List of Most Common Aspect Ratios (Pics included)

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Kriztoffer Swank

Yeah, I'm not seeing the problem at all in any of the Blu-ray.com caps.

I have no problem seeing the borders either.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Kriztoffer Swank

That screencap you posted looks beautiful (and I really ought to pick that BD up—yum), but the one in the first post does look really, really pixelated. I see stair-stepping all along the outline of Talos and heavy pixelation all across the entire rest of the image. I'd be interested to see a recapture of that same frame either by Goofnut or somebody else; maybe something went awry the first time. Or maybe it's part of the disc and the codec went on the fritz for a short bit.

Here's some more I took off the same disc:

[Show spoiler]

[Show spoiler]

[Show spoiler]

[Kriztoffer Swank]

Those are all extremely pixelated as well; that is not some kind of effect caused by the grain, there's something very digital going on there.

[lolwut]

Thanks for this. This is a lot more useful than the times I've tried finding comparisons via Google. Some of the links are dead though.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by lolwut

Thanks for this. This is a lot more useful than the times I've tried finding comparisons via Google. Some of the links are dead though.

I'll fix the links later.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Caleb

You forget?

Yeah, I did. I'll try and work on it tonight or tomorrow. I'll grab some of my pics from the screen capture thread.

[Clark Kent]

You should probably include cinematographer Vittorio Storaro's preferred aspect ratio for home releases, 2.00:1.

[HD Goofnut]

The screen captures have been updated in the OP.

[ZoetMB]

Great post. There's still so many people who simply don't understand aspect ratios, their history and their current use.

In ZoetWorld, anyone who produced a BD or played a film on TV not in the original AR would go to jail. And in ZoetWorld, the FTC would ban sets that enable users to stretch or zoom images.

One thing to keep in mind is that in properly presented 35mm projection, 1.37 sound films, 1.85, 1.75 and 1.66 were presented common width and varying height. Although the standards varied a bit over time, the SMPTE recommended practice (and the markings on their test film) for projection is a width of .825" and a height of .602" for modern 1.37, .497" for 1.66, .471" for 1.75 and .446" for 1.85. However, that's obviously not the case when presented on BD, in which common height is generally used.

In theatres, when properly presented, 35mm anamorphic is supposed to be presented at .825 x .690" (In the 1980s it was .838" x .7") which when unsqueezed is the equivalent of 1.65" x .690". So the 35mm anamorphic image is supposed to be LARGER than the 35mm 1.85 spherical. But spherical is usually blown-up a bit, so anamorphic is larger, but not as much larger as it should be. (Some theatres have gone with common height or have compromised and shown everything at 2:1AR, but that's "film done wrong").

That's not the case with widescreen digital. The Sony 4K projector projects 1.85 at 3996 x 2160 and widescreen 2.39 AR at 4096 x 1716. So a widescreen film has less height in digital than a 1.85 film. That was never the intention of widescreen movies - they were supposed to feel larger. Sony has an option to expand the widescreen image in the projector to 4096x2160 and then use a 1.25x anamorphic lens to restore the AR, but almost no theatre does that because they don't want to have to switch lenses and because the anamorphic lens is very expensive.

And obviously at home, BD and TV generally presents at common width (except for 1.33/1.37) so again, a widescreen movie has less height than a spherical film, not more width, as was intended. And of course, many TV/Cable stations present anamorphic films at 16:9, which makes me completely enraged. I refuse to watch any 2.35/2.39 movie presented that way. I suppose they do it because they get complaints from the idiots when they present with black bars, but they should ignore them. Maybe along with the ratings and disclaimers, they should also say, "Brought to you in the original widescreen theatrical format presenting the entire image as intended by the director" or something like that. I'm even bothered when they show (or a BD formats) a 1.85 movie at 16:9, but that's only a few pixels difference.

[HD Goofnut]

More ratios added.

[shank118]

Hey guys. It's my first post here so go easy on me if I ask any noob questions. I want to watch 2.35:1 movies in the proper ratio, the way the director wants us to. I don't mind black bars, but I want to know what size black bars is correct. Here is an example :





Which is the correct one? Thanks in advance guys.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by shank118

Hey guys. It's my first post here so go easy on me if I ask any noob questions. I want to watch 2.35:1 movies in the proper ratio, the way the director wants us to. I don't mind black bars, but I want to know what size black bars is correct. Here is an example :

[Show spoiler]

Which is the correct one? Thanks in advance guys.

Definitely the top one. The bottom one has been stretched.

[ambientcafe]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Definitely the top one. The bottom one has been stretched.

+1 ....

[shank118]

Oh! So that's the true 2.35:1 ratio I should be watching at? I was told that the one below is the correct one.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by shank118

Oh! So that's the true 2.35:1 ratio I should be watching at? I was told that the one below is the correct one.

2.35:1 is the top one. Check the pic from Dune in the 1st post.

[tezster]

Part of me wishes film makers would adopt 2.20:1 as the predominant "scope" aspect ratio instead of 2.35/2.40, just so that a larger part of a 16:9 display is utilized.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by tezster

Part of me wishes film makers would adopt 2.20:1 as the predominant "scope" aspect ratio instead of 2.35/2.40, just so that a larger part of a 16:9 display is utilized.

Not happening. Most U.S. theaters are already optimized for 1.78:1, 1.85:1, and 2.39:1. However, many of the directors that shoot for 2.39:1 are actually using Super 35, which is closer to 1.78:1. They just keep that in mind while they shoot. The information between 1.78:1 and 2.39:1 is the margin of error area so to speak.

[shank118]

Thanks guys! Now it's clearer to me. As long as I have "Just Scan" on my TV, it seems to give the correct aspect ratio.

And thanks for not flaming me or anything. Glad that I've joined this forum and finally able to post without moderation.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by shank118

Thanks guys! Now it's clearer to me. As long as I have "Just Scan" on my TV, it seems to give the correct aspect ratio.

And thanks for not flaming me or anything. Glad that I've joined this forum and finally able to post without moderation.

No problem. Yeah, that setting is probably right.

[HD Goofnut]

Updated the OP so there are no more slow loading or broken links.