Wow!!! Seinfeld & I Love Lucy look great in HD!!!

[bogo5]

Being a hardcore Seinfeld fan I will never buy it on Blu unless its the original uncropped. 16:9 is Disgusting.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Objectivity

Case in point is the V miniseries. When they released it on DVD, people complained that it was chopped to make it 16:9. The director/creator said that it was shot 16:9 because there had been plans to release it as a movie in Europe.

They protected for 16x9 but the show was shot 1.33, compositions are a bit tight, even in visual effects shots.
SyFy-HD showed V: The Final Battle this week in 4x3. Looked pretty darn good.

Originally Posted by bogo5

Being a hardcore Seinfeld fan I will never buy it on Blu unless its the original uncropped. 16:9 is Disgusting.

As I said, it's all in the composition.

Apparently people have done comparisons, some top & bottom cropped, but more shown at the sides. Hogan's Heroes on HDNet looks like it was filmed 16x9 from the beginning.

[SpotOn]

Originally Posted by bogo5

Being a hardcore Seinfeld fan I will never buy it on Blu unless its the original uncropped. 16:9 is Disgusting.

The show was shot on 35 mm film and was undoubtedly framed for 16x9 or 1.78:1

All films shot in the 1.85 ratio are shot in 4:3, then the top and bottom are cropped by the projector, thus creating the 1.85:1 ratio.

If you watch Seinfeld in it's 4:3 versions, you will notice a substantial amount of room between the top of the character's head and the top of the frame. That is the area that was intended to be cropped in the future (i.e. whenever widescreen sets become the norm, like now)

People should be praising the 16x9 versions, but since your average Joe doesn't know about 35mm film and cropping, people think the image is being mutilated. It is not.

Try watching a 16x9 Seinfeld and tell me if any important picture info is missing. I can tell you, the new framing is correct.

seinfeld16x9vs4x3qr5.jpg

Plus, the 16X9 versions reveal more side info from the camera negative then the "original" 4:3 versions show.

Shooting with 16:9 in mind was a way of future-proofing the show for syndication. And yes, even though they were a rarity, 16:9 TVs did exist back in the early '90s.