OAR on the box, but actual view different?

[lancerev08]

So I'm a little confused at all the different aspect ratios.

Using The Blind Side as an example... When I popped in the blu-ray, I noticed it took up the whole screen (no black bars). So I looked on the box and it says "16x9 1.85.1" which is confusing itself because 16x9 is 1.78 NOT 1.85.

Furthermore, I go to https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-B...-Blu-ray/9317/ and see Aspect ratio: 1.78:1 AND Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1.

Reading a bunch of different threads, I think what I'm understanding is that most movie companies alter the aspect ratio when they convert it to DVD or Blu-Ray. So this movie was filmed in 1.85 (OAR), but when they made the blu-ray, they converted it to 1.78 (Aspect Ratio).

Is that correct? So the blu-ray box is just whacked out because it has 16x9 1.85.1, but it's really just 16x9??

[Clark Kent]

It is a complicated issue, because not every studio treats 1.85:1 films the same way when transferring them to Blu-ray. Some of the studios do in fact alter them slightly by making them 1.78:1, while others leave the slight black bars in place.

Paramount/DreamWorks, Warner/New Line & Summit Entertainment will crop 1.85:1 movies to 1.78:1. The other studios will typically not alter 1.85:1 films.

[KubrickFan]

Doesn't 16:9 mean the HD aspect ratio itself? So it would be 1.85:1 within the 16:9 frame. Since it isn't a very big difference, and they're opened up, I'm not too bothered by it.