Widescreen vs. Full Screen rant

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Homercidal

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WTF?!?!?! My local video stores have made it a point to not buy any widescreen movies if they can get full screen movies instead. I mean, this has been happening for a while now, but I assumed they would eventually learn the error of their ways and switch over. Especially now that lots more people have bought widescreen tvs.

Alas, I mentioned again how I would like to rent a certain movie, but they don't have Widescreen, and she restated their policy. THEIR LOSS!

I can download it widescreen and not even have to pay for it if they want to be that way. Sometimes I can go to the other place and find it, but if not, it's a 20 minute trip to the big city to go to a REAL video store.

They claim that more people complain about the black bars on their tv sets than people who don't like to miss parts of the movie. I just don't get it. Are they all retarded??
 
They claim that more people complain about the black bars on their tv sets than people who don't like to miss parts of the movie. I just don't get it. Are they all retarded??

What about the black bars I've got to endure on the fullscreen movies on the widescreen tv??? (I know I can adjust the settings to stretch the fullscreen) Same argument.
 
Just another reason to go with Netflix. Local video stores will be like drive-up diners soon. Something to tell your grandkids about.
 
I would way rather watch a widescreen with black bars over a full screen any day. On a 16:9 ratio tv a 4:3 has vertical bars without the zoom feature on anyway.
 
What about the black bars I've got to endure on the fullscreen movies on the widescreen tv??? (I know I can adjust the settings to stretch the fullscreen) Same argument.

I like my black bars. I have our TV programmed to use 4:3 instead of stretching. My friends used to watch their widescreen stretched on broadcast channels instead of resizing. Maybe it was a pain for them to change, but all I have to do is press a button on the remote. Easy.

I just don't want to miss part of the movie! That's what happens when you watch full screen movies. They pan and scan parts of the scene out.

I guess I got too many old, inbred , rednecks around here that think the black bars means they are not getting their money's worth from their TV.
 
I'm in agreement with you man, just stating the obvious fact that their reasoning (people don't like the black bars) can be used right back at them.
 
I always buy widescreen DVDs even though I don't have a widescreen tv. I like knowing I'm seeing the whole picture. It's getting harder and harder to find a PC monitor that's NOT widescreen.
 
That stinks! You loose a lot of important picture information in fullscreen or the image is distorted. The film was shot with an intended widescreen look, so it should be viewed in one. Drive me totally crazy and being a film school graduate adds to my frustration.
 
I guess I got too many old, inbred , rednecks around here that think the black bars means they are not getting their money's worth from their TV.
Just wait until you hear idiots complaining that the Blu-Ray disc they bought has black bars on their widscreen HDTV. People seem to think that if its in HD it should fill that 16X9 display completely. I sure hope mass adoption of that format does not see a bunch of 2.4:1 aspect movies resized to 1.78:1.
 
Guess I'm in the minority here, but widescreen looks like sh*t in my opinion. The bars are annoying as hell, and it's stretched all goofy if you change the ratio. The only argument I've ever heard from widescreen fans is that you get to "see more". Well the actors are in the middle of the screen, 99% of the action is in the middle of the screen. I don't need to see and extra 6" of a building when it is totally irrelevant. My TV screen is wider than it is tall, but widescreen wastes so much of the screen. I don't have the best vision, so I'd have to buy a TV like 3 sizes larger to get the same amount of area out of a widescreen movie as compared to standard.
 
Ugh. You have a gripe with directors and no one else. I personally want to see what the director envisioned when it was shot, period. I don't care what the ratio is. I hope you are in the minority.
 
Fullscreen is a funny thing. "this film has been modified to fit your crappy TV." Its all relative. I run S-video from one of my desktops for movies, so I can do whatever I want with ratios and resolutions:mug:
 
. . . I run S-video from one of my desktops for movies, so I can do whatever I want with ratios and resolutions.
S-Video will get you a good picture in SD, but for HD you'll need at least component, or better yet HDMI or DVI for digital HD.

Now, it is a perfect opportunity to clarify a myth here: There is no way to grabb from any analogue source (including Television broadcasts) at a true resolution beyond 352 X 576/480 with the use of S-Video in. With S-Video you are limited to 352 X 576/480, because this is the resolution of S-Video. From this point of view, any grabb beyond 352 X 576/480 is a fake!
 
Guess I'm in the minority here, but widescreen looks like sh*t in my opinion. The bars are annoying as hell, and it's stretched all goofy if you change the ratio. The only argument I've ever heard from widescreen fans is that you get to "see more". Well the actors are in the middle of the screen, 99% of the action is in the middle of the screen. I don't need to see and extra 6" of a building when it is totally irrelevant. My TV screen is wider than it is tall, but widescreen wastes so much of the screen. I don't have the best vision, so I'd have to buy a TV like 3 sizes larger to get the same amount of area out of a widescreen movie as compared to standard.

Well, As others have said, watching a 4:3 ration on a widescreen still yields bars, so if you have the choice, watch what fits your TV best. FWIW, I still dislike the "Pan and Scan" method of editing the movie to keep the action or actors in the frame still eliminates the whole feel of the scene. Some movies are purposely shot with an even wider aspect to capture the mood of the expanse of the scene. Purposely wanting to miss things in the scene is sort of strange IMO.

After watching the movie for a few minutes, I don't notice the black bars. In fact, I watch 4:3 broadcast TV at standard ratio on my widescreen, just to avoid stretching, and the black bars are not even noticeable after a few minutes.

I don't get the claim that you are going to need a TV 3X the size if widescreen. The same size TV would yield the same size of display. (Except I like the there are better resolution options with some movies now, which would actually make the scene seem smaller in comparison, but you get more detail.)
 
