make the right choice? I assume they are savvy about their own sales and make these comparisons. I wonder if the sales specs touted here are accurate. There are still an awful lot of uneducated, "fill-the-screen" dolts out there. Might it all be wishful thinking?
When the widescreen outsells the pan and scan, it doesn't mean that NO pan and scans sold at all. Simply put, if a title was only release in widescreen, X amount of copies would sell. But if they are put out in both versions Y for widescreen and Z for pan and scan, then Y + Z is greater than X. But the fact that Widescreen outsells pan and scan points to a day when that equation won't be true, and only widescreen will be sold. We're just not there yet.
When the widescreen outsells the pan and scan, it doesn't mean that NO pan and scans sold at all. Simply put, if a title was only release in widescreen, X amount of copies would sell. But if they are put out in both versions Y for widescreen and Z for pan and scan, then Y + Z is greater than X. But the fact that Widescreen outsells pan and scan points to a day when that equation won't be true, and only widescreen will be sold. We're just not there yet.
We WERE there when DVD first came out- if they couldn't fit both versions on the same disc, the pan and scan version got booted.
We WERE there when DVD first came out- if they couldn't fit both versions on the same disc, the pan and scan version got booted.
Dick, Sometimes the studios save money by re-using old Pan & Scan masters they already have, rather than going to the expense of creating a new widescreen master.
