Why does Joe Six-Pack get to dictate how I watch my movies? (1 Viewer)

[Robert Floto]

Just why in the hell do Joe and Sally Six-Pack get to decide how my movies are formatted? I buy a hell of a lot more DVDs than they do. Why do they even get to complain about the formatting of movies they're only renting!?!
And while I'm ranting, why is there a widescreen VHS of The Sting...with extras no less...and the version that is on DVD is bare-bones and pan and scam!?!
NO FILM SHOULD EVER BE RELEASED ONLY IN PAN & SCAN!! EVER!!
I know some of you like the artwork on the discs, but I myself would rather they start releasing dual editions of titles they feel the uncontrollable need to crop (with the wonderful, anamorphic OAR transfer on one side, and the evil, ignorance inducing, pan & scan transfer on the other).
I feel they should do away with Pan & Scan altogether, but since that's not happening anytime soon, I'd rather lose the artwork (I can't see it once it's in the player anyway) than risk chopped up versions of my favorite films saturating the market.
Okay...I'll go lie down now...
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[Marc Colella]

I buy a hell of a lot more DVDs than they do.

You may buy more DVDs than the average J6P, but in total -J6P's purchase ALOT more DVDs than videophiles/home theatre enthusiasts.
We are in the minority.
Like or not, the reason why this format is so successful is because of J6P.

 

[Shad R]

Maybe J6P is saying "why do those home theater nutjobs get to dictate wheather or not I can fill my screen or not!"
Just a thought.
OAR rules! But I understand.

 

[Mike_Skill]

The reason JSP dictates how you watch movies is because currently, there's a lot more of 'them' than you. (us)

 

[Carl Johnson]

JSP doesn't dictate how I watch movies, I do.

 

[Alex Spindler]

Because Joe and Jane have more friends than Mike Knapp and Ron Epstein.

 

[Trace Ahlers]

Because J6P is your average American. Average people don't like to think for themselves or learn anything new. They are why there are more McDonalds and Starbucks than there are fine restaurants and coffeehouses.
OAR may rule for the select few but business panders to the average moron.
Trace
[Edited last by Trace Ahlers on November 08, 2001 at 08:47 PM]

 

[Robert Dunnill]

Because persons having the mindset you refer to comprise an ever-growing percentage of an ever-growing DVD market, and prefer images "formatted to fit" their TV screens, which almost invariably are 4:3.
RD (widescreen owner)
[Edited last by Robert Dunnill on November 08, 2001 at 08:54 PM]

 

[Rob Lutter]

anybody out there got a couple million $$$$???
what we need is a mass marketing campaign for OAR... commercials and such... kinda like TCM has with Ben-Hur (I seem to remember seeing that)... People need to see examples of what they are missing...
...although J6P is rather stubborn... they would probably say something like "Who cares if I miss the sides of the pictures... all the action is in the center anyways"
bah. I think it will be funny when these J6Pers' finally get widescreen TVs and complain about the bars on the sides of their Pan and Scan DVDs

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My DVD Collection/ AIM: roblutter/ email:[email protected]
"Why, that's the biggest Kahn since Genghis" -Sealab 2021

 

[AaronMK]

I think it will be funny when these J6Pers' finally get widescreen TVs and complain about the bars on the sides of their Pan and Scan DVDs

They will just use the stretch mode and be done with it.
Remember, the United States is the same country that refuses to adopt the metric system along with the rest of the world. Unfortunetly, people are resistent to change even if it is for the better.
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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.

 

[Clinton McClure]

They are the Borg...
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My DVD Collection Casa del Clint

 

[Jeremy Little]

I have the best Idea yet. All pan and scam dvd's should come complete with Hi-fi stereo sound and tracking problems. J6P will feel right at home

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Becauase the damn studios are doing NOTHING to educate them!
I'm sorry, but they seriously need to get off their asses and start putting examples on dvd's, ALL OF THEM!
Man this subject gets me worked up! It's the 21st century, pan n scam has got to fuckin stop!!
Pardon my french.
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To the men and women of the N.Y. police and fire department
God bless you.
To the victims and their families
God keep you.
To the dirtbags who caused all this
God help you!!!

 

[george kaplan]

You may buy more DVDs than the average J6P, but in total -J6P's purchase ALOT more DVDs than videophiles/home theatre enthusiasts.

I think this is the studios opinion, but I also think it's flawed in a couple of ways.
First of all, they may buy more of certain big, recent blockbuster, but on the majority of catalog titles, I doubt it.
And second, and perhaps most importantly, they care about the issue far less than we do and are much less likely to cost the studio a sale. The Phantom Menace is only available widescreen. Did the sales suffer for that? Did the pro pan&scanners get up as a group in outrage and refuse to buy the title and start petitions? No. Some (very small number percentage wise) will no doubt bitch about the black bars to some Blockbuster employee, but it ain't gonna hurt sales.
Now consider the p&s only Willy Wonka. Major contrast.
I don't know how many pro p&s people there are out there, but just by myself, I know I buy as many as 100-200 of them. So if we enthusiasts are even 1% of the population of dvd owners, I suspect we make up nearly half of the dvd purchases. Of course those numbers could be way off, but I doubt if the pro p&s folks really buy A LOT more than we do (I'm leaving out the agnostics who don't give a damn, who probably make up a large percentage of the so-called J6Ps).
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13-time NBA world champion Lakers: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001

 

[Robert Dunnill]

Remember, the United States is the same country that refuses to adopt the metric system along with the rest of the world. Unfortunetly, people are resistent to change even if it is for the better.

Hmm - Canada is on the metric system, but a lot of people there still prefer P&S.
RD

 

[Raine Linton]

Most people I talk to say "I don't want anything fancy", they don't want think about aspect ratios, and all that "technical stuff". Plug and play is the way folks want it. I say give it time, keep talking to people, even the pizza guy was interested in my setup, so I kept my explanation brief and to the point. Plant a seed. Remember that video stores used to be all VHS, now look how DVD has grown, its getting harder and harder to rent a new release.
It's slowly changing.

 

[Bob McLaughlin]

Maybe some day when we all have widely available, inexpensive widescreen TVs, then people will see the advantages of the widescreen image. Until then, most people just see black bars and a smaller image. Sigh...

 

[Michael Pedrosa]

One thing that bugs me about this whole thing is that retailers are allowing J6P to return opened widescreen DVDs for a refund even though their policies (most of them, anyway) specifically state that opened video products can only be exchanged for another copy of the same. Recently, a B&M refused to accept my return of the new Monty Python and the Holy Grail DVD. They offered to exchange it for another even though I explained that they were all defective. I suspect that if I had gone in complaining that it doesn't fill my screen they might have given me a refund.