Quote:
Originally Posted by andytoh
If 2.39:1 has won the battle over 1.78:1 and is aesthetically more pleasing, then explain why high definition movies on HDTV are almost always in 1.78:1. I suppose because blu-ray producers are smarter than Rogers?
|
When I see this, I just had to register and respond.
Do you really think the brains behind the creation of HDTV never considered this? 2.39 movies have been around for ages. CinemaScope debut as far back as 1950s? And there are probably millions of movies shot in this very aspect ratio.
With nearly 50 years worth of movies, do you really think they completely missed this out? And don't forget, there are other aspect ratios to consider. The other two common ones are 1.85 and 1.66
2.39 and 1.85 are two very different shapes. And so what's the solution?
Please search for Kern H. Powers.
http://www.cinemasource.com/articles/aspect_ratios.pdf
Read this PDF and understand the history and reason behind the chosen 16:9 (1.78) aspect ratio for HDTVs.
Cropping for 4:3 and 16:9 TVs is really stupid. The whole idea, especially for High Definition Releases (both HD DVD and Blu-ray) is to relive the experience as close as possible to when we watch a title on the cinema. Why pay so much to remove part of the experience? It's almost like saying, "Hey! I have a friggin' 21" CRT TV and it only comes with two speakers. They should release an edition without the Centre, Surround Left, Surround Right and LFE channels."
Come on, it's not as if you don't have a choice in your hands. You can choose to zoom in to fill your HDTV. It's as good as Dolby Digital and DTS offering you the option of downmixing your multichannel soundtracks to 2.0 and play through your stereo speakers.