full screen vs widescreen and letterbox

[Dan05]

i had a question if you dont have a widescreen tv will the widescreen still show up as it does on the bugs life photo cause if you look at it it is a longer picture than the fullcreen so if you don't have a widescreen tv either way it will still cut off right?

[RJKD23]

i had a question if you dont have a widescreen tv will the widescreen still show up as it does on the bugs life photo cause if you look at it it is a longer picture than the fullcreen so if you don't have a widescreen tv either way it will still cut off right?

i tested watching a bug's life in widescreen on both my laptop (it's more like a full screen) and the widescreen t.v. i have.
the only difference is that you get MORE black lines (top & bottom) on the fullscreen vs. the widescreen. but you get the same picture (nothing cut's off).

[Luke]

i tested watching a bug's life in widescreen on both my laptop (it's more like a full screen) and the widescreen t.v. i have.
the only difference is that you get MORE black lines (top & bottom) on the fullscreen vs. the widescreen. but you get the same picture (nothing cut's off).

That's not true. Did you see the images I posted? Clearly, something is cut off. In this case, Tuck & Roll and more.

[RJKD23]

sorry Luke
i guess i'll go back to watching a Bug's life in both a widescreen t.v. and fullscreen t.v.
Dan05, just take in what the Main guy wrote

[Dan05]

okay thanks for the help

[deathie mouse]

I think what RJKD23 meant was that in viewing the original 2.39 widescreen Cinemascope-Panavision DVD version of a Bugs Life on a 4:3 TV (1.33 wide) the black letterbox bars covering the empty area of the screen are THICKER (or taller) cus fitting a very wideish 2.39 rectangle inside a squareish 1.33 rectangle makes the visible image area much smaller, as oppossed to showing the same very wideish 2.39 image inside the relatively wider rectangle of a Widescreen 16:9 TV (which is 1.78 wide) where the black bars filling the empty (non-image) area would be much THINNER (or less tall) but the widescreen DVD's MOVIE visible picture (the original image) is the same on both.
This is the "penalty" i was talking about regarding having to shrink the real image of wider ratio films to fit into the less wider "squarish" rectangle of 4:3 TVs.

Since Displays involve a fixed shape (unless you use Projection with variable zoom) there's always gonna be different sized black bars filling the empty non-image area if the shape (aspect ratio) of the film does not match the shape of the display, and the size or "thickness" of the black areas will vary in size according to difference in the mismatch.

The reason Widescreen Displays are "better" is cus you dont have to shrink as much the image of widescreen films to fit them into the fixed rectangle of the display so you get the movie image to be as tall or closer (depending on the widescreen ratio) to the height of non widescreen films which is how it should be cus films are projected following the equal screen height principle. STAR WARS on a Cinema screen doesn't get "smaller" it gets W I D E R

I think maybe i'll have to do the 45 variations comparison jpeg after all? In text descriptions there's always the possibilitty of mix up cus there's so many variables involved!

i had a question if you dont have a widescreen tv will the widescreen still show up as it does on the bugs life photo cause if you look at it it is a longer picture than the fullcreen so if you don't have a widescreen tv either way it will still cut off right?

Yes the widescreen DVD will show up as on Luke's widescreen photo with the whole image* just with thicker black bars as i explained above cus the longer rectangular movie image will be shrunk to fit the width of your non widescreen TV.
*(not counting the slight image cutoff occurring in ALL formats if your tv set has overscan)

You've intuitively predicting what would happen in what is called a PAN/SCAN non-widescreen version of a widescreen film where the sides of the wider rectangular image are cut off so as to fill the screen with what remains of the cut image and not have black bars, but then you'd be seeing up to only half of the movie in the pan/scan version in the worst cases like in films as STAR WARS for example.

Bugs Life is a special case cus since they have the files in a computer, they can redo the image, moving characters around and repositionng them and creating new and extra top and bottom backgrounds to make things "fit" better for a non wide TV on their reformatted NON-widescreen version, but this is in a sense like a "remake", an afterthought or a "re-shoot" if you will. That's what you see in the 4:3 pic version Luke showed.

