Trooper Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 I love DVD. Greatest thing since sliced bread. But... If you buy the widescreen version of a DVD because you spent $3k on a 16:9 HDTV you would think they would master the DVD entirely in widescreen format. What I've found is the menu is almost always in 4:3 format which means the top and bottom get cut off on the widescreen TV. This wouldn't be a big deal except I've watched several movies where they placed the menu selections (play movie, scene selection, extras, etc.) along the top or bottom and I can't see them until I track down the TV remote and cycle through the screen formats. Then I have to cycle back through to where I was to watch the movie. Gripe #2: Why can't they decide on a standard way to present the DVD information (screen format, surround format, channels, etc.) on the outside of a DVD case? For instance, many just say Dolby Digital but not how many channels. A Christmas Story is DD but mono. Sometimes it's hard to find and be sure a DVD is widescreen. One of the DVDs I got for Christmas was labeled "Full Screen" which my Dad thought meant "Full Screen" on my 16:9 TV but actually means full screen on a standard TV. I know these aren't the end of the world but they would be so easy to fix if the DVD makers wanted to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornEd Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 Ahh, Trooper, sounds like you have been renting your DVD's from tired stocks of oldies but goodies. Widescreen 16:9 is the format of the future that is rapidly becoming standard. About two-thirds of my collection of 300 or so DVD's are either in 1.85:1 or the even more elongated "letterbox" format (approx 2.35:1) as a hangover from the Cinamascope days when movie houses were fighting home tv (1.35:1 or 4:3) for market share. Sometimes you can avoid the problem by looking at the DVD stats BEFORE you rent it. For example, last year Blockbuster had the "Grinch" only in the 4:3 mode whether you rented it or bought it. It's competitor, Hollywood, had it for the same price but only in Widescreen. The big national rental companies often buy versions of DVD movies that may have less than one might desire. One of my pet peeves is that Blockbuster often buys versions of movies that do not have dts on them... even though dts was available on the movie and the dts logo is included in the screen credits. The reason is two fold. First, Blockbuster can buy 'em for less if they don't have to pay the royalties for the dts version. Secondly, dts is less compacted sound... so it takes more "real estate" on the disc... which means there is less room for the "extras" they can brag about and few people bother with. So, its back to caveat emptor ("let the buyer beware") when buying or renting... because all DVD's of a given movie are NOT created equal! =HornEd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trooper Posted December 30, 2002 Author Share Posted December 30, 2002 ---------------- ... For example, last year Blockbuster had the "Grinch" only in the 4:3 mode whether you rented it or bought it. It's competitor, Hollywood, had it for the same price but only in Widescreen. So, its back to caveat emptor ("let the buyer beware") when buying or renting... because all DVD's of a given movie are NOT created equal! =HornEd ---------------- That's exactly why I haven't seen "Grinch"! Blockbuster only had the P&S (pan and scan) version. I did receive the widescreen version for Christmas this year though. A couple of weeks ago while at Blockbuster I noticed a movie I thought would be great in the home theater ("K-19" I think) but they only had the P&S version...although they did have about 50 copies for rent. I didn't get it because it wasn't widescreen. I'm not a "widescreen snob" per se. Pre-DVD, I always hated it when the videotape started out with "This film has been modified to fit your screen"! Ugh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornEd Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 I agree on the "snob" issue, Trooper. But, I will also say that the 16:9 format and dts 5.1 (or above) definitely puts me more in the buying mood. =HornEd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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