Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: When buying DVD/VHS, does Widescreen matter?

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Posted by Thomas Dieter (Member # 2507) on 02-09-2006, 11:14 PM:

When you go to purchase a movie on DVD/VHS, do you have to purchase the film on Widescreen or Full Screen? Why?

I personally like to purchase films on Widescreen for the simple reason is I get to see what was filmed, not what was edited in. If you haven't seen it yet, check out Remember the Titans in Full Screen and you will see what I'm talking about.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 02-09-2006, 11:29 PM:

I choose widescreen because I am not a loser. Well OK I am a loser but I like widescreen not only for the reason you state, but also because I just happen to have a widescreen TV. Kind of CrAzY how that works, but usually widescreen DVDs are the way to go with widescreen TVs. Who woulda thunk it? The term "Fullscreen" is kind of a misnomer. It most certainly is not full screen. I think instead of "Widescreen" and "fullscreen" the terms should be "widescreen" and "raped".

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 02-09-2006, 11:32 PM:

Letterboxed.

To those over a certain age, the term "widescreen" denotes flat.

Posted by Lindsay Morris (Member # 1430) on 02-10-2006, 03:17 AM:

If you have a widescreen TV things do look better if the source material is WS.
I have a Hitachi Plasma HDTV and the digital broadcasts here in OZ are quite good with most free to air stations we have offering the choice of SD or HD and naturally I always go for HD setting on the tuner.
However many times the original material is NOT WS and certainly NOT high definition so you end up with a fuzzy looking 4/3 image in the middle of the HD screen...tolerable to a degree but it has to be good stuff to keep my finger off the channel change button.
Free to Air HDTV as we now have in all capital cities and many regionals in OZ is magic and football and cricket match broadcasts are so sharp it looks as good as 35mm film.
This is on a 40" diag screen.
Even much of the normal program content is now being done in HD and movies listed as being HD certainly are sharper than the best DVD's we curently have.
If I toggle back and forth between the 2 formats a SD program sent out on the HD channel looks the same when you jump between them but with a true HD source there looks to be about a 20-30% improvement in clarity between a SD and a HD broadcast of the same program.
Never going back to analog TV digital is crisp and clear and NEVER any ghosting or smearing.
Lindsay

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 02-10-2006, 03:29 AM:

I like shooting letterboxed DVD's on a screen using an LCD projector - haven't tried it with a DLP projector.

Took one of our digital preshow presentation projectors home (2000 lumens) and filled a wall from about 13 ft back with the approx image dimensions of 5x14 ft with watching "Batman Begins" with the sound running into my component system.

...now THAT's the way to watch letterboxed DVD's - if, with that distance, that you can tolerate the slight noticable gridwork due to LCD displays.

-Monte

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-10-2006, 07:06 PM:

I always buy the widescreen version of any movie on DVD.

The only time I'll buy anything in 1.33:1 ratio is if that was the show's original format. And that applies to classic movies like Citizen Kane or a good number of concert DVDs.

I will NEVER choose a foolscreen version of a DVD if an anamorphic widescreen version is available for the additional reason that foolscreen DVDs look pretty stupid pillar-boxed on widescreen TVs. They look even worse when stretched out like a fun house mirror effect.

The fact 95% of electronics stores load up foolscreen DVDs on their demo HD monitors and put them in that stretch mode is pure evidence of how stupid our general public has become. Americans don't get math and science? Damned skippy! They sure as fuck don't know geometry!

I get a pretty good chuckle from foolscreen DVD buyers when they have problems with the discs when playing them on their brand new HDTV set. They discover their foolscreen DVDs weren't actually full screen after all. Fools.

Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 02-10-2006, 09:18 PM:

I always want anamorphic widescreen if the movie is 16:9 or wider. "Letterboxed" tended to mean that black was used at the top and bottom, which isn't the case with anamorphic widescreen DVDs of flat movies (but it is the case with scope movies), so I avoid the term "letterbox" except to describe non-anamorphic widescreen transfers, which waste resolution.

Posted by Brian Michael Weidemann (Member # 2243) on 02-10-2006, 10:02 PM:

I will buy the widescreen editions exclusively. But this means I'm torn when it comes to movies that do not have widescreen versions available. I've been wanting to buy Fierce Creatures on DVD forever. That was a Scope movie, and this title is ONLY available in a full screen format DVD. So, maybe if I'm patient, they'll eventually do their Collector's Edition ... but it wasn't a popular movie, and some would say it was horrible, so that probably won't happen. So, what do I do? Cave in and order the full screen from Amazon? [Frown]

quote: Bobby Henderson
95% of electronics stores load up foolscreen DVDs on their demo HD monitors and put them in that stretch mode

I've noticed this, too! The stretched image gives me a headache immediately, and some people don't even know what I'm talking about when I point it out. I also noticed once that a "widescreen" edition of a movie--one that was NOT "enhanced for widescreen television"--was playing on a widescreen television, in stretch mode! Widescreen television WITH letterbox framing AND the image was stretched to the edges. I couldn't watch five seconds of that!
And they were trying to SELL this to people!? [puke]

Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 02-11-2006, 12:43 AM:

Friends don't let friends buy full-screen. [beer]

Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 02-11-2006, 08:47 AM:

It annoys the hell out of me when people don't know the difference, or they just don't like the "bars" at the top and bottom. I explain to them why the bars are there and what they actually miss when they buy fullscreen, i.e. the Ghostbusters hotel entrance scene, and they usually buy the widescreen.

