Widescreen vs. Fullscreen
- Thread starter parker
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Widescreen, if you are watching movies that were originally made for the movie theartre's.
Peace.
Peace.
BNF
Ex-SuperMod
Widescreen.... but in complete honesty, with the average size of home TVs, even home cinemas (yes, even the tacky huge ones in the USA) , it makes little difference to me.
If I say Cinerama, CinemaScope, Vista Vision and Todd-AO, does that mean anything to anyone anymore?
Widescreen is cinema and cinema is in a theatre with a huge screen, the kind they really don't install anymore and even if they do, nothing is shot on 70mm anymore anyway. My favorite threatre as a kid was a 70mm theatre, that was "chopped in two" c1990. It was the last of the real kind of cinemas (that I could get to).
Film is dead for pro and hobby photographers, film has long been killed by video for home movies, and sadly, film also has it's writing on the wall due mostly to distribution issues. (Theatres already are screening fully digital copies of films.) If the format, whatever we are talking about, is better in more ways that what it is replacing, then I am all for it. So, I'm not a Luddite.
I can't explain the experience and I don't want to sound like a (my) grandfather (In my day...), but if you ever saw Lawrence of Arabia, The Great Escape, The Abyss, Close Encounters or the Star Wars trilogy on 70mm originals, then you will know exactly what I mean. A crowded theatre, a good print, good sound and a huge screen with better resolution and superior color that even HDTV - compared to even the best home units today..... it's like comparing an exquisite meal in exquisite surrounds with exceptional company to eating a can of cold, stale meatloaf in a smoky, beersoked bar.
Sadly, imo, the world has downsized for good something that need to be kept big - and we are lesser for it.
:2 cents:
If I say Cinerama, CinemaScope, Vista Vision and Todd-AO, does that mean anything to anyone anymore?
Widescreen is cinema and cinema is in a theatre with a huge screen, the kind they really don't install anymore and even if they do, nothing is shot on 70mm anymore anyway. My favorite threatre as a kid was a 70mm theatre, that was "chopped in two" c1990. It was the last of the real kind of cinemas (that I could get to).
Film is dead for pro and hobby photographers, film has long been killed by video for home movies, and sadly, film also has it's writing on the wall due mostly to distribution issues. (Theatres already are screening fully digital copies of films.) If the format, whatever we are talking about, is better in more ways that what it is replacing, then I am all for it. So, I'm not a Luddite.
I can't explain the experience and I don't want to sound like a (my) grandfather (In my day...), but if you ever saw Lawrence of Arabia, The Great Escape, The Abyss, Close Encounters or the Star Wars trilogy on 70mm originals, then you will know exactly what I mean. A crowded theatre, a good print, good sound and a huge screen with better resolution and superior color that even HDTV - compared to even the best home units today..... it's like comparing an exquisite meal in exquisite surrounds with exceptional company to eating a can of cold, stale meatloaf in a smoky, beersoked bar.
Sadly, imo, the world has downsized for good something that need to be kept big - and we are lesser for it.
:2 cents:
I used to despise widescreen, because of the "black bars". Then I just started forcing myself to watch movies in widescreen and I soon realized that I didn't pay attention to the bars. Now I prefer widescreen, but I can watch a fullscreen movie if need be.
Been Widescreen for almost 2 years now ... 1080i/720p "on-the-cheap"
I went widescreen over 2 years ago, and all three (3) TVs in my house are now widescreen. But instead of wasting money on large plasmas, I bought 30-32" CRT and LCD TVs when they were on-sale.
Two (2) are stationary, so a $350 refurbished 30" widescreen CRT was just fine. In addition to doing 1080i (540p) for normal HDTV watching (even if upcoverted from 720p, I can't tell much any difference when it comes to shows since only a few are true 720p and most are 1080i), it handles older/480i VHS better than LCD anyway.
The other one (1) I bought in the last year was a 32" LCD for under $500 after rebate, and it's nice and portable wherever I need it. I bought it for my Xbox 360 which looks awesome at 720p on. Definitely 720p if you are gaming or other things than just watching movies.
Heck, even true 1080p LCDs are coming down to $1,000 now. Wait until next fall and you'll be able to get a killer 50" or so DLP projection with true 1080p, maybe even a lighter, 40-something-inch LCD for that price as well, CableCard and other options for $1,000 on-sale. The TiVO Series3 will probably be sub-$500 by then as well.
I went widescreen over 2 years ago, and all three (3) TVs in my house are now widescreen. But instead of wasting money on large plasmas, I bought 30-32" CRT and LCD TVs when they were on-sale.
Two (2) are stationary, so a $350 refurbished 30" widescreen CRT was just fine. In addition to doing 1080i (540p) for normal HDTV watching (even if upcoverted from 720p, I can't tell much any difference when it comes to shows since only a few are true 720p and most are 1080i), it handles older/480i VHS better than LCD anyway.
