Watching movies letterbox/wrong aspect ratios. (1 Viewer)

[Lecagr]

I have DVD and VHS versions of American Graffiti, the DVD is widescreen formatted and the VHS is fullscreen formatted. Because I watch TV shows and movies on a CRT TV, I actually prefer the VHS version with the fullscreen presentation, I dislike widescreen with the black bars at the top and bottom. The audio quality is better on the VHS version, on the DVD version the audio is too soft. One difference that I noticed in the opening titles, on the DVD version the sign for Mel's Drive In is visible, but on the VHS version the sign is not visible, only the building is seen.

I also have VHS versions of other classic old movies such as The Long Long Trailer, Man's Favorite Sport, The Party, Barefoot In The Park, The Sterile Cuckoo, The Out Of Towners, A New Leaf, and Fast Break with Gabe Kaplan. All of these are fullscreen presentations.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I have DVD and VHS versions of American Graffiti, the DVD is widescreen formatted and the VHS is fullscreen formatted. Because I watch TV shows and movies on a CRT TV, I actually prefer the VHS version with the fullscreen presentation, I dislike widescreen with the black bars at the top and bottom. The audio quality is better on the VHS version, on the DVD version the audio is too soft. One difference that I noticed in the opening titles, on the DVD version the sign for Mel's Drive In is visible, but on the VHS version the sign is not visible, only the building is seen.

I also have VHS versions of other classic old movies such as The Long Long Trailer, Man's Favorite Sport, The Party, Barefoot In The Park, The Sterile Cuckoo, The Out Of Towners, A New Leaf, and Fast Break with Gabe Kaplan. All of these are fullscreen presentations.

Wow. I have rarely, if ever these days heard someone say that they prefer the fullscreen version of a film over the widescreen.

I understand why the black bars might bother you, but I do need to ask whether you are aware of why they exist and how much more picture information you get from a widescreen presentation. It seems you are based on your description of not seeing Mel's Drive-In sign in the fullscreen version.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Wow. I have rarely, if ever these days heard someone say that they prefer the fullscreen version of a film over the widescreen.

I understand why the black bars might bother you, but I do need to ask whether you are aware of why they exist and how much more picture information you get from a widescreen presentation. It seems you are based on your description of not seeing Mel's Drive-In sign in the fullscreen version.

SMH!

 

[Lecagr]

Wow. I have rarely, if ever these days heard someone say that they prefer the fullscreen version of a film over the widescreen.

I understand why the black bars might bother you, but I do need to ask whether you are aware of why they exist and how much more picture information you get from a widescreen presentation. It seems you are based on your description of not seeing Mel's Drive-In sign in the fullscreen version.

I think what it comes down to is, while I am still watching on a CRT TV I prefer to have things in fullscreen. If at some point I get one of these modern TV's that are all the rave, I would probably have a different viewpoint about widescreen or pillarbox video formats.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I think what it comes down to is, while I am still watching on a CRT TV I prefer to have things in fullscreen. If at some point I get one of these modern TV's that are all the rave, I would probably have a different viewpoint about widescreen or pillarbox video formats.

Okay. That's a reasonably good explanation for your circumstances.

Funny how long those CRT sets last. My Mom has my old Sony CRT and it's still going strong for more than 19 years.

Lucky if you get half that much life with today's televisions.

 

[Lecagr]

Okay. That's a reasonably good explanation for your circumstances.

Funny how long those CRT sets last. My Mom has my old Sony CRT and it's still going strong for more than 19 years.

Lucky if you get half that much life with today's televisions.

I currently have four CRT TV's that are in working order. Hopefully they will continue working for several years more. I had a nice 21 inch Sony Trinitron set but it quit on me a few years ago, the picture went bad. I figure no chance of getting it repaired because no one can or wants to work on CRT TV's anymore.

It seems that most TV stations don't transmit in fullscreen anymore. Even Turner Classic Movies has changed. Movies that TCM used to run in fullscreen are now shown in pillarbox.

 

[Jonathan Perregaux]

This all takes me back to when I was a wee lad (about the time American Graffiti came out). We would watch The Million Dollar Movie (WOR-TV, Channel 9) and right as the movie was ending, a weird thing would sometimes happen. The cowboys riding off in the sunset would suddenly turn skinny as all heck, and then oddly-proportioned credits would roll.

I was baffled and also a little fascinated by this. My parents were of no help explaining this.

"Mommy, mommy, why do the actors in the credits look so skinny when the movie ends?"
"Well dear, it's because they refused to eat all their supper like you do, so now look at them!"

Ah, to watch CinemaScope on a crap Zenith TV.

 

[Christian D66]

I became aware of aspect ratios very early on watching Bond films on ABC and others. I wondered why the black bars vanished after the credits scene or came back at the end of the film and I hated it as a kid.

 

[Lord Dalek]

This all takes me back to when I was a wee lad (about the time American Graffiti came out). We would watch The Million Dollar Movie (WOR-TV, Channel 9) and right as the movie was ending, a weird thing would sometimes happen. The cowboys riding off in the sunset would suddenly turn skinny as all heck, and then oddly-proportioned credits would roll.

I was baffled and also a little fascinated by this. My parents were of no help explaining this.

