Lefty
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I am going to purchase a plasma widescreen tv in the next year and I was wondering if I should start buying DVD's that are widescreen or does it matter?
Should I buy DVD's that are viewed widescreen or fullscreen?
- Thread starter Lefty
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Brandon_Webb
Registered
Don't all of them have the option of which one or specifically wide screen only?
Chaplin
Better off silent
I can't stress ENOUGH...
WIDESCREEN!!
(or Original Aspect Ratio--which is full screen for television and movies older than the mid-50s)
Anamorphic Widescreen is the preference, as it is a true digital picture that is sized to fit on the plasma. If you are hooking up your DVD player as progressive, there is no option to view full screen, instead it will make your full screen stuff look widescreen, which means stretching. That's something you're going to have to deal with (I'm dealing with it now with my big screen tv), so the best pictures you're going to get are anamorphic widescreen.
WIDESCREEN!!
(or Original Aspect Ratio--which is full screen for television and movies older than the mid-50s)
Anamorphic Widescreen is the preference, as it is a true digital picture that is sized to fit on the plasma. If you are hooking up your DVD player as progressive, there is no option to view full screen, instead it will make your full screen stuff look widescreen, which means stretching. That's something you're going to have to deal with (I'm dealing with it now with my big screen tv), so the best pictures you're going to get are anamorphic widescreen.
Chaplin
Better off silent
Brandon_Webb said:
Not all, but most are widescreen nowadays.
Widescreen all the way.
Mike
Mike
Stout
Hold onto the ball, Murray!
If you have a widescreen tv (as you said you're getting), or if you're getting one in the forseeable future, widescreen is the way to go.
If not, I will continue to contend you should buy full screen editions, especially if you have a smaller tv, or else you'll just waste screen space and turn your 27 inch tv into a 24 inch tv.
If not, I will continue to contend you should buy full screen editions, especially if you have a smaller tv, or else you'll just waste screen space and turn your 27 inch tv into a 24 inch tv.
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Lefty
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Thanks. Widescreen it will be. 
Chaplin
Better off silent
Stout said:
Oh. My. God.
For someone who is a movie guy, I can't believe you'd actually advocate buying full screen stuff. Unbelievable!
Full screen is basically butchering movies.
arthurracoon
The Cardinal Smiles
Chaplin said:
Exactly!
Stout
Hold onto the ball, Murray!
Chaplin said:
If I had a 27 inch, or a 19 inch, TV, and it wasn't widescreen, it would basically be a waste of time to buy widescreen movies. Unless I wanted to sit within 3 feet of the TV. Why? You know as well as I do why...because you lose almost half the damn picture. I experienced this the other day over at a friend's house. She had a TV, not sure of the size, but not very large, that we were about 12 feet from...normally, the perfect distance-the perfect TV for her living room. She continually had to ask me what was happening, because-tada-that widescreen format made it impossible to see what was going on, on occasion.
As I said, widescreen is THE way to go under most circumstances---if you have a widescreen TV, if you're thinking of getting one in the forseeable future, and I'll go you one better...if you have a really big TV that isn't necessarily widescreen. Because you get a better picture, yes.
Still, if the picture is going to become unrecognizable, it doesn't matter how 'pretty' or 'all-inclusive' the picture is-it's still too small to recognize. You cannot refute this. It's like trying to watch football on a 5 inch TV-hell.
100%CardsFan
100% embarrassed
Stout said:
I am going to have to agree with stout on this one.
arthurracoon
The Cardinal Smiles
How do they turn widescreen into fullscreen?
Do they cut the sides off or stretch the picture or both?
Do they cut the sides off or stretch the picture or both?
arthurracoon said:
They either chop the sides off or they attempt to compensate by "pan and scan" where they pan the image back and forth across the shot. What's really annoying is on fullscreen when someone is speaking and they've been "cut out" of the frame now because of the conversion - i hate that.
Widescreen all the way - I never buy full screen unless there is no option (ie. made for TV movies, TV shows, Old Disney movies like Alice in Wonderland, etc). When at all possible - buy widescreen. Even if you don't have the tv for it now - you may in the future and then you're stuck with re-buying all those movies - just doesn't make much sense to me.
Shawn
Stout
Hold onto the ball, Murray!
FischerKing said:
In that case, don't even bother buying the movie. Why would you even say you'd buy a movie you can barely watch just because you MIGHT have a different TV sometime in the future? That makes no sense whatsoever. Little TV=full screen. It just makes sense.
Of course, if you have a little TV, it's likely because you can't afford a bigger TV, and you shouldn't be wasting money on DVDs anyway
Evil Ash
Henchman Supreme
The answer depends on how annoyed you are by the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. It used to be a thing that really annoyed me but I have since gotten used to it and it doesn't bother me one way or the other.
So if it doesn't bother you, I'd go with widescreen
So if it doesn't bother you, I'd go with widescreen
Stout said:Of course, if you have a little TV, it's likely because you can't afford a bigger TV, and you shouldn't be wasting money on DVDs anyway
That's so my logic it's terrifying!
