P&S DVD Widescreen Broadcast/Cable (1 Viewer)

[wally]

I find it interesting that there is an almost weekly uproar over P&S titles being released by various studios at the same time widescreen presentations are becoming more and more evident on cable and the networks. Sopranos, Band of Brothers (HBO), The Abyss (Encore) and last nights ER on NBC. ER even had a cool little graphic advertising the fact that it was being broadcast “widescreen”.
What’s up?

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[Edited last by wally on September 28, 2001 at 12:31 PM]

 

[Larry Schneider]

The networks are formatting their programming for eventual HDTV presentation in 1.78:1. Unfortunately, they are, in some instances, cropping 2.35 films to 1.78 as well.

 

[Marty M]

About half of ER last season was broadcast in widescreen. It started out as a 2 episode trial in November and they ended up broadcasting the rest of the season this way when they didn't get many complaints. NBC is also going to broadcast West Wing in widescreen.

 

[AaronMK]

Enterprise was broadcast in 1.78:1. I was very happy to see this. You could tell on many shots that they were not composing with 4:3 in mind.
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My DVD's
If a movie is not available in OAR, than it might as well not be available at all.

 

[Kyle McKnight]

It's great. Angel was 1.78:1, I'm expecting Buffy to be shown that way this season too. I'm really hoping that Roswell is though.
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Kyle³
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Yahoo Messenger - digitalkyle

 

[TomRS4]

The networks are formatting their programming for eventual HDTV presentation in 1.78:1

In some cases, at least for some of us, the future is already here: CBS has been doing an excellent job of showing their new prime time shows in HD (1080i), ABC is showing a few of their prime time shows at 720p, and NBC is lagging behind. HBO is showing Soprano's and Band of Brothers in 1080i (the DD 5.1 sound of Band of Brothers is excellent), as well as having 1080i broadcasts for most of the day. Showtime's HD channel is showing a couple of movies a day in 1080i.
The use of DD 5.1 isn't as frequent as it should be (at least on HBO), but the biggest problem I have is HBO's horrible decision to pan and scan so many 2.35:1 movies to 1.78:1. I'm surprised there isn't a bigger uproar over this. I can't believe that there is more than a small percentage of people with HDTVs that want their movies to be pan and scan.
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Tempus Fugit

 

[David Susilo]

Can you guys help me out by listing what shows are recorded in 16:9 aspect ratio? (Other than Startrek, Buffy and Angel, of course)

 

[Patrick McCart]

I don't know if there is an HDTV version of TCM, but they're REALLY good about showing movies in the proper ratios.
It's not their fault, but some ancient or other studio transfers are cropped or open matte.
TCM showed The Hudsucker Proxy in 1.85:1 matted, but showed Around the World in Eighty Days cropped to 1.33:1 (it's not their fault, only 2 TV transfers have ever been made of the film, hopefully one for Lowry Digital Images soon!)
TCM is soooo much better than AMC which hardly shows matted films or widescreen films other than Hitchcock.
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P.S.: There's no P.S.

 

[Brett Cameron]

AMC shows a lot of widescreen films, but they are not uncut like TCM.

 

[richard plumb]

Enterprise was broadcast in 1.78:1. I was very happy to see this. You could tell on many shots that they were not composing with 4:3 in mind.

aaargh!
Enterprise is premiering on Sky One in the UK - a steadfastly 4:3 station - even when showing 16:9 shows like X-Files.
It will also most likely be repeated a year later on BBC2, which is almost completely anamorphic 16:9 on its digital variant.
Inner turmoil building....Can I wait for the proper version, or watch the hacked up Sky version?
I don't know why they don't 16:9 anyway. On the digital platforms you specify your TV type, so 4:3 owners can choose to letterbox or use the centre portion to fill their screen, so there's no loss really.
Bunch of arse.

 

[TomRS4]

David,
Here are some of the TV shows that are shot in 16:9 (please note that most of these are shown 4:3 unless you are watching the HD feed): The Young and the Restless; The King of Queens; Yes, Dear; Ellen; Family Law; Jag; The Guardian; Judging Amy; Dharma & Greg; Spin City; Philly; Wolf Lake; My Wife and Kids; Drew Carey; CSI; The Agency; Danny; That’s Life; Thieves; Once and Again; Touched by an Angel; The District; Alias; The Practice; NYPD Blue; ER; Band of Brothers; The Sopranos; X-Files. I'm sure there are more.
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Tempus Fugit
[Edited last by TomRS4 on September 29, 2001 at 08:51 AM]

 

[Jason Merrick]

Enterprise was broadcast in 1.78:1

Was it just me, or did Enterprise seem like it was slightly stretched vertically? Almost appeared as if they shot it 2.1:1 or so and then expanded it up to 1.78:1... I didn't watch the entire episode, so I'm not really sure, just curious if anyone else thought so.
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[Derek Miner]

NBC showed the premiere episode of "Crossing Jordan" in 16:9 a la "ER" last week.
= Derek =