Comedy Central HD and Vertical Black Bars

[Riff Magnum]

Let me preface this by saying: I know why movies have black bars. Most of my favorite movies have horizontal black bars. Lots of my favorite oldies like Hitchcock, Pinocchio and stuff like that have vertical black bars. I'm fine with that. But why do some of the shows on comedy central like Jon Stewart, Colbert Report and Reno 911 continue to have the vertical black bars on the sides while shows like South Park are fullscreen. I just don't get the reasoning. It can't be "artistic intent" since shows like that will always look better in fullscreen or even widescreen aspect ratios, but horizontal black bars on modern shows/movies seems completely useless and outdated.

[bassbone57]

Shows that aren't recorded in HD are still shown in 4x3 format, same as it is with every other channel out there. Comedy Central is no different.

-K

[OARmaster]

Originally Posted by Riff Magnum

Let me preface this by saying: I know why movies have black bars. Most of my favorite movies have horizontal black bars. Lots of my favorite oldies like Hitchcock, Pinocchio and stuff like that have vertical black bars. I'm fine with that. But why do some of the shows on comedy central like Jon Stewart, Colbert Report and Reno 911 continue to have the vertical black bars on the sides while shows like South Park are fullscreen. I just don't get the reasoning. It can't be "artistic intent" since shows like that will always look better in fullscreen or even widescreen aspect ratios, but horizontal black bars on modern shows/movies seems completely useless and outdated.

It's only a matter of how those shows are being filmed. Many aspects of the production must be upgraded before a show can be shot in HD.

[Riff Magnum]

So is that why these shows don't look nearly as high def as other HD channels like ESPN, etc? I guess since they were the last major cable network to go HD their still a little behind the pace.

[OARmaster]

Originally Posted by Riff Magnum

So is that why these shows don't look nearly as high def as other HD channels like ESPN, etc? I guess since they were the last major cable network to go HD their still a little behind the pace.

It depends on the filming equipment being used, the ability of those using said equipment, and the quality of your provider. If you have cable...Comedy Central might be under more compression that ESPN.

[Riff Magnum]

i have Dish, but comedy central programming looks the worst of all my channels, except for the South Park episodes.

[iori]

I just hate when hd channels show widescreen movies in 4x3 format, at least show it widescreen even if its not hd.

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by bassbone57

Shows that aren't recorded in HD are still shown in 4x3 format, same as it is with every other channel out there. Comedy Central is no different.

-K

Exactly. That's all that needed to be said. If it's in 4:3, it's not HD. Why do others have to confuse the issue talking about equipment and other things that have nothing to do with the root question?

[dadkins]

Wait until you see the *Almost HD* that some channels use.
Instead if the big black bars on the sides from 4:3, there are smaller black bars.
1650 maybe?

Animal planet does this occasionally.

[SlmShdy1]

What you're referring to is pillar boxing. The original aspect ratio is 4:3 and that's how it is broadcasted. That 4:3 aspect ratio is basically a box. When you watch that broadcast on a widescreen TV, it's like putting a box inside a rectangle. It won't fill up the whole screen. Some channels tend to stretch that box so it will fill the screen, stretching the image and distorting it.

Now, when you say shows like South Park are full screen, they're not full screen. They are widescreen. Full screen is a term used for older 4:3 CRT TV's. A full screen image is 4:3, not 16:9. The reason shows like South Park fill your widescreen TV is because they are in a widescreen aspect ratio.

Originally Posted by dadkins

Wait until you see the *Almost HD* that some channels use.
Instead if the big black bars on the sides from 4:3, there are smaller black bars.
1650 maybe?

Animal planet does this occasionally.

I think this happens because they zoom in on the picture.

[OARmaster]

Originally Posted by Ricshoe

Exactly. That's all that needed to be said. If it's in 4:3, it's not HD. Why do others have to confuse the issue talking about equipment and other things that have nothing to do with the root question?

...except you are wrong. Something can be 4:3 and still be HD. Wizard of Oz on TNT for example.

[SlmShdy1]

I thought Wizard of Oz was in an Academy Widescreen aspect ratio (1.66:1).

[shuah]

Originally Posted by Riff Magnum

So is that why these shows don't look nearly as high def as other HD channels like ESPN, etc? I guess since they were the last major cable network to go HD their still a little behind the pace.

