No Black Bars in Theaters...

[Marcusarilius]

With all the confusion and discussion about the various aspect ratios in relation to Black Bars incorporated into widescreen home movies, how is it still possible that j6p and even more "informed" individuals just don't seem to get it?

I have noticed in theaters, that when the aspect ratio is wider, they will simply open the curtains wider as the lights begin to dim. The vertical height appears to be the same, but the sides are "opened" up with drawn back curtains to acomodate the wider aspect ratio.

Could it be as simple as putting curtains on HD sets for j6p?

[Zaphod]

Originally Posted by Marcusarilius

I have noticed in theaters, that when the aspect ratio is wider, they will simply open the curtains wider as the lights begin to dim. The vertical height appears to be the same, but the sides are "opened" up with drawn back curtains to acomodate the wider aspect ratio.

Ahhhhh... the old "scope" versus "flat".

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by Marcusarilius

With all the confusion and discussion about the various aspect ratios in relation to Black Bars incorporated into widescreen home movies, how is it still possible that j6p and even more "informed" individuals just don't seem to get it?

I have noticed in theaters, that when the aspect ratio is wider, they will simply open the curtains wider as the lights begin to dim. The vertical height appears to be the same, but the sides are "opened" up with drawn back curtains to acomodate the wider aspect ratio.

Could it be as simple as putting curtains on HD sets for j6p?

Funniest thing is to keep repeating oneself in a conversation where someone is *****ing to you about black bars on widescreen TVs and they just never listen. Re-stating the exact same thing, in the exact same way, over and over again as though it was the first time you said it in the conversation and watching their reactions is quite entertaining.

[Maxell]

If only there was a tv made for J6P that has a "slide in" exterior feature to cover those "black bars" with the same exterior material the tv is made of.

[Blaumann]

Originally Posted by Marcusarilius

With all the confusion and discussion about the various aspect ratios in relation to Black Bars incorporated into widescreen home movies, how is it still possible that j6p and even more "informed" individuals just don't seem to get it?

I have noticed in theaters, that when the aspect ratio is wider, they will simply open the curtains wider as the lights begin to dim. The vertical height appears to be the same, but the sides are "opened" up with drawn back curtains to acomodate the wider aspect ratio.

Could it be as simple as putting curtains on HD sets for j6p?

Yes please. 2.4:1 a/r hdtvs, with curtains. Prepare for all the complaints about 1.85:1 not filling up the "pixel real estate they have paid for". And the curtains having the wrong colors...

[Man-Is-Obsolete]

I have had this discussion when visting my parents after they got a blu ray player. They were dumbfounded that this next-gen-high-definition format wouldn't fill the whole screen. My brother even said well then what's the point in getting it? He would just assume stick with DVD as it fills the same amount of screen.

I tried to explain Aspect Ratios and director's choice, but they didn't understand that director's and directors of photography don't shoot movies and say "no we can't do that because it won't fit on a TV".

PS...if you have a 50" Tv does it really matter much if the top and bottom are blacked out a bit?

[Marquoz]

I got so used to widescreen DVDs and television shows that I don't even notice the black lines anymore! I also watch TV on a black TV in the dark, so what really shows up is the movie itself, and the black lines blend into the frame of the TV.

[wallendo]

Get a projector. When video is projected in a dark room with a screen against a dark wall, the "black bars" are barely noticable.

[havoc752]

[TheRealBob]

A surprisingly large number of people just don't understand this, period.

A friend's wife was like this. He tried explaining it to her many, many times, and she'd patiently listen then ask why they couldn't make it so it filled up the whole TV and showed the whole picture. He wanted to tear his hair out.

I hate to sound like an elitist, but quite a few people have absolutely no understanding of geometry at all, so talk of aspect ratios, etc., is like speaking a foreign language to them and will get you nowhere.

Even the sites showing how the sides would have to be chopped off doesn't get through to some people. They seem to think that there's some way it could be done.

As for curtains, I haven't been in a theater that had them for years. In fact, our local theater seems to have 1.85:1 screens and they are in fact letterboxed for 2:35:1 movies. When the screen is gigantic and in a pitch-black room, people don't notice the letterboxing.

[TIki_Guy]

The full screen / widescreen DVD thing always bothered me.

I tried to buy widescreen for movies I concider collectable. Like Star Wars, Inidana Jones, Harry Potter etc.

I bought most of my movies in 2003 & 2004 when I was working 3rd shift and watching them on either a 15" computer screen or a 7" portable DVD player.

