List of BDs with Altered Aspect Ratios

[HD Goofnut]

I've added quite a few titles today. I'll be adding more over the next several days.

[NeoMaximuz]

Wasn't Psycho shot in 1.37:1, but presented in 1.78:1 on DVD and Blu-Ray?

Don't know if that contributes to the post, just wanted to put my part!

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by NeoMaximuz

Wasn't Psycho shot in 1.37:1, but presented in 1.78:1 on DVD and Blu-Ray?

Don't know if that contributes to the post, just wanted to put my part!

Psycho was shot with the Mitchell BNC 35mm camera so its OAR should be 1.37:1, but IMDB shows it as 1.37:1 and 1.85:1. Anyone have a definitive answer to this?

[NeoMaximuz]

I have searched for but not found a proper answer to this question.

This is an excerpt from an article I found at FilmBuffOnline some time back:

"While Hitchcock obviously shot the film to protect the entire 1.37:1 image, – i.e., there are no lights or boom mics dropping into the picture from the top of the frame – there is more than enough evidence to support the fact that he intended the film to be seen at the wider ratio. The film’s opening credits were hard matted at 1.78:1 as were portions of the film’s infamous shower scene. That, to me, speaks volumes about Hitchcock’s intentions. There is the additional support of notation of the 1.78:1 aspect ratio on paperwork to the film developing lab at Pathe and the fact that storyboards for the shower sequence are also in the widescreen ratio."

[Taco Tuesday]

Thanks for the separation, HDG! These 5 are still in the first post but I think they should be in the "more drastic changes" second post.

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Dr. Giggles - 2.35:1 to 1.78:1
Equilibrium (Echo Bridge) - 2.39:1 to 1.78:1
G.I. Joe: The Movie - 1.33:1 to 1.78:1
Gulliver's Travels (1939) - 1.37:1 to 1.78:1
World at War, The - 1.37:1 to 1.78:1

[Mr. Movie Fan]

1.85 to 1.78 isn't even worth mentioning actually.
Altered OAR lists should only include 1.33 to 1.78, 1.66 to 1.78 or 2.40 to 1.78.

[Taco Tuesday]

That's why he separated those out

[abintra]

Texas Rangers can be removed. Turns out the DVDVerdict review was erroneous and it is in its intended aspect ratio.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Texas...Blu-ray/22172/

[Deciazulado]

Originally Posted by NeoMaximuz

Wasn't Psycho shot in 1.37:1, but presented in 1.78:1 on DVD and Blu-Ray?

Don't know if that contributes to the post, just wanted to put my part!

Most flat (non anamorphic) lens 35mm sound movies are shot full aperture, being composed since the mid fifties in the viewfinder for Widescreen presentation. On the theaters these non anamorphic film prints (which are still full aperture) are projected through a lens chosen and selected to project only this central part of the image composed for widescreen onto the screen, instead of all the exposed, non intended height. Like Psycho, 1.85

Camera aperture: black

Camera Groundglass Markings/Projector Aperture: red

Widescreen1-1.85.gif

This is the way it's been done for nearly 60 years now. It's standard.




As for 1.85 theatrical -> 1.78 video transfers, which fall within practice allowed in the field, this post may be of interest.




*I have a true full frame, open-matte version of Psycho on an 80's VHS tape made before the subsequent 4:3 video transfers zoomboxed it. In the shower scene there's a black matte bar printed at the bottom of the 4:3 image in some shots of the shower scene to cover Janet Leigh. If a projectionist racked up the projector's frame knob on a widescreen theater with this print trying to catch something extra from Janet I guess that's what he'd find there. Some people would use this criterion to conclude that the film was composed in variable aspect ratios Also the shot of Norman?Mother talking to himself at the end, probably to cover some dolly track. To watch it proper I matted it with tape on the TV

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Fanboyz

1.85 to 1.78 isn't even worth mentioning actually.
Altered OAR lists should only include 1.33 to 1.78, 1.66 to 1.78 or 2.40 to 1.78.

Now now. You should know the difference in opinions and facts.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Taco Tuesday

Thanks for the separation, HDG! These 5 are still in the first post but I think they should be in the "more drastic changes" second post.

No problem. I fixed those titles you mentioned.

[mikesncc1701]

Originally Posted by Fanboyz

1.85 to 1.78 isn't even worth mentioning actually.
Altered OAR lists should only include 1.33 to 1.78, 1.66 to 1.78 or 2.40 to 1.78.

