"Formatted for Widescreen"

[therockman]

I recently watched a DVD that indicated on the package that the original aspect ratio of the film was 2.35:1. This disc (Armageddon on Criterion) contained an image that was projected as a narrow strip across my screen, approx. 8" X 36". Normally I am used to seeing a 2.35:1 movie presented as a picture of about 12" X36". Does the authoring of the disc itself have anything to do with this difference? The Criterion disc in question does not indicate "formatted for widescreen" or "formatted for 16 X 9", does that have anything to do with it? I would really like to know.

[Claude]

I'm no expert on this, but it probably has something to do with the fact that's it's a non-anamorphic transfer.

http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=40

You should be able to display the aspect ratio correctly by adapting the format setting on your TV screen (or the DVD player)

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/anamorphic185demo.html

[Walt]

A lot of early Criterion DVD releases that are widescreen aren't anamorphic - a shame since they're generally regarded as the pioneers of laserdisc and DVD (thank them for the special edition features we now take for granted).

They've been reissuing some of their early titles. I bought their new releases of YOJIMBO and SANJURO and they're major improvements over the non-anamporphic counterparts (which came out when anamorphic was the norm for widescreen DVDs - i remember there being an ASCII outcry on various forums when those two Kurosawa films came out without the enhancement necessary).

[Anthology123]

The Criterion Robocop is also non-anamorphic widescreen.

[Walt]

The Criterion Robocop is also non-anamorphic widescreen.

And it's also in the director's preferred 1.66:1 aspect ratio. I bought the Robocop Trilogy set a while ago that MGM released - it includes the director's cut of ROBOCOP... but i traded it in (still don't have the "new" dvd that's in a tin). I have a standard-def tv (that does support anamorphic - it's a Wega), but I gotta go with the director's preferred ratio.

BTW, Criterion's ROBOCOP dvd was the third DVD I purchased. :cool:

[therockman]

I have my DVD player set to output 16X9 and full, this is the first time that I noticed this problem. Where do I adjust the picture now?

[AndrewS]

You'll likely have to adjust your TV aspect ratio, but unfortunately, you'll end up with a picture like this (but likely with black bars at the side, rather than gray):

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/23516x9tvlbx.jpg

This is one of the reasons that non-anamorphic DVDs are loathed, particularly by people with widescreen televisions.

[dougotte]

If your TV has a zoom setting, you might try it. On my TV, it doesn't zoom correctly and some of the edges on all 4 sides are cut off. Also, zooming makes the discrepancies in the image more apparent.

Doug

[Chip Z]

You'll likely have to adjust your TV aspect ratio, but unfortunately, you'll end up with a picture like this (but likely with black bars at the side, rather than gray):

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/23516x9tvlbx.jpg

This is one of the reasons that non-anamorphic DVDs are loathed, particularly by people with widescreen televisions.

I'm not as big of a movie buff as many on this forum but non-anamorphic DVDs just kill me. Is it difficult/more expensive to release an anamorphic version? What is the reasoning?

[Oatsdad]

I'm not as big of a movie buff as many on this forum but non-anamorphic DVDs just kill me. Is it difficult/more expensive to release an anamorphic version? What is the reasoning?

Some non-anamorphic transfers from the early days were done just because they were cheaper. The studios already had transfers they'd used for LD, so they didn't bother with new 16X9 transfers.

Criterion stayed with non-anamorphic transfers for a while due to concerns with downconversion on 4X3 sets. The quality of a downconversion varied radically dependent on the player; some handled downconversion well, some didn't. Criterion resisted 16X9 transfers due to that.

You have to remember that 10 years ago there were very few widescreen sets out there - non-anamorphic transfers weren't an issue for most people. They're now becoming more annoying because 16X9 sets are getting more common.

Non-anamorphic transfers done TODAY are a real travesty - but they still occur. I've reviewed two in the last couple of months! :(

[therockman]

Thank you for all of the info, I had no idea!!!

[tps]

Using the VLC software player, usually the video/crop/16X9 option works wonders with widescreen DVDs recorded in 4X3, getting rid of "window-box" most of the time.

[testikoff]

... or using Zoom player's aspect ratio setting "Restrict AR Adjustments to height in Full Screen/Zoom mode" with non-anamorphic letterbox widescreen DVDs, for that matter ;)

[Chip Z]

You have to remember that 10 years ago there were very few widescreen sets out there - non-anamorphic transfers weren't an issue for most people. They're now becoming more annoying because 16X9 sets are getting more common.

Non-anamorphic transfers done TODAY are a real travesty - but they still occur. I've reviewed two in the last couple of months! :(

True. It's really just the current issues that I have a big problem with. BTW, love your review site.

[Oatsdad]

True. It's really just the current issues that I have a big problem with. BTW, love your review site.

Thanks! :righton:

[therockman]

I really appreciate the answers and information that has been passed to me in this thread. I thought that I was reasonably well read on video and home entertainment, but this concept had eluded me until I actually bought a widescreen television about 6 weeks ago. The bad news is that the pride and joy of my DVD collection has now been rendered obsolete by my conversion to 16X9, SID AND NANCY on Criterion. Oh well, such is life.

