Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by David Aiken (A) on March 12, 2008 at 13:30:32

In Reply to: RE: "but which are mastered for display on 4:3 TV screens." The proper designation would be... posted by clarkjohnsen on March 12, 2008 at 09:39:32

anamorphic discs play full width in the correct proportions on both 16:9 and 4:3 screens. Anamorphic discs are mastered to give best results on 16:9 screens and good results on 4:3 screens.

The discs I'm talking about are mastered specifically for 4:3 screens but show the movie in it's original film aspect as opposed to a full screen pan and scan treatment that fills the screen by cutting off the edges and showing the central part of the image only.

The "Widescreen" label on the DVD packaging—note I'm talking about the use of the word "Widescreen" purely on its own—in these cases refers to the fact that the film is shown in it's original cinema widescreen format and does not refer to the TV screen format for which it has been mastered.

Note also that the discs I'm talking about don't say "Enhanced for Widescreen". That statement is used to say that the discs are mastered for display on a 16:9 format TV.

A good explanation of screen and film formats and anamorphic DVDs can be found at the Digital Bits link below.




David Aiken

• Guide to Anamorphic   (Open in New Window)