Yeah. The upside of HD technology is that it makes HD broadcasts look beautiful. The downside is that it makes all the flaws in standard broadcasts look really awful. When I lived in New York, my sister and her roommates would DVR all the episodes of Law and Order SVU. The episodes from NBC HD looked great, but the reruns they air on USA looked like a bootlegged DVD. There were compression glyphs all over the picture. Especially noticeable in night shots. I guess the lower definition of regular TV's, in conjunction with the little, nearly invisible grid of the screen hide those glyphs. But HD TV makes normal broadcasts look way worse (unless you're using an upscaler, which the NYC roommates didn't have)

[Deciazulado]

Originally Posted by SlmShdy1

I thought Wizard of Oz was in an Academy Widescreen aspect ratio (1.66:1).

Academy ratio of 1.37

[SlmShdy1]

Oh okay, so almost 1.33:1.

[shuah]

Originally Posted by JHM

I just hate when hd channels show widescreen movies in 4x3 format, at least show it widescreen even if its not hd.

They might be showing non HD programming in 4x3 format, in the hopes that you program your settings to show that program with the black bars on the sides of your screen, so the picture is smaller and the lower quality of the resolution is, thusly, less noticeable.

That's the only technical reason I could think of that they'd do that. It's probably what I would do, if I were a programmer that was worried about my audience filling their HD screen with a low res picture.

[Deciazulado]

Originally Posted by SlmShdy1

Oh okay, so almost 1.33:1.

1.33 is the ratio of Silent films and analog TV.
Sound movies ended using a different aperture shape (1.37) which was agreed on by the Academy and that's why they called it Academy Ratio.

[toef]

I don't know how much of this is true, and I don't know the terms for much of it, so believe any or none of it, but...

I read somewhere, maybe here, that HD programming can be affected on syndicated TV shows, depending on your local channels. In my area, even though I don't watch them, Ellen and Oprah are not on at the normal times that they're on in most other areas, and when the local affiliates decide to air them at their later times, they use the SD/4:3 version, even though both shows have been available in HD/16:9 for a year now.

[Trogdor2010]

Originally Posted by shuah

Because of the depression, a lot of studios tried scaling back. One of the best ways to save money was to cut back on celluloid costs, so they stopped using 70mm film. Since The Wizard of Oz came out in 1939, it was one of the movies that fell victim to the cutback, until studios started using 70mm film more frequently, again, due to the success of Cinemascope movies, like Ben Hur. It took until that long after the depression because Anamorphascope (what became Cinemascope) was a fairly new trend, by the time the depression hit. So, nobody really missed it. It wasn't until televisions started to make their way into every home, that Hollywood started using a widescreen format again, to answer to the competition television turned out to be. In the end Cinemascope, in combination with more and more movies using technicolor, saved theaters from being obsoleted by the television, as a form of entertainment. The broad scope and the vivid colors were something television couldn't deliver. Now, it's become standard, of course. But, at the time, there were even Cinemascope theaters that had curved screens, to wrap the anamorphic picture around the front of the theater. 2001 was intended, by Stanley Kubrick, to be presented that way.
But, really, I'd like to see some more theatrical (not straight to video) movies be presented in the boxy, standard format. I think it would be an intimate change for some smaller movies. I think that the right director, with the right movie could pull that off, if it was in their vision for the film. It would be sweet, IMO, to see certain kinds of movies with the curtains drawn in, a little, on the sides of the screen. Especially a bleak movie, like Wendy and Lucy. I think it would enhance the mood of the movie to draw the sides in and make the audience feel a little claustrophobic.

Gus Van Sant wanted to shoot his movie Paranoid Park in 1.33:1 theatrically, but the producers wanted the movie to be more profitable and easier to be shown in the theater, so he was forced to use the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. He could of gotten away 15 years ago though. Producers didn't realize it was an independent movie he made, and I think it didn't do so well at the theater (but it was on limited release anyway). I really want to see Wendy and Lucy (I live in Oregon and born in Portland, not telling you where I live though) and wonder when it will come on Blu Ray?

[SlmShdy1]

Originally Posted by Deciazulado

1.33 is the ratio of Silent films and analog TV.
Sound movies ended using a different aperture shape (1.37) which was agreed on by the Academy and that's why they called it Academy Ratio.

For some reason I had 1.66 in my head. I've been reading too much about IMAX. But then again, people can't make up their minds if IMAX is 1.66 or 1.44.