Pro-Widescreen vs. Anti-Widescreen

I have decided to throw in my lot with eversio11, this is now the movie and music forums, jk. But since some tv shows are in widescreen this thread will fit into these forums whatever the name is. So, ya whats your answer?

It's full-screen for me.
Wide-screen seem like a waste of my tv screen.

But that's just my opinion...... :2cents:

damnit, just call me eversio, no need for the numerals :p

anyways, are you saying fullscreen vs widescreen DVDs? If so, anyone who thinks fullscreen is better is incredibly ignorant. I've heard people say 'widescreen cuts out too much with the black bars!'. No, widescreen offers the entire shot, fullscreen is the one that cuts out the picture. Ever wonder why theatre screens are rectangular? Because films are shot in the widescreen format, not 4:3. How much does fullscreen actually cut out? Check out this page for side-by-side comparisons: http://www.widescreen.org/examples.shtml

I don't like wide screen because it cut's off stuff.

anyways, are you saying fullscreen vs widescreen DVDs?

mostly but some shows on tv like miniseries are in widescreen, and on sci fi channel they show movies in widescreen now, so the question could be what version do you buy when you buy dvd's, or does it annoying you when they have tv shows in widescreen.

I don't like wide screen because it cut's off stuff.

full screen cut off stuff in order to keep a 4:3 ratio thus the widescreen is the full shot like how u see it in a theatre...

yeahh...

Wide screen is better, watching full screen is like only watching half of the movie.

A better arguement is to use widescreen TVs as an example. If you think widescreen on a square television is a 'waste of your screen', then wouldn't fullscreen on a widescreen TV be a 'waste of the screen'? And thus widescreen on a widescreen TV wouldn't have any black bars. I think people should have two televisions, one fullscreen for regular television shows shot in 4:3, and one widescreen for movies or miniseries.

Unfortunatly if you are like me and bought the wrong type of widescreen monitor(on my portable dvd player) on some widescreen ratios you can still have black bars.(at least half of them are gone though.

wide
always by dvd in wide screen knowing one day thats what all tv's will be that way

wide
always by dvd in wide screen knowing one day thats what all tv's will be that way
agreed. i love widescreen, i have a 36inch rca and with widescreen i feel like i have my own little movie theater. Especially with 6.1 surround =)

Um...Nameless Dork
Unfortunatly if you are like me and bought the wrong type of widescreen monitor(on my portable dvd player) on some widescreen ratios you can still have black bars.(at least half of them are gone though.

Don't feel bad, there's so many differant types of wide screen movies out there, it wouldn't really make a differance. There isn't an official HD-DVD standard yet and not likely to be one for awhile.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/

Until they set a standard, I prefer the fullscreen (on a full screen tv, of course :) ) If only because there IS a standard and the people aren't all stretched out or compacted. It's just not right to see a skinny Chris Farley when I'm watching a movie!

Having said all that, I do like wide screen tv's, and everyone else (in the states) better get used to them as well, since in only a few years just about everything will be broadcasted in HD (as per the FCC) which is, of course, a wide screen format. But think of how cheap HD TV sets are going to be! Can't wait!

It's just not right to see a skinny Chris Farley when I'm watching a movie!
Widescreen doesn't change the proportions of the objects on screen..

Depending on which setting you have your wide screen it can. If you don't mind a little bit of black bar, you're probly fine, and if you use the justify option on many TV's, it'sll only be a bit screwy, but sometimes you can be looking at a movie and just KNOW there's something wrong with it.

i dont care if fullscreen cuts out some of it... its probably something pointless anyway. i mean, who cares if i see a cup on a coffee table when im watching someone getting shot.

fullscreen is better i think because its easier to watch

Depending on which setting you have your wide screen it can. If you don't mind a little bit of black bar, you're probly fine, and if you use the justify option on many TV's, it'sll only be a bit screwy, but sometimes you can be looking at a movie and just KNOW there's something wrong with it.
that's because you're stupid and mess with the settings, leave it alone. the DVD will adjust itself and your eyes will simply block out the black bars and you'll be able to enjoy the entire movie

it boggles my mind how some people can still choose fullscreen over widescreen. lets just have Hollywood fire all their cinematographers, seeing as no one cares about how the shot is framed

widescreen is so much better.

I couldnt care less but my dream tv is a dlp 70" widescreen ultra thin tv.....I cried when I saw it, but 10 grand is too much for me

i dont care if fullscreen cuts out some of it... its probably something pointless anyway. i mean, who cares if i see a cup on a coffee table when im watching someone getting shot.

well it depends on what widescreen aspect ratio is used, in a 1.85:1 your not missing much in a fullscreen version, but if the original aspect ratio is 2.35:1 then you are missing a lot like more guns and ppl in the fullscreen version.