Widescreen rules, the only thing I have in fullscreen is my Simpsons seasons as that is how they were presented...

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-11-2006, 09:22 AM:

I get the version that matches the display I'm showing the movie on.

At home, I have a 20" television and a cheap DVD player. No cable TV. No home theater system. Just a plain ol' TV.

Consequently, I rent/buy DVDs in full screen.
If I had the screen real estate I'd buy the wide screen version but I don't plan on getting a H.T. system any time soon.
(Too much like work!)

At work I have a video projector which makes a big enough picutre that I can play a wide version and mask off the top and bottom. If I work with equipment that can operate in a wide format I'll change it over and play the format that most closely matches the display.

quote:
The fact 95% of electronics stores load up foolscreen DVDs on their demo HD monitors and put them in that stretch mode is pure evidence of how stupid our general public has become. Americans don't get math and science? Damned skippy! They sure as fuck don't know geometry!

There is a restaurant in town that has several brand new wide screen (projection) TVs all up around the dining room. They ALWAYS put them in "stretch" mode. I ALWAYS make fun of them.

One time, I was there and they were showing a billiards tournament on ESPN. It looked like they were batting Easter eggs around the table!

Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 02-11-2006, 09:52 AM:

Wal-Mart plays into the fool-screen ideal by making the widescreen versions difficult to find in the store. Although I have a regular CRT monitor and a Tube television, I don't mind the bars at all, I think it looks better. Also, even with a WS TV, some dvd's will even show the bars at the top and bottom. I just think that it is better.

Some people disagree, and that is their perogative....

Posted by Larry Myers (Member # 738) on 02-11-2006, 10:07 AM:

There are actually several different versions of wide screen. First there is a 1.85 wide screen non-anamorphic version that you have to use the zoom to get 1.85 full wide screen on a wide screen HDTV. Then there is the 1.85 anamorphic version that you use the stretch selection to play full screen. This is again on a wide screen TV all with no bars. Then you have 2.35 non-anamorphic version. With that, you get a very small image on the HDTV wide screen set. So, you must again use the zoom feature for a bigger image. The result is almost unwatchable with the lowest resolution of all the versions. Last and I think the best resolution of all is the 2.35 anamorphic with the stretch feature set on the tv. Both these 2.35 versions have bars on a typical 9:16 wide screen set.

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-11-2006, 10:54 AM:

Watching a "full screen" version is like going to the movies and looking through a toilet paper tube to watch the film. I like seeing everything the director wanted me to see, so I buy widescreen.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 02-11-2006, 11:35 AM:

In the world of home video, "widescreen" generally has a single meaning: It has the original theatrical aspect ratio. Or close to it (e.g. when 1.85 is clipped to 1.78).

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-11-2006, 12:06 PM:

quote: Randy Stankey
At home, I have a 20" television and a cheap DVD player. No cable TV. No home theater system. Just a plain ol' TV. Consequently, I rent/buy DVDs in full screen.

I don't have a widescreen HD monitor (yet), but I still insist on buying the widescreen versions. I'd much rather see all of the movie on most of my TV screen rather than only part of the movie on all of my TV screen.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-11-2006, 04:42 PM:

My TV is small, by today's standards.

My brother has a 25". Watching letterbox movies on a 25" is tolerable.

My parents have a 32". Widescreen movies ARE preferable on a screen with that much real estate.

On my little, bitty 20", the picture is small enough when in full screen. In wide screen it can be too small to see clearly, depending on what the action is. In this case, I'd rather trade some cropping in favor of a larger image within the frame.

Yes, when the display method premits, widescreen movies are the way to go. No doubt!

But, playing wide screen material on a small screen, or playing full screen material in "stretch mode" on a large screen seems quite Procrustean to me!

I'd rather sleep in a bed that fits me. [Wink]

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-11-2006, 05:02 PM:

"Stretch mode" is so stupid, I'm not sure why it even exists. (Oh wait, I know why....to satisify idiots who have to have the screen full of colorful stuff no matter what.)

As for the size -- we have a 27" at home but actually spend more time watching the li'l 15" in the bedroom -- if a movie is good enough I can get absorbed in it even if the screen is small. (That's probably the biggest reason the DVDs are presenting such a challenge to the theatre industry, IMHO.)

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-11-2006, 05:50 PM:

If you have a plasma display you want to use a stretch mode so that you won't have burn in. That way you keep the picture moving over all the surface. I use "just" which I think stands for justify. It doesn't stretch very much in the center but as it approaches the eges the stretch becomes greater. The idea being that the action and people are usually centered in the frame so they aren't stretched as much and don't look fat. It looks better than plain stretch