Ok, I'm a total noob when it comes to home theater stuff, so I've got a quick question. I've noticed most new movies coming out on DVD come in either "Full Screen" or "Wide Screen". Whats the difference? I know the wide screen has the black bars at the top and bottom, but is one more optimum than the other for certain types of tvs? I have a 50 inch Samsung DLP, which one should I be buying? I don't buy very many DVDs, so I want to make sure the ones I do buy look right on my tv.

 

Widescreen doesn't necessary mean bars on top and bottom. It has to do with the aspect ratio of the movie. A widescreen TV is 16:9 or 1.78:1, so buying widescreen movies is what you want. Not fullscreen which is 4:3 or 1.33 :1.

To get fully geeked out...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio_(image)

 

To get "fullscreen" they chop off the sides of the frame and zoom it in.

So go Widescreen every time no matter what TV you have

 

OK good, so far the few movies I've bought, I've gotten the widescreen versions. Good to know I wasn't fucking up. Now I can go buy Borat

 

yea i never understood why people get full screen, yea there is that arguement that the black bars on the top and bottom are annoying, but id rather watch the movie the way it was meant to be viewed

 

well, I guess what I don't understand is, since most tv's are widescreens now, why doesn't the original widescreen format not fill up the whole screen?

*edit* ahh nevermind, just checked out jupiter's link and found the answer to my question!

 

When watching actual high-definition shows, the main advantage is that you get to see more of the hallways. How many times have you been watching Grey's Anatomy and thought, "I wonder what the sides of that hallway look like?" Well, thanks to the improved aspect ratio of HDTV, you can see exactly how spacious and open the hallways are! From the broad cornfields of Smallville to the ample starfields of Battlestar Galactica, your peripheral vision is in for a treat it won't consciously register!

http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,...umns_alttext_3

 

I love widescreen

 

the answer is: it does.
I have used the example page on www.widescreen.org to convert people.

 

The key is OAR-original aspect ratio.
The weirdest example is ninja scroll, where they chopped the top and bottom off to make the widescreen version.

that is pretty rare, but ive seen several documentaries and movies shot in 4:3 ratio.

 

widescreen is the way to go

 

Depends on what you consider 'optimium'.
I've heard several people complain about 'black bars' because it 'wastes tv space'.
Widescreen movies are 20% larger on a 50" 16:9 tv versus a 50" 4:3 tv.
4:3 material on the other hand, will be larger on the 4:3 tv.
(assuming you don't distort either image)

Btw, make sure your dvd player is set such that it knows if your tv is widescreen
or 4:3. Otherwise anamorphic dvds will look stretched or crushed.

 

I used to only get full screen, but WS just provided a more movie like experience for me.

 

Might as well get widescreen since you get the whole picture with it. If you really want to fill the entire tv you can always zoom in. Both my tv and dvd player have a zoom option so i can fill the entire screen if I really want to.

 

I hate widescreen a great deal.

But it's from the years & years of brainwashing from 4:3 TV's. Why isn't TV in 16:9 instead of 4:3? Why was there a push for 16:9 TV's if programming was still 4:3?
What's with this "OAR-original aspect ratio"? Why did this start when all programming & TV's were 4:3?
I have yet to get a clear straight answer to these questions. Yeah I seen the explanations the government & movie houses say, but I still don't get why? Seems ass backwards to me.

 

The one semi-related fact I'll toss in here is that the IMAX film format is effectively a 4:3 aspect ratio so don't be surprised if you ever buy an IMAX DVD and end up getting "bar'd" on the sides of your 16:9 TV set.

 

Right - In the beginning, everything was 4:3.
As time passed, movies became wider in an attempt to get more people to see
movies. Now many modern movies are 2.35:1, but there are still plenty of
1.85:1 and such.

TV has stayed 4:3, so now you have the 'put a rectangular peg in a square hole'
scenario.

Why are recent TVs 16:9? I assume it's because HDTV is 16:9.
So the real question is, why is HDTV 16:9, rather than 4:3? Beats me.

I personally love widescreen, especially for panorama shots. It seems
natural to spread things out horizontally, rather than bunched up
in the middle. I was very happy to switch to 3:2 pictures, rather than
the 4:3 of my old digicams.

When someone asks if you prefer fullscreen or widescreen, the 'movie watcher'
answer is: OAR. Right now people shoot with whatever wideness
they feel like. You should see what you are supposed to see - no more,
no less. If there are black bars, well, so be it.