widescreen vs. fullscreen

[havok2164]

i like my widescreen movies because i like to see my whole movie, but i just wondered what everyone else liked.

[Othergods]

Love the widescreen, I have a 55" widescreen mitsubishi so I can watch everything in widescreen.

[int80h]

Most DVD players can convert a widescreen DVD to Fullscreen, but not the other way around. there's no reason to buy a fullscreen DVD.

[smackmouth]

I used to be a full screen Fan. Then I saw a tv special on the difference betweeen wide and full screens. I have not gone back since.

I definately think that widescreen is better.

[smackmouth]

I used to be a full screen Fan. Then I saw a tv special on the difference betweeen wide and full screens. I have not gone back since.

I definately think that widescreen is better.

[moe11888]

I dont have any widescreen tvs in my house, but I buy all my dvds in widescreen because it is better.

[Rodego]

I have a widescreen TV, but even when I didn't, I thought widescreen was way better

[johnnyoski]

Widescreen all the way.
Have a 53" Panasonic that is awesome for widescreen.

[willardhaven]

I only watch widescreen movies... but, how do you watch fullscreen analog cable with a widescreen set?

[robdees]

55" Mits here too. Widescreen is the only way to go. I only buy ws even when I only had 4:3 tvs. Its movies the way they are meant to be seen

[Ledhed]

I only watch widescreen movies... but, how do you watch fullscreen analog cable with a widescreen set?

It just stretches the image out. Same thing happens with games. And yes, WS all the way.

[chickenhawk]

I almost always buy the widescreen version of DVDs although in the majority of cases, you're not missing much. I can't remember if it's just one in particular or all of them, but I believe one or all of the Indiana Jones movies are good examples of a fullscreen version lacking "important" film elements.

I still vote widescreen just cause I enjoy watching movies in widescreen a bit more.

[x0thedeadzone0x]

Have a 42'' widescreen plasma downstairs... and the movies look great. So yeah, widescreen all the way.

[coolsteel]

Original Aspect Ratio, whatever that happens to be.

[LinkinPrime]

I get widescreen only. I dont have a WS tv yet, but eventually I will and that wayi wont have to replace all my P&S to WS.

[Rich]

20-0 in favor of ws.

[CapAmerica]

I don't have a wide screen TV, but I only watch movies in widescreen now. I don't care about the letterbox. Wide screen is just better because you see everything thats going on.

[dtcarson]

Widescreen [or more accurately, OAR] 110%.
Ebert and Siskel did a special on WS vs FS some yars back, very illuminating; they showed both action flicks like Indy or Star Wars, and non-action films like The Graduate.
However, in some cases 'full frame' [NOT fullscreen] is the way to go--I believe Stanley Kubrick filmed most of his films in fullframe or open matte or something like that. Also, many Troma films are 4:3 because as Lloyd kaufman says 'Most of our films will be seen on someone's TV screen, not a movie theater.'
Even when I had a 4:3 tv, I bought widescreen/OAR. Now that I have a 16:9, it's even more important. Even though not all 'widescreen' films are in 16:9.
On 4:3 content, sometimes I watch it sidebar, sometimes I stretch it [*never* zoom]. In both cases, you're getting the full image; unlike Fullscreen or Pan and Scan, you are losing image 99% of the time.
Check out www.widescreen.org for some painfully obvious examples. There's also a guide to anamorphic and widescreen on the Digital Bits.
Most DVD players or widescreen TV's have a 'stretch' mode [my tv has 4:3, Zoom [horrendous], Widescreen [not bad] Panorama [pretty good]].
About the "black bars": Ebert said something intersesting on that episode. If you see the bars, the movie must not be very good. You should be watching the movie.

[Zenithian Legend]

Hmm bit of a shut-out going on here.

[Dok Diamond]

dammit i need a widescreen tv.

[Theenternal]

WS, altough watching something with a small screen. like a 8" portable dvd player then i gotta go full :(

[dtcarson]

Actually, if you're using an 8" portable [I've got one, it came free with my WS RPTV, it's like 4 inches across], if you're sitting the right distance from the screen, you should be fine. There's actually a formula, for digital or HD content your viewing position should be something like 1.5x-2x the diagonal measurement of the screen, away from it. [8 inch screen, your eyes should be 12-16 inches from the screen for 'optimal viewing.]

As the cable companies, satellite companies, and networks get more HD-friendly, a WS tv set will be a necessity. I think the last date I saw for conversion to 'digital' was 2007, but that's likely to be delayed again. But much HD content is 16:9 [and looks DAMN nice as well]. My cable co. offers 4 Hd-only networks [of course, they play things like 'Square Pegs' and 'Hogan's Heroes', which neither benefit much from being HD nor are filmed in 16:9, but the new content they create is 16:9.]
HDnet had a show called 'Space' on last night, which, when it wasn't filming the inside of the spaceship, looked INCREDIBLE. There's nothing like looking at the Earth, from a spaceship, in HD on a 60" WS TV. Awe-inspiring.

[FriskyTanuki]

Definitely WS, but my friend for whatever reason doesn't like the black bars and gets FS. I tried my best to convert him, but he is doomed to hell for this sin on entertainment.

