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Widescreen vs Full Screen

Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2004 9:07 am
by camsmom
I am pretty new to collecting dvd's. Is there any real reason to getting a Widescreen version vs a Full Screen version besides preference? My mom heard something about high definition tv's being better with wide screen. Of course we don't have one, but as they go down in price may one day have one.
Is this true?
Any other pros and cons?

Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2004 9:31 am
by wizzer
if you ever get a high definition tv you will definately want widescreen dvds. and full screen is usualy a cropped version of the complete film. see the section called stop pan and scan (or something like that) on the front page. someone might have a link to explain the topic a little better. you pretty much asked a question that is the main topic of concern on upcoming dvd releases for most dvd collectors. if i was anticipating one of my favorite releases and it turned out to be a full screen pan and scan version, i would be pissed.

Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2004 3:02 pm
by Luke
Yes, you should always get widescreen if the option exists, since that's the ratio the film was framed for and theatrically shown in. Why would you want to pay the same amount for a version that cuts out some of the picture?

Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2004 3:53 pm
by Jack
Luke, did you ever know that you're my hero? :wink:

Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2004 4:20 pm
by wizzer
Luke wrote:Yes, you should always get widescreen if the option exists, since that's the ratio the film was framed for and theatrically shown in. Why would you want to pay the same amount for a version that cuts out some of the picture?
and then it starts getting confusing when your talking about open matte full screen films so thats why i was trying to get you to post the link to you pan and scan page. and also, i'm starting to notice a trend that some people might not be aware of, and that is taking a film that is 2.35:1 oar and cropping it to 1.78:1 so that the animorphic image fits perfectly on someones widescreen tv with out the bars on the top and bottom. which doesn't bother most widescreen set owners scince it caters to them. but i own a projector with a very large screen that is native 4:3 so a movie that is cropped from 2.35:1 to 1.78:1 bothers me because i prefer movies that are the wider 2.35:1 aspect ratio. to me animorphic cropped 1.78:1 is almost as bad as pan and scan. hbo hd is doing this to alot of films and now i've seen the trend spill over into the dvd world.

Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2004 8:59 am
by MickeyMouseboy
Why would someone want a Open Matte of a movie? Widescreen still the Director's cut. Studio use this for Home Video ease oh well!

Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2004 9:14 am
by wizzer
MickeyMouseboy wrote:Why would someone want a Open Matte of a movie? Widescreen still the Director's cut. Studio use this for Home Video ease oh well!
although i prefer widescreen, if a dvd gets released open matte fullscreen thats better than pan and scan because on my projector i can matte off the tops and bottoms of movies myself using a little thing i made myself. thus cropping off the top and bottom bringing it back to OAR. i have qiute a few dvds that are open matte. so while i wouldn't want an open matte dvd, it's better than pan and scan and i would still go get the dvd.

Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 2:30 pm
by AwallaceUNC
The only reason I can see anyone ever buying a pan & scan over a widescreen is if there TV is like 9" or less... you may see more of the picture, but you often can't afford to lose half the screen to black bars, regardless. My friend's TV is like that, and that's the argument she makes for full screen (for very small TVs only)

-Aaron

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2004 12:32 am
by Grunches
I usally get the widescreen. But when I Buy the Disney movies do they usally come in widescreen (antimated classics)?
:?

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2004 11:01 am
by buffalobill
Grunches wrote:I usally get the widescreen. But when I Buy the Disney movies do they usally come in widescreen (antimated classics)?
:?
Most (if not all) of the animated classics have been released in widescreen (though some not anamorphic) except for the early ones (pre Lady & The Tramp). For those the full frame is the OAR.

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2004 1:49 pm
by AwallaceUNC
Right. Be sure to remember that OAR is really the important thing, not widescreen or foolscreen.

-Aaron

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2004 8:20 pm
by Grunches
Why is OAR so important? What is it :? :?

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2004 8:24 pm
by Tangela
Grunches wrote:Why is OAR so important? What is it :? :?
I suppose that these people want the original film, when the produccion team format a widescreen film into full frame, it is like removing precious parts from the movie, sorta like editing, which is something I despite when they do.

:wink:

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2004 8:52 pm
by Grunches
Oh so Oar and widescreen are about the same?

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2004 8:57 pm
by Tangela
Grunches wrote:Oh so Oar and widescreen are about the same?
I think so... Maybe I shouln've said anything... I'm probably wrong like usual...

:oops:

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2004 9:11 pm
by Luke
OAR is Original Aspect Ratio.

For films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, Dumbo, Fantasia, and Peter Pan, the OAR is 1.37:1 Academy Ratio, and thus the 1.33:1 'Fullscreen' DVD presentation is not only acceptable, but a must.

For more recent films, OAR is typically 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 widescreen.

Original Aspect Ratio essentially refers to the ratio a film is theatrically framed for.

Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2004 3:11 pm
by Sethp
Here you can see a quite few examples where they compare the OAR widescreen version with the chopped full screen versions.

http://www.widescreen.org/examples.shtml

Yes all the picrures are true, you really miss out on that much information!

Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2004 1:00 pm
by MickeyMousePal
Widescreen or Fullscreen what's the difference.

I like Fullscreen the end. :P

Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2004 2:33 pm
by AwallaceUNC
MMP - that was a joke, right? I think so, but you can never be quite sure on here, so I wanted to make sure. :lol:

-Aaron

Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2004 4:05 pm
by MickeyMousePal
awallaceunc Wrote
MMP - that was a joke, right? I think so, but you can never be quite sure on here, so I wanted to make sure.

-Aaron
Fullscreen all the way no joke! :D