DVD's Aspect Ratio Need Help?

Question

The past few years I have been enjoying watching DVD's on my LCD TV , I still have been confused over aspect ratio. I have read articles online explaining the differences, but still I have questions. I get uptight sometimes if I should on the wider 2.35 aspect ratio movies to press the zoom button so the movie fills the entire screen. I know it crops off the sides a little but i don't mind, I prefer using all my TV's viewing area. I think when I leave the black bars I loose resolution, especially on Blue Ray DVD's. On Blue Ray DVD's I am not able to use my TV's full HD resolution if I play the movie with black bars on the top and bottom when playing 2.35 DVD's, when I press the zoom button and have the film fit the entire TV DVD's look so much better, especially on Blue-Ray's.

Also why do director's choose the 2.35 vs the 1.85 aspect ratio out of curiosity? does 2.35 offer any visual enhancement? Better image quality? More peripheral vision for the viewer? I just never could understand the logic of some directors why they would choose the 2.35 or wider say 2.60 over the 1.85 format?

I also am confused between letterbox DVD's and Anamorphic. I know Anamorphic squeeze to fit the screen to give more resolution, however if I take a letterbox DVD and hit the zoom button so it fills the whole screen am I not doing the same thing? Do Anamaorphic DVD's offer better image quality then letterbox DVD's? I can't tell the difference in image quality between zooming in a letterbox DVD vs slipping in an anamorphic one? If I use the Zoom button don't they both use the same lines of resolution?

Answer 1

- They shoot it in the cinema widescreen because they provide a wider screen and thus they capture more picture from left to right. That's why 2:40:1 > 2:35: > 1:85:1.

- But for you if you have a 16:9 tv then you want the closest one to 16:9/1.77:1 which will be 1:85:1 > 2:35:1 > 2:40 because there is less cropping or black bars or stretch/squash.ect



- If you put a more wider (SAR) on a less wider (DAR) then you get letterbox, you can choose to crop or zoom or squash it from left to right and stretch it up to down (skinny looking).

- If you put a less wider (SAR) on a more wider (DAR) then you get pillarbox, you can choose to crop or zoom or stretch it left to right (fat looking).

= (Anamorphic widescreen means it squashed or stretched the SAR to fit the DAR) (Cropping is similar to pan and scan).



- NTSC Standard Definition for DVD: 720 x 480 resolution = 345,600 pixels at 3:2 (1:5:1) aspect ratio.

- PAL/SECAM Standard Definition for DVD: 720 x 576 resolution = 414,720 pixels at 5:4 (1:25:1) aspect ratio.



- US and UK Widescreen Cinema Standard, not sure at what resolution but the aspect ratio is 1:85:1 (320:173). (I think the resolutions I choose for 2:40:1 or 2:39:1 and 2:35:1 are correct).



- High Definition CinemaScope/Panavision Widescreen Cinema Standard: 1280 x 544 resolution = 696,320 pixels at 40:17 (2:35:1) aspect ratio.

- Full High Definition CinemaScope/Panavision Widescreen Cinema Standard: 1920 x 816 resolution = 1,566,720 pixels at 40:17 (2:35:1) aspect ratio.



- High Definition Current Widescreen Cinema Standard: 1280 x 534 resolution = 683,520 pixels at 12:5 (2:40:1) aspect ratio; OR 1280 x 536 resolution = 686,080 pixels at 160:67 (2:39:1) aspect ratio.

- Full High Definition Current Widescreen Cinema Standard: 1920 x 800 resolution = 1,536,000 pixels at 12:5 (2:40:1) aspect ratio; OR 1920 x 804 resolution = 1,543,680 pixels at 160:67 (2:39:1) aspect ratio.



- High Definition for Blu-ray: 1280 x 720 resolution = 921,600 pixels at 16:9 (1:77:1) aspect ratio.

- Full High Definition for Blu-ray: 1920 x 1080 resolution = 2,073,600 pixels at 16:9 (1:77:1) aspect ratio.



The dvd disk is probably not 16:9/1:77:1, look on the back of the dvd case or dvd menu options, there is certain aspect ratio releases..ect (1366x768 is 16:9).

- It may even been released in the cinema 1:85:1 or 2:35:1 or 2:39:1 or 2:40:1.

= You should have got the blu-ray version because the resolution would be good and the aspect ratio may have been 16:9 for your 16:9 hd-tv or the aspect ratio would be a cinema and what be much closer to 16:9 which means less messing with the video.



- If the movie/video (SAR) is the same aspect ratio as the tv/monitor (DAR) = You see it in full screen which means you keep the (OAR)

- If the movie/video (SAR) is not the same aspect ratio as the tv/monitor (DAR) = You get letterbox or pillarbox while it maintains it shape/(OAR), but you lose some resolutions because of the black bars. You have the option to zoom in, but that cuts off the left right of the picture or you can crop it which is the same thing, but without zooming in which is the better option.

- If the movie/video (SAR) is not the same aspect ratio as the tv/monitor (DAR) = You can stretch/squash it (change the PAR, change it from square to rectangle) in any direction it needs to fit the tv/monitor in fullscreen, you don't keep the (OAR) which can make the picture look weird.

Answer 2

It is normal to need to switch the aspect ratio / "zoom" on the TV

to different settings for different programs and films.



Use whatever setting best suits your TV and your preference.





Experiment!

Experiment!

Experiment!





Directors choose different aspect ratios for creative reasons.

A few films have scenes shot in different aspect ratios

(one is "Dr. Strangelove").





For a basic education on the subject, find someone who has

all of the first hundred or so issues of Widescreen Review magazine

and borrow them in groups of 5 or 10 so you can read about it.



There is so much to it that there really is no way

to construct a good short explanation.

Answer 3

the movie can be reencoded to any resolution in multiples of 16 vertically or horizontally .. if you get a screen to match the standard 16:9 most wont have bars on most retail disks .. zooming doesnt change a thing thats a software function of your player or tv and you'll lose picture .. ..