I started buying WS versions of movies even before I finally got a WS tv. So glad I did - can't stand pan'n'scan! I want to see the shot framed the way the director intended, not a compromise aimed at getting the most 'stuff' in the shot. It was filmed a certain way for a reason (most times! :D ) The bars never botherd me at all, but I guess it's just a personal thing. Once the lights are dimmed, I don't even notice that they are there :D

:mug:
 
The black bars don't bother me, but the pan-and-scan that some movies have for the full screen version of wide-screen movies bothers the crap out of me.
 
I purposely bought DLP to not have any concerns about burn in or feel obligated to distort the image to fill the screen. Black bars, I don't care. They blend in nicely with the expanse of black around the TV. :D
 
The new sony wide screens will auto "wide zoom" the standard 4:3 screens of DVDs and broadcast TV. I like not having to fiddle with the settings anymore.
 
I love widescreen films. I can't wait to get a fixed height projector for my movie watching pleasure. IE there will be no "black bars" on anything. The image will just be in the correct aspect ratio all the time.
 
Ahoy hoy,
Ah, I remember discovering widescreen, back about 91-93. When AMC wasnt a commercial laden, movie editing POS, they would show a full screen movie early, then its widescreen version later. One night, I had watched John Waynes The War Wagon, fullscreen, on amc. a few hours later, still being up and finding nothing on tv to watch, i saw that War Wagon was on again. Dukes my hero, and Ill watch his movie twice in one night rather then watch some stupid modern day reality crap. Anywho, it came on widescreen, and I remember thinking to myself, cripes, I didnt see any of that in the movie the first time. As I watched, and realized how many people and how much scenic landscape was being cut out to humor tv idiots, and the fact that directors never meant for you to see a coffee pot in the middle of a table, with a set of lips on each far end of the screen, due to the cropping, I was sold. Ive never looked back.
I bid you all a great day.
 
I love widescreen films. I can't wait to get a fixed height projector for my movie watching pleasure. IE there will be no "black bars" on anything. The image will just be in the correct aspect ratio all the time.

Til you get a disc with anamorphic aspect. Correct there won't be any bars injected but you won't cover your screen completely. That said, I do still prefer the front end projection set-up if you have the throw distance for the screen size you "want".
 
My freaking in-laws don't like widescreen, and use the DVD 'zoom' feature to make widescreen appear as fullscreen...

Thus chopping off all the action on the sides of the screen!
 
Til you get a disc with anamorphic aspect. Correct there won't be any bars injected but you won't cover your screen completely. That said, I do still prefer the front end projection set-up if you have the throw distance for the screen size you "want".

Unfortunately they didn't build anamorphic widescreen into Bluray so using a lens for a constant height setup won't work. My workaround in the near future is using a projector that has a wide enough zoom ratio that I can zoom overscan to fill a 2.35 native screen. For more "square" ratios like 16x9 or 4x3, I zoom out and mask the sides. Ah open wide...110" wide scope.
 
I guess I'm an idiot, then. I bought a 16:9 DLP to embrace technology. I thought that I'd be rid of those stupid bars with all widescreen content, and the screen is large enough to "suffer" through 4:3 content with vertical bars on either side. I CAN'T STAND movies shot in ratios narrower (vertically) than 1.78:1. I DO want the whole screen filled. I DON'T want distortion (so I don't zoom and/or crop...but that means horizontal bars). With 16:9 screens dominating the market, WTF is up with other ratios?!
 
By far you're going to see most content in 16:9 because that's what 99% of made for broadcast HD is. I'd say about 50% of my movie viewing is 2.35:1 which will produce horizontal black bars on your widescreen set.

Ratios of 2.35 or even 2.4 are about cinematic impact. I couldn't imagine a movie like Braveheart cropped down to 16:9. Lame. I feel the same way about most "epic" movies. 16:9 is good for Survivor and comedy movies.
 
I didnt' know there were different widescreen aspects until I got my widescreen TV. Then I put in a new DVD and hello! There were black bars still! But the image was WIDE! Took about a few seconds to forget about it and enjoy the show.

My TV has different modes so I can flip between them, but it always stay were there is no distortion of the image(no stretching).
 
I can't stand the look of zoomed in or stretched 4:3 TV. Of course I hear people say they paid $$$ for a widescreen TV and they want it filled...

It kinda reminds me of people diluting down beer at the proper gravity to reach five gallons.
 
fullscreen sucks. i refuse to buy it. course, we have a widescreen screen in the apartment now, so that helps.

Taking it one step further, DVD's suck. I have a 55 inch. Widescreen or not, you can still see artifacts in some movies. I kind of don't care too much, but it's kind of how audiophiles get kooky with their sound. I feel the same way about what I'm watching to some extent...
 
With 16:9 screens dominating the market, WTF is up with other ratios?!

Some light reading on the subject. For a Wiki it's pretty durn accurate too.

Aspect ratio (image) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In summary, the 16:9 Aspect ratio was proposed and adopted becuse it shares a "common area" with varied American and Foreign common aspect ratios. It was chosen as a middle ground for the "must fill the screen" watchers.

While there is still some debate about "burn in" on the LCD screens (some propose that the emissive light exposure effects the opacity of the liquid over time) it is an absolute fact for Plasma and CRT based displays. To date, I have yet to read any reports of any burn in effect on reflective DLP sets however, since the light must pass through a color wheel it "may" become a reality as these sets age. Additionally, since most (if not all) of the color wheels are set between the lamp and the DMD this should at most only present a saturation problem and not develope as a burn in issue.
 
Taking it one step further, DVD's suck. I have a 55 inch. Widescreen or not, you can still see artifacts in some movies. I kind of don't care too much, but it's kind of how audiophiles get kooky with their sound. I feel the same way about what I'm watching to some extent...

Blu-Ray FTW!:rockin:
 
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