Shawn
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Lefty
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Stout said:In that case, don't even bother buying the movie. Why would you even say you'd buy a movie you can barely watch just because you MIGHT have a different TV sometime in the future? That makes no sense whatsoever. Little TV=full screen. It just makes sense.
Of course, if you have a little TV, it's likely because you can't afford a bigger TV, and you shouldn't be wasting money on DVDs anyway
I have a 32" inch TV right now and I am interested in going plasma. By the way, don't worry, I can afford it.
Chaplin
Better off silent
arthurracoon said:
Cut the sides off. It's very little stretching--widescreen is basically what you see in theaters. Period.
Technically, ANY video/DVD cuts something off the top, there's even stuff cut off in the theater as well--most of it is control track (where the audio is encoded), so in essence, technically part of the top IS cut off, but it's nothing you'd either notice or care about.
Chaplin
Better off silent
Zona90 said:I have a 32" inch TV right now and I am interested in going plasma. By the way, don't worry, I can afford it.
I had a 19" before DVDs, and had a laserdisc player (still do), and consistently watched Widescreen movies on it. After awhile, you get used to it and don't notice the "black bars".
And if someone has a 19" television and your couch is far enough away that you can't see what's happening on a widescreen movie, then they need to rethink your living room setup.
I don't care what size television someone has, I'll never support buying full screen, even if just by ethical reasons.
Stout
Hold onto the ball, Murray!
Chaplin said:I had a 19" before DVDs, and had a laserdisc player (still do), and consistently watched Widescreen movies on it. After awhile, you get used to it and don't notice the "black bars".
And if someone has a 19" television and your couch is far enough away that you can't see what's happening on a widescreen movie, then they need to rethink your living room setup.
I don't care what size television someone has, I'll never support buying full screen, even if just by ethical reasons.
That's fine...for you. To try and ram that opinion down everyone else's throats as not making any sense...well...doesn't make any sense
Chaz
observationist
Stout said:That's fine...for you. To try and ram that opinion down everyone else's throats as not making any sense...well...doesn't make any sense
Stout, you do understand that fullscreen means they cut the sides off the original picture don't you? Unless the film was shot in super32 (like Air Force One) you get less of the picture with fullscreen. You said before the widescreen cuts out the picture and that is not the case. A widescreen movie may be smaller on your screen because of the black bars but there is more of the picture present with a widescreen format. I always prefer OAR (original aspect ratio) in any movie. The only fullscreen(1.33:1 aspect ratio) I would buy is those that were made and intended to be that way.
With 95% of fullscreen movies you are not getting the entire movie. If you have a widescreen(16x9) TV you will have the double insult of having a movie with a third of the picture cut off stretched to fit the screen.
I know there is no convincing some people even once they understand the facts, but for me it is widescreen or nothing. Ultimately if someone (that knows what the difference is) prefers the fullscreen version good for them, but I don't understand those people. Even if those people have a 27" or smaller TV.
Chaz
observationist
Support Anamorphic Widescreen
http://www.dvdweb.co.uk/information/anamorphic.htm
http://gregl.net/videophile/anamorphic.htm
http://www.dvdweb.co.uk/information/anamorphic.htm
http://gregl.net/videophile/anamorphic.htm
Stout
Hold onto the ball, Murray!
SirChaz said:Stout, you do understand that fullscreen means they cut the sides off the original picture don't you? Unless the film was shot in super32 (like Air Force One) you get less of the picture with fullscreen. You said before the widescreen cuts out the picture and that is not the case. A widescreen movie may be smaller on your screen because of the black bars but there is more of the picture present with a widescreen format. I always prefer OAR (original aspect ratio) in any movie. The only fullscreen(1.33:1 aspect ratio) I would buy is those that were made and intended to be that way.
With 95% of fullscreen movies you are not getting the entire movie. If you have a widescreen(16x9) TV you will have the double insult of having a movie with a third of the picture cut off stretched to fit the screen.
I know there is no convincing some people even once they understand the facts, but for me it is widescreen or nothing. Ultimately if someone (that knows what the difference is) prefers the fullscreen version good for them, but I don't understand those people. Even if those people have a 27" or smaller TV.
Read the rest of the thread, man. I UNDERSTAND the facts. I PREFER widescreen. I have a nice big screen, widescreen TV, and I prefer watching that nice widescreen format. Stop trying to talk down or make it seem like I'm being overly obstinate. And stop trying to make it sound like you're right and anyone that doesn't agree with you must be stupid and wrong.
So, you don't understand that some people would rather lose the sides of the picture and actually be able to follow the movie and *gasp* see the picture on their small TV (I'm in college-I know lots of people with small TVs in their living rooms), rather than have inches of dead space in the picture, and either not be able to watch something or have to hunch within a few feet of the TV? If you cannot understand that, then I feel very sorry for your mental capacity, buddy.
Some people (not myself) can't have a nice TV that widescreen works well with. Just because YOU can't understand that, doesn't mean they're wrong.
