Really 1080P?

[SS316SRV]

I have noticed a lot of blu-rays being released in narrow aspect ratios (2.40:1; 2.35:1; 2.30:1 ect.) that won't fill a 16x9 picture. I am ok with that part, but if a blu-ray's specs say 1080P 2.40:1 Aspect Ratio - it is wrong. A 1080p set's 1920x1080 is a 1.77:1 aspect ratio. So a 2.40:1 would have a resolution of 1920x800 (my math is correct) making the movie actually 800p instead of the advertised 1080p.

I guess I feel like the true power of Blu-ray, the true 1080p is not being fully utilized by a movie with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio.

(I know movies like Apocalypto have 1.85:1 aspect ratios, but you only lose 58 lines of resolution)

[Blaumann]

afaik you are correct, the scope movies with 2.35:1 etc. aspect ratio are letterboxed in the 16:9 frame. Therefore the visible picture doesn´t have the full 1080 scan lines resolution, as the black bars are "taking away" some lines.

I´d have loved to see 2.35:1 to be encoded anamorhically, but sadly that didn´t happen.

[jermwhl]

OMG!!! Here we go again!


Please use the search function on this topic, it has been discused well over its capacity!

and FYI, aspect ratio and resolution are two different things!

[SS316SRV]

I just want to take advantage of all 1080 lines of resolution I paid for.

[nhaase]

Originally Posted by SS316SRV

I have noticed a lot of blu-rays being released in narrow aspect ratios (2.40:1; 2.35:1; 2.30:1 ect.) that won't fill a 16x9 picture. I am ok with that part, but if a blu-ray's specs say 1080P 2.40:1 Aspect Ratio - it is wrong. A 1080p set's 1920x1080 is a 1.77:1 aspect ratio. So a 2.40:1 would have a resolution of 1920x800 (my math is correct) making the movie actually 800p instead of the advertised 1080p.

I guess I feel like the true power of Blu-ray, the true 1080p is not being fully utilized by a movie with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio.

(I know movies like Apocalypto have 1.85:1 aspect ratios, but you only lose 58 lines of resolution)

Well, the black bars are still encoded, they are just black. The aspect ratio is the film-maker's choice. As I read on High-def Digest, Spielberg used 2.35:1 for Jaws to emphasize the vast emptiness of the ocean, while Jurassic Park was 1.85:1 to showcase the height of the dinosaurs.

The movie is just being shown with the film-maker's intent. Just because they could have 1080p doesn't mean want to have it.

[WickyWoo]

I´d have loved to see 2.35:1 to be encoded anamorhically, but sadly that didn´t happen.

It is stored anamorphically.

There are a handful of people out there who have common height setups. You would get piles of returns on such a product, and the few thousand people who have A- spent the money for it and B-actually like the movie is impossible to justify marketing to.

Please see innumerable black bar threads