[thatstoobad]

i'm pretty sure the only people who actually like full screen are the people who think that they black bars at the top and the bottom are cutting off part of the picture. it's really amazing how many people actually believe that.

i will not buy fullscreen dvds, unless there isn't a widescreen version available. i find that really annoying, by the way.

[Ramoz]

Original Aspect Ratio, whatever that happens to be.

Same here. I don't want my picture cut up in any way. If it's shot fullscreen, I don't want it chopped to widescreen. If it's widescreen shot, I don't want it fullscreen.

[epobirs]

Out of about 400 DVDs the only non-widescreen items I have were either free or there was no widescreen version in existence. The first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a good example. I also couldn't resist getting 'The Man With Two Brains' and 'Innocent Blood.' Anne Parillaud's magnifence on display alone was worth the price of that disc, even lacking widescreen.

[ChWMeiNThG]

i buy widescreen dvds only...but i dont own a widescreen tv anymore...nor will i again for a while...i didnt like the picture quality of my old 46" sony widescreen when i play games. nothin beats the 36" wega in picture quality imo

[dtcarson]

I don't think fullscreen is ever 'chopped' to widescreen. A matte could be opened up, which is sometimes good and sometimes bad, but the real 'chopping' comes from wide to 'full.' Some [very few] films are composed to fit both WS and fullscreen presentations.
TV series, especially ones older than say 5 years, are quite likely to be 4:3, and I don't have a problem with that--they are shown in their OAR, and again, even if you 'stretch' it, you're not losing anything, and there's always the option to watch it in 4:3, unlike a Fullscreen dvd--it's chopped, and you'll never et it back.

[Xevious]

Have a 42'' widescreen plasma downstairs... and the movies look great. So yeah, widescreen all the way.

Can I watch TV at your house? I'll bring chips and dip

[KrazyKefka]

Widescreen all the way. I don't have a widescreen TV, but it doesn't bother me any. I just like to see everything that's going on.

[tcrash247]

I used to be fullscreen for so long. I liked having my movies cover my whole tv screen. Then I was watching Return of the King and I said to myself, "I'm missing half the damn battle! Whats wrong with me?!" Then I started buying widscreen dvds. The picture is still pretty big when I use the 50 inch tv in the basement, even though its an old projection big screen. I'll get a WS tv eventually. But now I have too many fullscreen dvds, so I'm screwed when I buy a WS tv.

[KingDox]

WS, it's so much better. My mom didn't like the bars for such a long time, but now that shows like ER and such are in WS she's gotten used to it.

[coolsteel]

I don't think fullscreen is ever 'chopped' to widescreen. A matte could be opened up, which is sometimes good and sometimes bad, but the real 'chopping' comes from wide to 'full.' Some [very few] films are composed to fit both WS and fullscreen presentations.
TV series, especially ones older than say 5 years, are quite likely to be 4:3, and I don't have a problem with that--they are shown in their OAR, and again, even if you 'stretch' it, you're not losing anything, and there's always the option to watch it in 4:3, unlike a Fullscreen dvd--it's chopped, and you'll never et it back.

It happens, off the top of my head the Kung Fu t.v series from what the 70's was cropped to widescreen for some odd reason.

[Theenternal]

My only FF are things like TF/GI joe the movie, plus some other toon tv shows.

Altough it would be nice if TF was in WS ;)

[Moxio]

Widescreen all the way.

[CaptainObviousXl]

lol the people that released back to the future dvds a year ago just added bars to the full screen of the last to movies casuse the ran out of time befor the holidays. The people that noticed got the real thing for free in the mail, but i feel sorry for those who had no idea

[Kaijufan]

Right now its 71 to 3, so it looks like we have a lot of smart people on CAG. I cant wait to get my widescreen Star Wars tomarrow, because it will be the first time Ive seen them in widescreen (except for when the special editions were in theaters).

[fireball343]

WS all the way,
a 70 inch mits. not widescreen though, just regular. but still is great for the movies. fullscreen is a modified version of the original with cutting and ...
PAN and SCAN!!!

[Saucy Jack]

lol the people that released back to the future dvds a year ago just added bars to the full screen of the last to movies casuse the ran out of time befor the holidays. The people that noticed got the real thing for free in the mail, but i feel sorry for those who had no idea

Actually, I believe that it was just matted incorrectly. The special effects shots were matted fine because they are hard matted and there is no way to screw it up. However, I believe it was a scenario like this (may not be exact, but it's a similar situation):

BTTF is supposed to be displayed at 1.85:1. The director's intended picture is shown when the top and bottom are equally matted. However, BTTF looks botched because someone just double-matted the bottom. It shows more at the top, but the bottom is cut off.

Sorry if that is confusing, by the way. I think that they matted too much of the bottom.

[regisphilbi0]

Fullscreen is for whiners. WS FOREVER!!

[beerguy961]

Whatever the movie was shot in. Prefer widescreen...

[fieldkillah]

OAR, If my favorite movie of all time came out in MAR I wouldnt even consider buying it. The only exception is director MAR, where it is changed but the director approved it, such as with Evil Dead book of the dead edition which is widescreen even though the OAR is full-frame, but is approved by Sam Raimi.

[Gameboy415]

The only time I'd ever willingly buy a Fullscreen DVD is if there is not a Widescreen version available and it was at a great price (like Joe's Apartment for $6).

Otherwise, Widescreen me baby.