HD Format Discs: What's the point of "Widescreen" Editions? Seriously.

[AuburnAlumni]

If you are buying a Blu Ray player or have an HD DVD player...most likely you have an HD Television.

If you have an HD Television....there's about a 95% chance that your television is in a widescreen format design wise.

So.... that being said...what's the freaking point of coming out with Widescreen editions of these "Next gen" Movies and taking up half of my television with 2 black boxes on the top and bottom?

And yes...I'm serious. I bought an obnoxiously large TV so I can have the biggest picture possible. I can understand on standard DVDs and VHS..but I don't get why they do it on the HD DVDs and Blu Rays.

[Miles_Yuhas]

Re: HD Format Discs: What's the point of "Widescreen" Editions? Seriously.

They want to keep the original screen aspect of the film as seen in theaters. And the bars should be taking up half the screen.

[mgoblue]

Re: HD Format Discs: What's the point of "Widescreen" Editions? Seriously.

They want to keep the original screen aspect of the film as seen in theaters. And the bars should be taking up half the screen.

Exactly....Widescreen isn't just one aspect ratio

[Blzer]

Re: HD Format Discs: What's the point of "Widescreen" Editions? Seriously.

Most movies these days don't take the 1.78 : 1 ratio (the only ones I can specifically remember are the ones from the Saw series). Movies like The Bourne Ultimatum, for instance, use a 2.35 : 1 ratio I believe. Yes... that's wide, but I like it.

[mgoblue]

Re: HD Format Discs: What's the point of "Widescreen" Editions? Seriously.

Most movies these days don't take the 1.78 : 1 ratio (the only ones I can specifically remember are the ones from the Saw series). Movies like The Bourne Ultimatum, for instance, use a 2.35 : 1 ratio I believe. Yes... that's wide, but I like it.

Yeah, the 1.78:1 is TV widescreen level, also called 16:9

[triplej96]

Re: HD Format Discs: What's the point of "Widescreen" Editions? Seriously.

Most movies these days don't take the 1.78 : 1 ratio (the only ones I can specifically remember are the ones from the Saw series). Movies like The Bourne Ultimatum, for instance, use a 2.35 : 1 ratio I believe. Yes... that's wide, but I like it.

Yep, in fact most movies are 1.85 : 1 ratio which will pretty much take up your widescreen quite nicely. Others use 2.35: 1 and 2.40 : 1. Most tv shows will be 1.78 : 1(16x9). Like someone said before its about preserving the aspect ratio of the film in the movie theater! Which I love personally! One of the main reasons I got a HD tv. I can't actually believe that people buy full screen discs if they have an option for widescreen. It actually hurts my head.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: HD Format Discs: What's the point of "Widescreen" Editions? Seriously.

Yep, isn't it something like you lose 30% of the original filming picture when you watch a movie in fullscreen format?

[SidVish]

Re: HD Format Discs: What's the point of "Widescreen" Editions? Seriously.

Yep, isn't it something like you lose 30% of the original filming picture when you watch a movie in fullscreen format?

Yes it's around that but it varies. Here's a pretty good explanation of the difference between WS vs FS with pics:

http://www.moviesbystarlight.com/widescreen/widescreen.htm

Here's another explanation:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...ll_screen.html
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[mgoblue]

Re: HD Format Discs: What's the point of "Widescreen" Editions? Seriously.

Yep, in fact most movies are 1.85 : 1 ratio which will pretty much take up your widescreen quite nicely. Others use 2.35: 1 and 2.40 : 1. Most tv shows will be 1.78 : 1(16x9). Like someone said before its about preserving the aspect ratio of the film in the movie theater! Which I love personally! One of the main reasons I got a HD tv. I can't actually believe that people buy full screen discs if they have an option for widescreen. It actually hurts my head.

I remember when widescreen started releasing on dvd back in the day...at first I was like "WTF" but once you get used to it it's great. Just takes a little time to get used to the bars, but after a couple movies you don't even notice.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: HD Format Discs: What's the point of "Widescreen" Editions? Seriously.

I remember when widescreen started releasing on dvd back in the day...at first I was like "WTF" but once you get used to it it's great. Just takes a little time to get used to the bars, but after a couple movies you don't even notice.

Agreed. Takes a little adjustment, but definitely is the way to go. WS is how the film was intended to be watched.