[testikoff]

You can still crop the 4:3 image of letterboxed widescreen version of 'Sid & Nancy' (Criterion) to 16:9 using either VLC or Zoom players on HTPC. Or pick up a cheap MGM's anamorphic DVD ;)

[HGN2001]

Another confusion is the multiplicity of stretch and zoom modes available. My widescreen TV (Sony) has the following settings:

[1] "Normal" - allows a 4:3 source to be viewed at the proper aspect ratio with bars on the sides. If the source is a 4:3 widescreen like a VHS or non-anamorphic LaserDisc, I'll get black bars on four sides. "Normal" isn't an active choice with a digital TV channel, which defaults to number [2].

[2] "Full" - allows a 16:9 source to be viewed at its proper aspect ratio - if it's a square shaped picture like an SD digital broadcast, then bars are on the sides. If it's an HDTV signal, it goes into full 16:9 mode with no bars on a 1.78:1 picture, small bars top and bottom for a 2.35:1 picture. This is also the default mode set up for DVD viewing. Anamorphic pictures fill the width, while 4:3 discs have bars on the sides. This mode also stretches an analog picture to full width of the TV without touching the top and bottom, resulting in really short, fat people.

[3] "Zoom" - This mode zooms in on a picture and is ideal for blowing up those non-anamorphic pictures that are letterboxed. With a 1.78:1 non-anamorphic picture, it's properly sized to fill the screen on all four sides. This is useful for viewing those widescreen HD programs that I record in SD from a digital tuner and play back later. It then fills the screen as it would have appeared if I had watched it in HD. This mode crops off as much of the top and bottom as necessary while filling in the sides and maintaining the proper aspect of the image.

[4] "Wide Zoom" - The least useful setting for me. It zooms a 4:3 picture to fill the width of the TV, but crops off a little bit of the top and bottom, and stretches the image horizontally. It's basically a half-a$$ed way of stretching the picture, not quite making everyone extremely short and fat, but still losing a bit of the top and bottom of the picture.

My gut is that a setting similar to [4] is what I see in bars, hotels, airports, etc., but the newer sets seem to have a stretching mode that leaves the center part of the picture close to normal and stretches the images at the sides. I can always tell that by watching the scrawl on channels like CNN or ESPN where the letters are fat at the edges, get skinny in the middle and fat again exiting on the other side.

So given the sheer number of possible combinations of signals and viewing options, it's no wonder that the masses are confused. What drives me nuts are the people who should know better. I work in a radio station and we have a flat panel TV in our big conference room. Our "engineers", admittedly experts in audio broadcasting have the thing set up in a stretch mode. :sigh:

Harry

[filper]

You'll likely have to adjust your TV aspect ratio, but unfortunately, you'll end up with a picture like this (but likely with black bars at the side, rather than gray):

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/23516x9tvlbx.jpg

This is one of the reasons that non-anamorphic DVDs are loathed, particularly by people with widescreen televisions.

My PS3 will output a black frame all around (instead of the black/grey frame you've shown.

It makes the original non-anamorphic release of John Carpenter's 'The Thing' more tollerable.

[93curr]

I've actually gotten use to watching non-anamorphic widescreen DVDs with black bars on all four sides. It's better than trying to get a decent picture with zoom (and you can actually read the subtitles on foreign films).

[filper]

I've actually gotten use to watching non-anamorphic widescreen DVDs with black bars on all four sides. It's better than trying to get a decent picture with zoom (and you can actually read the subtitles on foreign films).

Good man. Clarity over quantity.

[Marty Milton]

I've actually gotten use to watching non-anamorphic widescreen DVDs with black bars on all four sides. It's better than trying to get a decent picture with zoom (and you can actually read the subtitles on foreign films).
That is also what I have done, although I now avoid watching non-anamorphic movies when I can. Unfortuneatly, one of my favorite movies, Beautiful Girls is non-anamorphic. I avoid using the zoom because it just makes the picture look more grainy.

[JoelDF]

While all widescreen TVs have those zoom options, some players have a zoom option as well - but not all do. If yours does, that might be a better choice for some of those non-anamorphic but player-generated sub-titled movies (like the non-anamorphic Star Wars Original Version Original Trilogy DVDs with the alien dialog sub-titles on the first film and "Return Of The Jedi"). The player will keep the sub-titles within the 16x9 frame while zooming the image independently. The TV doing the zooming can't do that.

[Anthology123]

I think in the early DVD days, most new films were anamorphic, while most older films were not. I have a 1999 Eraser, and its anamorphic.

[93curr]

I think in the early DVD days, most new films were anamorphic, while most older films were not. I have a 1999 Eraser, and its anamorphic.

DVDs were issued anamorphic as early as 1997. Disney/Miramax were really the biggest holdout. And Criterion, like a lot of other studios, basically just ported over their laserdisc transfers for the first couple of years.

Apart from Disney/Miramax, the only non-anamorphic transfers I can think of that WEREN'T reissues of earlier laserdisc releases are the 'Once More With Feeling' episode of 'Buffy' (season six) and the Paramount 'Godfather' box set. NO idea WHAT the deal is with either of those.