Which aspect ratio is better for 3D movies? Fullscreen, widescreen, variable etc

[Jlennerth]

Does it detract from the 3D when you have the black bars?

[SapGoblin]

I can only respond, based on the Avatar 3D trailer easter egg on the collector's edition. It's the only thing I've got so far with the bars...

I don't think it distracts. 3D still works. But of course, full-screen (which the other easter egg on Pandora oddly is)...just feels fuller!!!

[crispicazzo]

Originally Posted by Jlennerth

Does it detract from the 3D when you have the black bars?

I hate cinemascope for 3D.
In theaters looks good but not in 16:9 TV.

I have a 46 inch display and simply hate the black bars in 3D movies.
The 3D experience is way better with fullscreen content (16:9).

[banibale]

Hi.... dudes, every time I buy a 3D movie I allways get the 1.8:5 full screen. Are the 2.39:1 aspect radio just as good as 1.85:1? when it comes to 3D whats better?

[vidjunkie]

I myself prefer 1.77:1 or 1.85:1 because then there are no black bars or very little.

[banibale]

Originally Posted by vidjunkie

I myself prefer 1.77:1 or 1.85:1 because then there are no black bars or very little.

and with the black bars the 3D feels the same as the movies without the bars? i think 3D was ment to be full screen, i'm avoiding 2.35:1 but im running out of options.

[AmrlKJaneway]

2.35 is bearable. 1.8 is better.
If I had an enormous screen, I probably wouldn't know the difference.
Tron: Lagacy switches to 1.8 during the best scenes.

[banibale]

Originally Posted by AmrlKJaneway

2.35 is bearable. 1.8 is better.
If I had an enormous screen, I probably wouldn't know the difference.
Tron: Lagacy switches to 1.8 during the best scenes.

i see. ..but all of them switch or only tron.?

[thebard]

All else being equal, 3D content that fills the (large enough) screen will feel more immersive than letterboxed content, if the shot was framed that way.

In other words, if a 2.39 shot is cropped to create 1.85, and that causes objects to be cut off and break the screen edge, that can disrupt the 3D effect more than the overall aspect ratio.

[AmrlKJaneway]

Only Tron that I've seen.
But, that said, don't avoid 2.35. It's one of those things you stop noticing after five minutes. I can't even remember which of the movies I own are presented in 2.35.

[joenostalgia23]

I also prefer 1.78-1.85. However, I wouldn't avoid a film for being in 2.35 because they can still have fantastic 3D. The 3D in Legend of the Guardians and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs are both great, and in 2.35. I prefer a bigger screen for 3D, but in the end, it's the movie that matters most.

Tron: Legacy is in 2.35 AND 1.78 and looks amazing. The 2.35 looks pretty great, but once it opens up to 1.78 everything looks bigger and clearer and as if more space was suddenly added. Awesome release.

[banibale]

i'll get 1 movie in 2.35:1 to try it, wich one you guys recomend?

[AmrlKJaneway]

Live action? Resident Evil. Animated? Cloudy.
Seems my spelling mistake (2.35 should be 2.39 should it not?), has caught on.

[steelerik]

I love standard movies in the 2.39 AR. However, due to my home set up I feel the 2.39 AR lets 3D home viewing down. Not everyone has HUGE screens and or DLP, so 1.85 will always be preferable to me. Now the first thing I look at when a film is released is it's AR. If it is in 1.85 I normally find it a must buy, however 2.39 I will normally put back and look for something else. When I have run outta things to buy I will then look again at a film that is released in 2.39, but unfortunately as a last resort which is wrong really.

Res Evil looks great, but would look fantastic in 1.85 overall!
Megamind - the same. This would be possibly my favourite (over Despicable) if it was in 1.85

I am sure that there are some noobies out there who are not convinced by home 3D yet, and it may be because the have similar set up to me but are seeing 2.39 movies and not 1.85 ones. The quicker the studios shoot in 1.85 for 3D the better because it will always look more immersive on a home system. Then more people will adopt the format. Cameron did it with Avatar so why not others?

[aaaa6344]

i personally would only shoot in 16:9...also i don't know if other people have seen the same but my local 16 screens+ theater changed every screen to default in 16:9 and when they show a 2:35 or 2:39 movie it just doesn't take up the whole space. it used to make more sense when they opened the screen left and right for those movies but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

[ZoetMB]

You should watch any movie in the original aspect ratio as intended by the director regardless of whether it's 2D or 3D.

By cropping the image from 2.39 to 1.85, you're missing the equivalent width of half the height.

So if you have an image that is 47" wide on a 2.39:1 movie, by watching at 1.85, you're missing 200 sq inches of picture: almost 1.4 sq feet!

[steelerik]

Originally Posted by aaaa6344

i personally would only shoot in 16:9...also i don't know if other people have seen the same but my local 16 screens+ theater changed every screen to default in 16:9 and when they show a 2:35 or 2:39 movie it just doesn't take up the whole space. it used to make more sense when they opened the screen left and right for those movies but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

yeah that's right, I have noticed this too! In the late 80s I do clearly remember the screen expanding when I saw films like predator in my local HUGE 2 screen Odeon in Sheffield UK ... I used to think "wow, this is gonna be cool!!" Not so anymore .. they seem to just box the movie in as you say.

[steelerik]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

You should watch any movie in the original aspect ratio as intended by the director regardless of whether it's 2D or 3D.

By cropping the image from 2.39 to 1.85, you're missing the equivalent width of half the height.

So if you have an image that is 47" wide on a 2.39:1 movie, by watching at 1.85, you're missing 200 sq inches of picture: almost 1.4 sq feet!

Yes I know this, I would never ask anyone to crop a movie, that is just a no no on every level! What I am saying is that directors should LOOK at making future 3D movies in the 1.85 (16:9) ratio.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by aaaa6344

i personally would only shoot in 16:9...also i don't know if other people have seen the same but my local 16 screens+ theater changed every screen to default in 16:9 and when they show a 2:35 or 2:40 movie it just doesn't take up the whole space. it used to make more sense when they opened the screen left and right for those movies but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

I doubt that they did that and if they did, they're idiots. Almost no films are shot in 16:9 - only television shows are shot in this format. American films are almost all either 1.85:1 or 2.39:1. And I doubt that you could tell visually that the screen is 1.78:1 and not 1.85:1.

"Film done right" projects at constant height (not constant width) so that a 2.39:1 anamorphic image projects larger than a 1.85:1. Unfortunately, digital projection uses fewer pixels for 2.39:1 films, so it has become constant width. 1.85 is projected at 3996x2160 pixels and 2.39 is projected at 4096 x 1716 pixels (in 4K projectors). However, the Sony 4K projector (I don't know if others have it) has an option where you can expand 1716 to 2160 in the projector and then use a 1.25:1 anamorphic lens to expand the horizontal back to 2.39:1. The advantage of that is that you're using all of the projector's pixels.

But seeing as many theatres aren't even removing the 3D filters when projecting 2D, I doubt that very many are switching to the anamorphic lens for 2.39 movies.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by steelerik

Yes I know this, I would never ask anyone to crop a movie, that is just a no no on every level! What I am saying is that directors should LOOK at making future 3D movies in the 1.85 (16:9) ratio.

The kind of movies that lend themselves to 3D, the big action pictures, also lend themselves to widescreen, so I would disagree with you.

The only reason most people want to see 16:9 or 1.85 is because they don't like seeing black bars at home.