What is the difference in the widescreen ratios?

Question

I know there is and 2.35:1 and 1.85:1 aspect ratios for widescreen dvds. Whats the difference on these and what do they use in theater? Does the picture get distorted or cramped when being transfered to dvd?

Also, what is the difference between anamorphic widescreen and regular widescreen?

Answer 1

Hi.In 1953 20TH Century Fox released the first feature film in CinemaScope "The Robe" .It was filmed with an Anamorphic lens which "squeezed "the image onto a 1.33:1 film frame.When projected in the Cinema through another anamorphic lens the image was "unsqueezed"and projected onto the screen with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

In the early 1950s producer Michael Todd with the help of The American Optical Company invented a new widescreen process namedTodd -AO. It was filmed on 70 mm 6 track stereophonic magnetic film.It projected faster than the normal ,at 30 frames per second.The optical lens photographed an image 128 degrees wide.and was projected onto a deeply curved screen.Oklahoma!,South Pacific and The Sound of Music were some of the movies shot in Todd-AO.

MGM developed a process they named MGM Camera 65. It had an aspect ratio of 2.75:1 which was one of the widest ever made.The 1959 movie "Ben-Hur was shot with this system.

Other companies started to appear .Panavision 70mm [2.2:1 to 2.35:1 ],Technirama [2.35:1] VistaVision [from 1.66:1 to 2.:1] Super Cinerama 70mm[2.20:1] Metroscope[2:1]

Most of these companies folded due to increased costs. Panavision is the only main company that has lasted.
Panavision photographs with anamorphic 35mm film and projects onto the screen with 70mm .Some movies today are shot in the 1.85:1 ratio which is close to 16:9 widescreen.

All DVDs are capable of retaining the original aspect ratio that was used in the movie and there is no distortion issues to deal with.

Answer 2

Old movie screens used to be 4:3. Basically square, but sideways peripheral vision is a little wider than vertical.

When television became available to the public, the movie theaters needed something to keep attendance. And Panavision was introduced. It was wider (more panoramic) than basic square TV screens. Film shot in widescreen simply wasted the top and bottom of the film, creating the letterbox effect you see on some movies on TV. The aspect was 1.85:1

Why HDTV chose 16:9 (or essentially 1.78:1) as an aspect ratio, I don't know. But it's close enough to 1.85:1 that it doesn't really matter.

So, in ever competing fashion, movies are going to the ultra-widescreen aspect of 2.35:1.

When transferring a normal widescreen image to TV, there were a couple methods. One was to simply cut off the sides to make it match the old 4:3 ratio. Some scenes were too wide for that to work, so in conversion they used a 'Pan and Scan' method to try keeping as much action as possible in the limited width.

Those methods are still used today for the 'Full Screen' versions of movies, so you could say that the picture does get distorted in a way. It's not an exact replica of the original.

Answer 3

2.35 and 1.85 are pretty much the standards for movies these days, and it usually goes Thrillers, Action, Drama or the like are filmed in 2.35:1, while Comedies and Documentaries etc. are usually filmed in 1.85:1. Usually but not all the time.

Pictures never get distorted when transfered to DVD from all that I've seen anyway (I have seen an awful lot of DVD's) but when a movie is "modified" for Fullscreens it cuts off a lot of film. Here's a good example of how much is lost. The orange box is what you see with Fullscreen transfers

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/74/PanScan7BridesPan.gif

Answer 4

Wide-screen standard for HDTV are16:9(1.78:1) Anything wider than this will be letter-boxed.

Theater screens can accommodate a wider range of screen ratios. Therefore you won't see the Letterbox effect you see on 16:9 Wide-screen TVs.

Anamorphic or "enhanced for wide-screen" means that these movies will fill the entire screen of your Wide-screen TV.

Pictures do not get distorted when they are put on DVD. You get more of picture than you would with "pan-and-scan" utilized on VHS. Which is basically cropping of a wide film on the left and right to make the picture "fit" on a standard 4:3(1.33:1) screen.

Answer 5

The easiest way to understand these questions is to click these links:

This one explains (with pictures) the difference in ASPECT RATIOS: http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/aspectratios/widescreenorama.html

This one explains (with more pictures) what ANAMORPHIC is all about: http://thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/anamorphic185demo.html

Answer 6

The classic movie screen, and older televisions, used a 4:3 ratio. Wide screen TV's use 16:9.