When they were designing the movie and storyboarding the drama and the director was deciding and composing the shots (in other words when they were pouring their heart and soul art into creating the movie, they did the Widescreen version which is what you saw on the theaters. They obviously chose the WIDE SCOPE 2.39 format on purpose to tell their story. They coulda chosen another format originally if they wanted. Same as The Incredibles, being a SuperHero quasi James Bond movie they musta decided the W I D E S T screen suited best to tell their action packed "epic" story, like many Super Hero SciFi and Bond movies do (Superman/X-Men/STAR WARS/Star Trek/You Only Live Twice/Goldeneye etc )

And speaking of STAR WARS (a 2.40 film Panavision shot film, so there's no "open matte" whatsoever so it's either a letterboxed widescreen job or a full lets chop off half of it pan scan hatched job for 4:3 TV )....

i have a question does starwars come in its oar i love those movies

yes they do, just look for the Widecreen (silver?) box set for the Redoriginal trilogy (i call them Redoriginals cus they are in their third (or more!) retinkered incarnations ) and the Widescreen 2 disc sets for the digitalclone prequels.

Since you have a 13" TV just be aware that since these are very W I D E movies your image might be much smaller and with thicker black bars on it than MIB II, but of course you then DO get the full Epic C I N E M A S C O P E visuals

[anger is pointless]

jumps up and down yay they do have starwars in wide screen thanks deathie mouse

[orestes.]

Besides wrong transfers and that the only way I can really think of that widecreen gets cut off at the top and bottom is if you have the wrong settings for your television if you have a widescreen TV.

I've also seen DVDs now that get rid of the black bars on normal televisions and it looks squishy. (I saw now since I have one of the first DVD players when theyw ent down in price and it is missing this option)



Soooo.... basically the best way to go is with a widescreen tv and widescreen movies (or whatever aspect ration they were intdended to be in)

Ideally I would love a huge home theatre set-up with a plasma tv and a projection screen but bulbs for the projector cost a pretty penny.

[Joshrzmeup]

Widescreen, I have recently learned, is a good way to go. You can see more of the picture and there is a bit more clarity to it. It took awhile, but my dad finally convinced me to buy widescreen, unless it doesn't come in widescreen. But some dvd's will have you choose if you want full or wide on the dvd itself.
a good example of why widescreen is better: Legally Blonde.
In the 'Bend And Snap' scene, on the dvd' you can see and hear the black lady do the 'snap' and say "like this?"
In the normal full-frame version, you can hear her, but you don't see her.

[anger is pointless]

i just finished watching starwars in wide screen and all i have to say is wow it was great i saw stuff i never noticed before cause ive always seen it in full screen

i cant wait to buy stars wars in wide screen

[RJKD23]

i cant wait to buy stars wars in wide screen

When 3 comes out to DVD, i hope they'll do the same thing (when released 4,5,and 6) and put 1,2, and 3 in the SILVER [silver for WIDESCREEN, gold for Fullscreen] so it'll be matching!

[umbreongirl]

Why do most of you like Widescreen?

I personally like Full screen. Wide screen bugs me. Full screen is fully on the screen and it doesn't have those anoyying black bars on top/bottom.

So I ask you all. Why do most of you like Widescreen?

Just wondering....>>

[Just Myself]

Weel, I like widescreen for two reasons:

1. I get the WHOLE picture,
2. I have a widescreen TV, so go figure, no black bars.

No offense, but it just really kinda annoys me when people say 'I don't like widescreen cause of the black bars'. Is it really worth watching a movie with 40% of the picture hacked off just to get rid of those black bars? Think about it.

[ichabod]

Look here: http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/vie ... sc&start=0

That should explain pretty much why widescreen rocks!

[Dan05]

I liked Full Screen too and was wondering the same thing until I saw the pictures posted over at this topic

http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/vie ... sc&start=0

Then I realized Widescreen is alot better

[umbreongirl]

Oh. Thanks JM and ichabod.
^ ^;; I don't like Widescreen not only cause of the black bars, but I never usually go see movies in theatres (as they have wide screen there, yes?), so I'm more used to the full screen. ^^;;

[Disney-Fan]

Because the feeling is more "grand" if you will... That, and I get the full picture...

[umbreongirl]

Hmm....I could try and watch something wide screen and try to get used to it considering it shows more. All my DVDs, though, are in Fullscreen cause my mom prefers it, too.

[Sunset Girl]

The only time I could see those black bars as a hinderance is if you have a very small TV, as widescreen tends to shrink the picture down and it might make it more difficult to see. But keep in mind that the black bars are not covering up any of the picture like most people seem to think, they happen to be there because the shape of a widescreen film does not match the shape of a normal television screen.

Hope this helps!

[Dan05]

when i start watching widescreen movies after awhile i don't even notice the black bars anymore and i have a fullscreen TV