The other one (1) I bought in the last year was a 32" LCD for under $500 after rebate, and it's nice and portable wherever I need it. I bought it for my Xbox 360 which looks awesome at 720p on. Definitely 720p if you are gaming or other things than just watching movies.
Heck, even true 1080p LCDs are coming down to $1,000 now. Wait until next fall and you'll be able to get a killer 50" or so DLP projection with true 1080p, maybe even a lighter, 40-something-inch LCD for that price as well, CableCard and other options for $1,000 on-sale. The TiVO Series3 will probably be sub-$500 by then as well.
Here is an updated link comparing widescreen to fullscreen:
http://www.starwars.com/episode-ii/release/video/f20020925/index.html
and here is another:
http://www.widescreen.org/examples/starwars/index.shtml
there is just NO contest.
Edit: here is one for the harry potter fans:
http://plum.cream.org/HP/poa.htm
http://www.starwars.com/episode-ii/release/video/f20020925/index.html
and here is another:
http://www.widescreen.org/examples/starwars/index.shtml
there is just NO contest.
Edit: here is one for the harry potter fans:
http://plum.cream.org/HP/poa.htm
Always widescreen. I saw on an episode of Ebert of Roeper, actually Siskel and Ebert at the time when widescreen movies were starting to be issued on laser discs that you lose up to 30% of the viewing image when you watch a full-screen movie. They were doing side by side comparisions on screen of wide and full-screen versions of the same movie and it was very dramatic. You don't realize what you are missing unless you see the two versions side by side. I haven't purchased a full-screen movie since.
Actually amstrad said it all with his post, I hadn't read his before I posted mine. And 40%, wow, that's even worse than I thought. Who could buy a full-screen movie after seeing that.
Actually amstrad said it all with his post, I hadn't read his before I posted mine. And 40%, wow, that's even worse than I thought. Who could buy a full-screen movie after seeing that.
Fullscreen has such a misleading name. They cut off the sides of the screen to bring the ratio of width to height, 4:3. "Formatted to fit my screen"? I'm afraid not buddy! Then they offer pan and scan as though that's some sort of bonus.
Widescreen is 16:9, if the original format is wider still, that's okay with me, 2.35:1, (7:3), whatever it is, is the best way to watch it.
I took a chance on a film I saw for sale of a movie I liked. It was cut down to a 4:3 format, but to get it back to 16:9, they cut off the top and bottom, so all 4 sides were cut, but they called it "widescreen". I threw it in the garbage.
Widescreen is 16:9, if the original format is wider still, that's okay with me, 2.35:1, (7:3), whatever it is, is the best way to watch it.
I took a chance on a film I saw for sale of a movie I liked. It was cut down to a 4:3 format, but to get it back to 16:9, they cut off the top and bottom, so all 4 sides were cut, but they called it "widescreen". I threw it in the garbage.
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Since I've got a widescreen telly there isn't a debate here but I used to go for widescreen when we had a regular one too.
Widescreen in HD!
True HD (720p/1080i/p) HD-DVD/Blue-Ray? Or just basic 480p DVD?
I've always wanted to see the difference with the new HD-DVD/Blu-Ray discs. I think Microsoft is smart by making HD-DVD a $200 add-on option to the XBox 360.
Do you have those new 720p/1080i/p HD-DVD/Blu-Ray discs? Or are you just talking basic 480p DVD (over standard 480i)?
I've always wanted to see the difference with the new HD-DVD/Blu-Ray discs. I think Microsoft is smart by making HD-DVD a $200 add-on option to the XBox 360.
Re: True HD (720p/1080i/p) HD-DVD/Blue-Ray? Or just basic 480p DVD?
I have a 26" Sharp Aquos HD LCD in my bedroom, It has 1080i/p depending on the signal, 1080i is from my HD cable box. I think 1080p is true HD in progressive scan mode from a HDDVD or Blueray. It only shows 480p in progressive scan standard DVD's. Kinda of confusing here is a couple links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080i
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080p
Yes the Xbox will offer HDDVD and the PS3 Blu-Ray options. There will be another Beta vs VHS type war first to see what format holds. I am waiting to buy one until the dust settles.
I have a 26" Sharp Aquos HD LCD in my bedroom, It has 1080i/p depending on the signal, 1080i is from my HD cable box. I think 1080p is true HD in progressive scan mode from a HDDVD or Blueray. It only shows 480p in progressive scan standard DVD's. Kinda of confusing here is a couple links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080i
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080p
Yes the Xbox will offer HDDVD and the PS3 Blu-Ray options. There will be another Beta vs VHS type war first to see what format holds. I am waiting to buy one until the dust settles.
dave_rhino
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movies - wide screen
tv - full screen
tv - full screen
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