I absolutely HATE widescreen!! You're only getting half the picture and the rest is black screen.... why would you want to look at a black patch on your screen... and if you have a huge tv, just so you can watch widescreen: well thats a total waste of money because you're wasting screen space... and for what?

If you have a widescreen TV, you wouldnt have the black bands ;)

Yes... you do.... have you ever watched a movie on a widescreen tv? I mean, yea the black is a smaller portion but you still have it, oh yea... and you're still missing some of the picture. Although the parts of the picture may be unimportant, i like to be able to see the whole thing.

wtf, u are not missing anything in widescreen, u are missing stuff in fullscreen, yes sometimes u still see the black bars on widescreen tv's but not always, like on my portable dvd player i have no black bars from certen aspect ratio dvd's but on other ratios i do.

Hahahaha. Whatever, Im not gonna argue with you about it, i was just expressing my opinion. FYI: we all have different points of view Bud.

Actually some DVD's will allow you to change that ratio to give you a better viewing without the black bars (even tv's can sometimes change that ratio as well)

Hahahaha. Whatever, Im not gonna argue with you about it, i was just expressing my opinion. FYI: we all have different points of view Bud.


well what i said was not an oppinion it was a fact, FYI. :smooch:

I didn't say it wasn't a fact. I was basing my statement on what i like and my past experiences.

widescreen.... it just feels more like ur actually there and theres a reason movies at the cinemas play widescreen.... plus a good surround sound 5.1setup and watching anything is an experience

I didn't say it wasn't a fact. I was basing my statement on what i like and my past experiences.
You said widescreen cuts off part of the shot. You stated that as if it were fact. You are wrong. Ever wonder why movie screens are rectangular (wide) and TV screens are square? Because movies are filmed in widescreen, and television shows are filmed in fullscreen. When morons like you want to watch a movie in fullscreen, the movie creators must either chop off half the shot to make it fit vertically on the television screen, or stretch the image so it fits vertically.

You can prefer fullscreen to widescreen - whatever. But widescreen gives you the whole image, and fullscreen gives you shit. THAT is a fact.

i personally like the widescreen movies.. it just seems like your at the theater... i also try to buy all my movies in widescreen but somtimes you dont have any choice all they ship is fullscreen...

Hope no mods smite me for reviving this 4-month old thread... :uhoh:

Yes... you do.... have you ever watched a movie on a widescreen tv? I mean, yea the black is a smaller portion but you still have it, oh yea... and you're still missing some of the picture. Although the parts of the picture may be unimportant, i like to be able to see the whole thing.

The widescreen TV's have an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (16x9). These WS tv's were not designed this way for movies, they were designed for High Definition broadcasts - HD is displayed in a 1.78:1 aspect.

Most aspect ratio's for movies these days is 1.85:1, and from my own experience almost every WS tv out there when playing a 1.85:1 DVD will fill up the entire screen automatically (because the aspect is so close). But as mentioned, when watching an epic type movie with a 2.35:1 aspect you WILL see bars even on a WS tv.

BUT, those bars are very small. Ever notice how on your 4:3 (1.33:1)square tv that sometimes the bars on the top and bottom are not too big, and other times what you get see is literally just a strip right in the middle of the screen? Its the difference between a 1.85:1 and a 2.35:1. So basically the smaller black bars you'd see watching a 1.85:1 flick on a 4:3 tv will dissapear on a 1.78:1 WS tv, and the really huge black bars you'd see watching a 2.35:1 flick on a 4:3 tv will look smaller on a WS tv and similar in proportion to what you'd see watching that 1.85:1 flick on a 4:3.

You don't "lose" anything watching a WS movie on a WS tv unless you start using the TV's zoom functions - like say you're watching Star Wars (2.35:1) on your 16:9 WS tv and you don't like the fact that you're still seeing black bars, so you zoom in a bit so you still have bars but so that they are much thinner now (or gone altogether). Now you have cropped programming material from that 2.35:1 DVD in order to fill your 1.78:1 TV.

I personally love watching movies in WS given the choice. I've got a 37" Mitsubishi tube set thats still going strong and those DVD's that have both 4:3 & 16:9 versions on it my friends always ask to see "the whole screen", simply because the picture is BIGGER. And I guess thats the only real knock about watching WS stuff on a square set - because what you actually see is "smaller". However, if you're into quality as opposed to size you realise how crisp and sharp the picture is when you watch that 2.35:1 on your 4:3 set, because you're looking at a smaller picture. Everybody knows the smaller the picture size the better the image. They saythe best image you can possibly see is taking any model 15" tube tv and looking at it from 5 feet.

I think this has just led me to start another thread...