I have to disagree. Warner blus are the most prominent when it comes to altering a 1.85 image to 1.78 just so consumers can "fill the entire screen". If it's that negligible then why do it in the first place? Don't get me wrong, it doesn't prevent me from buying something that I want, but I still know there's something missing and it doesn't look as proper as it could.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by mikesncc1701

I have to disagree. Warner blus are the most prominent when it comes to altering a 1.85 image to 1.78 just so consumers can "fill the entire screen". If it's that negligible then why do it in the first place? Don't get me wrong, it doesn't prevent me from buying something that I want, but I still know there's something missing and it doesn't look as proper as it could.

This is exactly how I have always felt about it. Until 2009 Warner seemed to limit it to catalog 1.85:1 titles, but starting that year they began making new releases 1.78:1 from 1.85:1. I just don't understand the logic behind changing it because at 1.85:1 the bars are hardly even noticeable.

[figrin_dan]

I'm a bit puzzled why Avatar isn't on the list. It was 2.39 at the cinema.

Also They Live (Italian) starts off about 2.39 and then changes to ~2.20

[Deciazulado]

This comes back from time to time. (And no matter if I post a link like the one above)

The Standard Widescreen format is a fit your screen format. If your theater has masked its screen and chosen a lens for 1.85 you see the print in 1.85, if it has masked it to and chosen a lens for 1.66 you see it in 1.66, if it has masked it to 1.73 etc you see it in 1.73. Your HDTV home screen is 1.78

Is this exact? Is it perfect? No, but unless the director/cameraman is obsessive they also know this is happening. Very few theaters in the world show the exact 100% precise 0.446" x 0.825" dimensions. I've measured variances of up to 20% in the field. As I mentioned, 1.78 vs 1.85 is 4%. In only one dimension, not both, so in a sense if you get 100% in one direction and 96% in the other, what you get is a 2% error on average.
TV overscan is more than that.

Watching a movie intended for the big screen shrunk 50% of it's original size on a 46" TV at 9 feet, is a 100% larger error than than seeing the image area differing 2% from the theoretical perfect area (you should watch it on a 90" TV first).

That's not to say that you should not aim to have it 100% correct, and when I exhibited movies I made damn sure the image on screen was as near as 100% as humanly possible if the theater equipment/architecture allowed it, but only the screens I supervised did that in the whole state at the time (Sometimes it just took moving the curtains a little bit.) and that's one reason I'd prefer when a 4K home format format comes is not limited to 3840 wide. But 2% overall change is somewhat trivial in the general scheme of things.

95% of the world saw this one way instead of the other and I don't think it made much difference, and this is a bigger change than that:



1.85 S-35 at 2K is 1080 x 2000 and has either to be cropped or rescaled and letterboxed, standard 35 scanned the same way is 1746 wide and has to be rescaled and then letterboxed. if you want it to be exact 1038 x 1920.

[bigrob]

Voyage of the Dawn Treader 2.39:1 to 1.78:1

i think this was director approved though

great idea for a thread. thank you

Planet Terror is on BD in both formats (both director approved)
Unrated & Extended version - 1.78:1
R Rated GrindHouse Version - 2.35:1

As for Avatar - this was created in both ratios depending on how it was projected in both 2D and 3D (JC wanted an immersive expericne for cinema goers)
2.39:1 for screens that extended sideways for a bigger screen
1.78:1 for screens that opned up top and bottom for a bigger screen

the BD ratio of 1.78:1 is his preferred ratio though as we all know

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by figrin_dan

I'm a bit puzzled why Avatar isn't on the list. It was 2.39 at the cinema.

Also They Live (Italian) starts off about 2.39 and then changes to ~2.20

I am going to add it to the list, but Cameron approved it.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by bigrob

Voyage of the Dawn Treader 2.39:1 to 1.78:1

i think this was director approved though

great idea for a thread. thank you

Planet Terror is on BD in both formats (both director approved)
Unrated & Extended version - 1.78:1
R Rated GrindHouse Version - 2.35:1

As for Avatar - this was created in both ratios depending on how it was projected in both 2D and 3D (JC wanted an immersive expericne for cinema goers)
2.39:1 for screens that extended sideways for a bigger screen
1.78:1 for screens that opned up top and bottom for a bigger screen

the BD ratio of 1.78:1 is his preferred ratio though as we all know

Done.

[HD Goofnut]

Many more titles added. There are a lot more than I initially realized.

[HD Goofnut]

I've updated the small AR changes through the Os and have updated the large AR list. I expect I'll finish the rest of the list tomorrow or Friday.