Question about 16x9 2.4:1 BD movies

[tomservo291]

So, just got our new Panasonic BD player hooked up and setup with a nice Sony 46" LCD with 120Hz/24p support.

Everything looks fantastic... so the question is simple:

All the movies I just picked up say the Video is in "1080p High Definition 16x9 2.4:1"

I fully understand aspect ratios, the common terms for full screen, wide screen and scope etc.

But what I don't understand is the "16x9 2.4:1" bit. I can't seem to understand why they say 16x9, when 2.4:1 is not anywhere near 16x9. Is this to say the disc has been made in such a way that the 2.4:1 ratio is meant to be displayed on a 16x9 TV? I just don't quite understand why they would phrase is that way... thus the inquiry here.

Thanks

[Schwin!!]

Originally Posted by tomservo291

So, just got our new Panasonic BD player hooked up and setup with a nice Sony 46" LCD with 120Hz/24p support.

Everything looks fantastic... so the question is simple:

All the movies I just picked up say the Video is in "1080p High Definition 16x9 2.4:1"

I fully understand aspect ratios, the common terms for full screen, wide screen and scope etc.

But what I don't understand is the "16x9 2.4:1" bit. I can't seem to understand why they say 16x9, when 2.4:1 is not anywhere near 16x9. Is this to say the disc has been made in such a way that the 2.4:1 ratio is meant to be displayed on a 16x9 TV? I just don't quite understand why they would phrase is that way... thus the inquiry here.

Thanks

Just like dvds say 2.4:1 "enhanced for widescreen televisions" you know what i mean? 2.4:1 looks best on a widescreen television, which are 16:9

[Midnightsailor]

The movie's aspect ratio is 2.4:1, yes. But, the entire frame of the movie is 16:9. The black bars are apart of the picture on releases, so far.

[Schwin!!]

What do you mean so far? They're not going to start zooming in and cropping on blu rays awful? Nothing is worse than full frame dvds and pan and scan. ORIGINAL ASPECT RATIO ONLY.

[Midnightsailor]

Originally Posted by Schwin!!

What do you mean so far? They're not going to start zooming in and cropping on blu rays awful? Nothing is worse than full frame dvds and pan and scan. ORIGINAL ASPECT RATIO ONLY.

No... but, like dvds, my guess is that in the future they will make anamorphic releases of movies in this aspect ratio (without the black bars encoded into the picture).

[Schwin!!]

I'm not going to lie and say I completely understand aspect ratios when it comes to viewing them on your home television. Though I completely understand what they are what they look like etc etc

[Midnightsailor]

Originally Posted by Schwin!!

I'm not going to lie and say I completely understand aspect ratios when it comes to viewing them on your home television. Though I completely understand what they are what they look like etc etc

Click the link in my sig.

[Zixxer]

Originally Posted by Midnightsailor

Click the link in my sig.

clicked your signature link. the Mona Lisa is cropped top and bottom just like 2.4:1 movies do to my 16:9 hdtv.

[Schwin!!]

What do you mean on your television? The whole image is shown, black bars on the top and bottom are normal, just imagine its the wall above and below the screen in the theatre. Same goes for 1.33:1, 1.66:1 movies. Black bars on the left and right are normal.

[4K2K]

Originally Posted by tomservo291

All the movies I just picked up say the Video is in "1080p High Definition 16x9 2.4:1"

I fully understand aspect ratios, the common terms for full screen, wide screen and scope etc.

But what I don't understand is the "16x9 2.4:1" bit. I can't seem to understand why they say 16x9, when 2.4:1 is not anywhere near 16x9. Is this to say the disc has been made in such a way that the 2.4:1 ratio is meant to be displayed on a 16x9 TV? I just don't quite understand why they would phrase is that way... thus the inquiry here.

Thanks

It means that all movies are encoded with 1920x1080 pixels which is 16:9 or 1.78:1 (for viewing primarily on a 16:9 TV).

For movies that are 2.4:1 they colour hundreds of those 1080 lines in in black.

They call it things like "1920x1080p Full Resolution High Definition" to make it sound very high definition, even for 2.35:1 or 2.40:1 movies . You can find out approximately how many lines are used for the movie (ie. not the black bars) by dividing 1920 by the aspect ratio. I personally don't think they should advertise 2.40:1 movies in the way they currently do.

[hanumang]

Originally Posted by tomservo291

But what I don't understand is the "16x9 2.4:1" bit. I can't seem to understand why they say 16x9, when 2.4:1 is not anywhere near 16x9. Is this to say the disc has been made in such a way that the 2.4:1 ratio is meant to be displayed on a 16x9 TV? I just don't quite understand why they would phrase is that way... thus the inquiry here.

For 16:9 encoded material, DVD players created (additional) matte bars to fill a 4:3 TV. If you're watching, say, Lord of the Rings on DVD connected to a 4:3 set, there are black matte bars encoded as part of the picture but also additional matte bars created by the DVD player.

Blu-ray players can operate the same way. The thing to keep in mind is that, however odd it might seem to us with hi-def sets, Blu-ray is meant to be backwards compatible with 4:3 standard definition sets.

Originally Posted by Schwin!!

They're not going to start zooming in and cropping on blu rays awful? Nothing is worse than full frame dvds and pan and scan. ORIGINAL ASPECT RATIO ONLY.

If blu-rays ever become mainstream, this is only a matter of time, in my opinion. After all, cropped-to-16:9 HD transfers are currently produced for TV anyway.

What will likely happen is that more films will be shot with a kind of '16:9 open matte' in mind (a la Traitor on DVD).

[Silvio64]

What I have found, when viewing blu-ray discs listing 16x9 2.4.1, is that content may use the entire 16x9 screen. When watching movies with this aspect ratio listed, the image changes size and goes beyond the top and bottom of my screen when set to 2.40.1 (widescreen) mode. Content may be shot for IMAX viewing to allow full visibility during certain scenes. You can either watch the movie using 16x9 setting (black bars at top and bottom) to allow content to display on the screen or set to 2.40.1 to fill the screen keeping in mind that the image will project above and below the screen.

Watching Ghostbusters (remake) and Capitan America Civil War changed screen size automatically during certain action sequences.

Hope this helps!

[RodChester]

Brought back to life after nearly eight years. Ladies and gentlemen, we have an epic

[willieconway]

2 months and 2 days short. I would have waited and responded on 12/25 exactly.