If you have a widescreen TV (16x9) you will never go back. Watching football and any other sporting event in widescreen (HD also) is soooooo much better. We never go to the movies anymore....just get the DVD in widescreen format.....get at least a 50" widescreen.....

I agree I got a 52" wide screen hd tv. I love it. I will never go back... widescreen for me!!!!

My TV is widescreen, so that makes my choice obvious. I get so mad when i buy a fullscreen DVD on accident. While we're at it, why don't we crop some Picasso work.

Talk about reviving a dead thread - this thing is over a year old!

Ya ya, widescreen is great... IF you have the widescreen content. HDTV is by nature widescreen, there is only one aspect and its 16:9 or 1.78:1 - that's why the aspect of the widescreen TV's is 16:9. Movies are typically 1.85 or 2.53:1 but yes they look best on widescreen tv's.


One thing widescreen absolutely SUCKS at is watching standard 4:3 programming, which is basically still 90% of all available content unless all you do is watch movies. Stretching, cropping or modifying 4:3 on widescreen is crap.

I like my movies (99% of my DVD's & LD's are widescreen), but until I can get ALL my Maple Leaf games broadcast in HDTV I'm going to stick to watching standard 4:3 cable broadcasts on CBC on my olde 37" square tube.

And for a 13+ year old tube with only an S-Video for DVD/LD it will still display a digital disc better than any new DLP or LCD rear project set of similar size.

My TV is widescreen, so that makes my choice obvious. I get so mad when i buy a fullscreen DVD on accident. While we're at it, why don't we crop some Picasso work.


I see your point, and suddenly i am getting more games in widescreen, but I think even teh wide zoom feature on my TV does a pretty good job as long as their isnt a ticker at the bottom of the screen.

Most of the time I am playing games or watching DVDS that support some form of widescreen, so I am happy.

well, my tv being WICKED AWSOME is made to be wide, its also HD but i like watching widescreen movies better any way/

Whoever thinks fullscreen is better is smoking crack.

Whoever thinks fullscreen is better is smoking crack.


If you think widescreen is better for watching standard 4:3 tv... you're the one on crack.

Or a guy who only gets to enjoy his widescreen when watching DVD's or that hour of HDTV prime time. Must jump for joy anytime a football or hockey game is broadcast in HD.

But I'm just playing Devil's advocate - if the source is native 16:9 then yes there's no question WS is better. I just can't get over when I go to a buddy's house and their WS tv is always set to S T R E T C H... looks retarded.

If you think widescreen is better for watching standard 4:3 tv... you're the one on crack.

Or a guy who only gets to enjoy his widescreen when watching DVD's or that hour of HDTV prime time. Must jump for joy anytime a football or hockey game is broadcast in HD.

But I'm just playing Devil's advocate - if the source is native 16:9 then yes there's no question WS is better. I just can't get over when I go to a buddy's house and their WS tv is always set to S T R E T C H... looks retarded.

Would you be so kind as to point out where I said anything about watching 4:3 on a widescreen tv? In which case anyone who's at least half educated would have it pillarboxed? Thanks.

lol, you didn't - you didn't say anything besides implying that 4:3 is not "better" than WS.

Well, I'm simply saying it depends on how you look at it. If you're talking about formats, then there's no doubt. If you're talking about the actual display, it really depends on the source aspect. Nothing is "better" than anything else for no reason BTW.

And man does your comment about "pillarboxed" bring back memories (must say I've never heard it referred to like that before). I remember educating people about this shit years and years ago - my sales pitch always had a flaw in it though (guess that's why I got out!)...


"Ah-hem, you need a WS tv to get rid of those black bars on top and bottom when you watch a movie".

- "Oh, that's great. I freakin HATE those black bars on the top and bottom! How does regular tv work on it?"

"Uh, well you can stretch it..."

- "That looks like shit, the basketball players look short and fat."

"Er, you can zoom into it..."

- "Where did the nets go?? How do I just watch it normally?"

"Oh, you just go to normal mode!" :smile:

- "You mean to tell me in order to get rid of those bloody black bars the odd time I watch a flick, I'm going to have to see fucking black bars on the left and right now every time I watch tv!?!?" :eek7:

"NO!...

I can sell you a WS tv that's $1000 more that will give you grey bars" :p


:uhoh: "So, didn't you say you needed an amp too?" :naughty:


You know, the funniest thing about our available formats now is that back in early 2000 I'd always tell clients not to worry, 16:9 tv shows and HD programming will overtake everything else and be the standard in a year or two... it 2006 and HDTV is still nowhere close to being the standard.

When it DOES become the standard - or nevermind, when I can get every single Leaf game broadcast in HD - then I'll sign up and retire the old 4:3 radiation tube. lol



But I agree... 16:9 is better than 4:3