"Mommy, mommy, why do the actors in the credits look so skinny when the movie ends?"
"Well dear, it's because they refused to eat all their supper like you do, so now look at them!"

Ah, to watch CinemaScope on a crap Zenith TV.

Reminds me of years of watching Star Wars for years on VHS and being confused when I saw it letterboxed for the first time and the crawl was at a completely different angle.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I think we all hated letterboxing until televisions became widescreen

After all these years, the black bars have become a second thought. I actually appreciate seeing a letterboxed feature -- even on a projected screen -- knowing I am seeing more information, or as the film was intended to be seen.

I don't think the general public gives it a second thought anymore, either.

 

[DarkVader]

This all takes me back to when I was a wee lad (about the time American Graffiti came out). We would watch The Million Dollar Movie (WOR-TV, Channel 9) and right as the movie was ending, a weird thing would sometimes happen. The cowboys riding off in the sunset would suddenly turn skinny as all heck, and then oddly-proportioned credits would roll.

I was baffled and also a little fascinated by this. My parents were of no help explaining this.

"Mommy, mommy, why do the actors in the credits look so skinny when the movie ends?"
"Well dear, it's because they refused to eat all their supper like you do, so now look at them!"

Ah, to watch CinemaScope on a crap Zenith TV.

When I was a kid I thought the panning and scanning of the film was some cool camera technique they used back in the 1950s and 60s, only to find out later on that it was done to try to get most of the action onto the TV screen. This was really evident when two people were talking to each other but standing far apart within the frame. The film would scan from left to right so that you could see who the other person was talking to.

 

[Sultanofcinema]

When I was a kid I thought the panning and scanning of the film was some cool camera technique they used back in the 1950s and 60s, only to find out later on that it was done to try to get most of the action onto the TV screen. This was really evident when two people were talking to each other but standing far apart within the frame. The film would scan from left to right so that you could see who the other person was talking to.

I was always considered a movie snob and saw the most films in the 60's, in the theater when they opened. I NEVER watched a pan and scan version of a film on television and my friends would become angry. They always said, (just one example) "so if you couldn't see The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in a theater anymore, you would never watch it again?" I told them this is correct as a television viewing aside from editing and pan and scan was a waste of my time. I also remember a friend watching Two Mules For Sister Sara on NBC? and asking me why they had this twisted letterboxing at the beginning and end of the film. I had to use a sheet of paper to show him aspect ratios and what he missed by watching a Panavision film on television.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

I think we all hated letterboxing until televisions became widescreen

I watched letterboxed movies on 13 and 20 inch TVs and refused to watch pan-and-scan after around 1991 or so.

 

[JoshZ]

I think we all hated letterboxing until televisions became widescreen

Those of us who were into Laserdisc at the time would disagree.

I'm in a Laserdisc collector's group on Facebook and run into a surprising number of people who still have CRT TVs - under the logic that an analog standard-def video format is best watched on an analog standard-def television. There may be some merit to that, but it seems like a tremendous burden to me.

For my part, I still have a Laserdisc collection for sentimental value, but don't actually watch the discs anymore.

 

[Indy Guy]

I was browsing the many disc shops in Tokyo back in the mid 80's and my eyes about popped out of my head when I saw stacks of "widescreen" Laser Discs of popular blockbusters like Star Wars and Back to the Future!
It was like stumbling on a second Christmas only the "presents" were quite expensive! I couldn't wait to finish my work overseas to get back home and view some of the first widescreen films sold to the public.
Ever since, I have preferred the scope format above all others. The best solution for my obsession was to get a constant height projection system allowing every format from 1.33 to 2.35 to use the maximum space available without bars.

 

[Lord Dalek]

I've been a strong OAR* advocate ever since I watched the old blue box Lawrence of Arabia on VHS. To the point where I actively sought out the silver Star Wars SE vhs tapes when they came out (most sellers only had the P&S gold box). FTR I was 12 back then.

*or at least close enough to the OAR if its a 1.85:1 thing, there's wiggle room there mind you.

 

[Sam Favate]

In the early days of DVD, I was at a friend’s house and was admiring his new projector, and the large rectangle screen across the room. I looked at his collection of DVDs and said to him and his wife, “You have this great projector, so why are all your DVDs in full screen?”

His wife didn’t hesitate. She said, “Duh, because I want them to fill the screen.”

There’s always been a lot people don’t understand about formatting.

 

[Worth]

While I think letterboxing was a better solution than pan-and-scan in the NTSC days, I don’t think there was a satisfying way to watch scope films at home until 16x9 sets and anamorphic DVDs.

 

[Dave H]

Okay. That's a reasonably good explanation for your circumstances.

Funny how long those CRT sets last. My Mom has my old Sony CRT and it's still going strong for more than 19 years.

Lucky if you get half that much life with today's televisions.

My sister's brother-in-law has my old Sony CRT RPTV (from 2004: 57" 16x9, 1080i) and the last time I saw him at a wedding several years ago, it was still working. His wife uses it downstairs for workout videos, etc.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I don’t really have the time or resources to go hunting for a CRT or to spend money on one but if I saw a neighbor putting a 13” - 19” CRT on the curb and it worked, I wouldn’t mind sticking it in the corner for VHS tapes and original Nintendo and Atari games.