On small screens full screen is better. Especially when multiple people are going to watch them. The 7" was 16:9 but 2.4:1 is really too small on it.

So things I bought intending to see once or twice at work were better is full screen.

I wonder how long it will be before they start offering two versions of BDs where full screen is 16:9 insted of 4:3? Or with 100gb disks give us both on the same disk.

[The_Snowman]

Originally Posted by Petra_Kalbrain

Funniest thing is to keep repeating oneself in a conversation where someone is *****ing to you about black bars on widescreen TVs and they just never listen. Re-stating the exact same thing, in the exact same way, over and over again as though it was the first time you said it in the conversation and watching their reactions is quite entertaining.

"Insanity is when you keep doing the same things expecting different results"

[TheRealBob]

Originally Posted by TIki_Guy

On small screens full screen is better. Especially when multiple people are going to watch them. The 7" was 16:9 but 2.4:1 is really too small on it.

I think this illustrates that there are two types of full-screen advocates:

1. The rational ones that understand the tradeoffs and still, for legitimate reasons, prefer full screen (at least in some situations).

2. The irrational ones that simply don't understand why there are black bars and consider it some kind of defect that the whole screen is not being used. These people don't understand why there are black bars; they just know they don't like them and don't want them.

Originally Posted by The_Snowman

"Insanity is when you keep doing the same things expecting different results"

I understand Petra_Kalbrain's point though. Someone says they don't like black bars, so you explain to them that the theater screen is a different aspect ratio and so letterboxing is used so you don't have to cut off the edges, in great detail, and they just repeat that they don't like black bars. That tends to make people wonder if they listened and understood, so they end up repeating themselves.

If they said (as my dad said to me), yes, I understand that's why they're doing it, but I think it makes the image too small on my television, and with most full-screen movies I usually don't notice that I'm not seeing the full image most of the time anyway, then that would tend to end the conversation.

Originally Posted by Man-Is-Obsolete

I have had this discussion when visting my parents after they got a blu ray player. They were dumbfounded that this next-gen-high-definition format wouldn't fill the whole screen. My brother even said well then what's the point in getting it? He would just as soon stick with DVD as it fills the same amount of screen.

I assume by filling the same amount of screen we're comparing DVD playback on HDTV vs. BD playback on HDTV.

It's pretty horrifying that someone would think a benefit of BD would be getting rid of black bars. This again points to what I said above, that someone people just intuitively think of it as something wrong, a flaw, and they want to get rid of it, period.

[Smackos]

We're now hitting a point that the consumer has had it's mind set on what a "decent picture" is.. the idea to the average joe that the director actually makes a choice to "have black bars".. ie choosing a wider angle film stock to fit what he intends to suit his film production or that he wants to have a "grainy" feel to the film to set a mood does'nt sit well with them.. It's counter to what they want or expect. If you gave 90% of people a choice, they'd have 16:9 for everything and no grain in any films.. sad fact..but true..

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Marcusarilius

Could it be as simple as putting curtains on HD sets for j6p?

Ha, ha - that gave me a laugh.

[cajmoyper]

This is ridiculous. I think the wider the better anyways. In fact I prefer black bars and if they made a tv with an aspect ratio of 2.4:1, I'd want movies to be even wider so there would be black bars still.

[dialog_gvf]

I wonder about that a decade ago. A fancy set could have automatic masks.

But, it's a bit hard to do given the obsession with thinness nowdays.

Gary

[WickyWoo]

I've found the most effective explanation was to use a dollar bill for 4:3 TVs

"This is your movie screen in the theater"

"So how do you make that rectangular peg fit the square hole?"

"You can letterbox....or...."

*fold in half*

"Chop it in half"

[Beta Man]

If TVs came with Curtains, my wife would certainly be more exciting by the thought of buying a new one!

[Sylin]

There are no "black bars" in a theater. The projector shows just the film, with the curtains adjusting for proper aspect ratio.

As for people who want the picture to fill the whole screen, just tell them to hit the zoom button.

The way I explained this phenomenon to my mother is that when she goes to the theater, the movie doesn't fill up the entire wall--the curtains move to adjust to the image cast on it by the projector. The same thing happens on a TV--just like the wall @ the theater, it has finite space, and when you play a movie on your TV, it adjusts so you can see the full image.

We're talking about a woman who doesn't know how to use Google Maps, but even she was able to grasp this concept. If you explain it to someone and they still don't get it, they're just being mentally lazy.