The Piano aspect ratio (1 Viewer)

[Jacob_G]

I was just re-watching The Piano (R1 DVD) and I noticed that the lbx'd image has a slightly greater aspect ratio than stated on the box.

I know that Campion intended it as 1.85:1 (from imdb.com and other sources), so, I checked it out on my computer. I found the picture to be approx 720x346 which is roughly 2.08:1. Perhaps too much was matted at the top and bottom?

Has anyone else noticed this? Does anyone have access to the R2 DVD? If so, can you grab a snapshot at a specific time. I'm dying to make a comparison.

Thanks,

Jacob

 

[Rain]

An interesting find.
www.widescreenreview.com indicates a measured AR of 1.85:1. Mike is usually pretty accurate with his measurements.
I've never seen the disc first hand.

 

[Jacob_G]

Oh lala. I think I jumped the gun. Got confused by all those long picturesque long shots in the film, I guess.

Anyway, the strange thing is, when I grab a screenshot using powerdvd 4, there are two options:

1. By Original Video Source Size

2. By Current Video Window Size

Having "Keep the aspect ratio" checked, I expect both 1 and 2 to give the same aspect ratio. But, when I paste the results into photoshop, using option one gave me the erroneous aspect ratio of 2.06:1 where as option two gave me the correct ratio of approx 1.85:1.

What am I doing wrong? Remember this is a non-anamorphic disc, so I thought that ratio in original video source == ratio in current video window.

Can u spot the error? Thankfully The Piano is in its OAR. But I'd still like an R2 shot to make sure!

Thanks,

Jacob