Why so many fullscreen DVD's???

[Hi Ho]

It drives me nuts! I was looking for The Bourne Identity today (for some reason I only have the sequal) and I could not find it in widescreen! I don't want to watch a movie with 30% of the picture cut off.

I have accidentally purchased several fullscreen DVD's in the past year. Now it seems that fullscreen is more common than widescreen in stores like Wal-Mart and Best Buy. When DVD's were newer fullscreen was almost nonexistant! Why so many now? One of the main advantages of DVD's is the widescreen format.

Now, I might answer my own question here, I have a theory. I overheard people talking in Wal-Mart. They were looking for a DVD and one said, "where's the fullscreen version?"... "why?", says the other... "because it's better, you see the whole thing".

I'm guessing that's the thought process of most people. Why don't the movie companies educate people about the advantages of widescreen, even on a 4:3 TV, instead of give into the people that don't know any better and make it difficult for those who want to see a movie in its entirety?

Fullscreen should be banned! It's a relic from the days of VHS! *shudders*

[racquetman]

We need to get this DTV transition over and done with and eliminate 4:3 altogether. That probably won't happen, but I can dream.

I haven't had any problems finding the widescreen version of movies, but then again I'd never buy a movie from Walmart. The Best Buy stores that I shop at always have the widescreen versions, except when they are trying to get rid of the fullscreen versions by putting them on sale. That might be what you are running into at Best Buy.

Educating people will do no good in this matter. As you said, people just a want to see the entire TV filled. They don't care if the sides of the movie are missing. Unthinkable to you and I, but very tolerable to them.

We're coming at this from a selfish point of view. We know what we want, we think what we want is right, and we want everyone else who doesn't want what we want to get out of our way (that's a lot of wants ;) ). That being said, I feel your pain!!

[mpompey]

I've undertaken the painful hobby of educating people if I hear them talking in whispered and confused tones about Fullscreen vs Widescreen vs Anamorphic. I don't know maybe I'm a teacher at heart! But I can say that I've converted 2 Full screeners into Widescreen buyers.

I hear that Suncoast Motion Picture company is going to stop selling VHS movies in its stores come January. Can king VHS be dead?

[Hi Ho]

Hahah, well I don't even have a widescreen TV yet and I can't stand fullscreen. Maybe it is selfish but it's for the better! :)

Wal-Mart is the only real store within 20 minutes of my house. If I want to go anywhere else I have to drive another 30 minutes to Olympia. I think I'm going to start DVD shopping online. I forgot about Newegg's DVD section! I'm browsing through it now. :)

[mpompey]

I hit Wally world every now and then. They're usually are the cheapest.

But lately I've been visiting Suncoast Motion Picture Company. They have a small store in the train station I use to go to work.

Two birds with one stone, especially during the holiday season. They're a couple of dollars more, but I'll pay that to trade in the huge crowds, no parking, and picked over selection at Wally World.

MP

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

We need to get this DTV transition over and done with and eliminate 4:3 altogether.

DTV does not mean HDTV or widescreen. DFS will be the primarily television ratio for years to come. Especially on basic cable.

[Jack Hammer]

I have a few friends that absolutely hate widescreen movies. They always complain that they can't see whats going on because everything is so tiny. Then they argue with me that if widescreen is better, then why does television show most everything in full frame?

I think it's a matter of preference and what people are used to. It took me a while to get used to watching is widescreen and now it's hard for me to watch a movie on tv and not get irritated by the pan & scan effects that are so noticeable. Personally I think widescreen is the way to go, but that's just my opinion...

Jeff

[racquetman]

DTV does not mean HDTV or widescreen. DFS will be the primarily television ratio for years to come. Especially on basic cable.

I realize that, Ninja, but of the 18 standards in the DTV package, plenty of them call for 16 x 9, so a person can hope ;) .

[cmusic]

The nearest DVD "store" near me is Wal-Mart.:( I have to drive 70 miles to get to a Best Buy, Circuit City, Suncoast Video, ect... For most of the popular movies Wal-Mart is fairly good, but I have to buy the new releases within 2 weeks if I want the widescreen versions. It seems after two weeks all the widescreen DVDs vanish and all that are left are full screen versions.:(

Personally if Wal-Mart does not have the DVD I want I usually order it from Amazon.com. They usually send me DVDs within 2-3 days after ordering.

And like above, I have a few friends that don't like widescreen TVs. But only one has been constantly reluntant to watch anything on a widescreen. But she also stands 6" away from a plasma TV and complains about the "dots".

[ducker]

I'd wager that stores like Wal-Mart and Target do have customers that enjoy fullscreen over widescreen... Yet, those people that are more likely to buy a DVD will purchase the widescreen version... thus your problem exists... if there's a run on a particular DVD, you'll find they have fullscreens in stock but not widescreens. I had this problem when buying the "Potter" movies. Not to menion I'm rather pissed the 3rd Year movie was in a difference case from the first two... :/

[Naves74]

The nearest DVD "store" near me is Wal-Mart.:( I have to drive 70 miles to get to a Best Buy, Circuit City, Suncoast Video, ect... For most of the popular movies Wal-Mart is fairly good, but I have to buy the new releases within 2 weeks if I want the widescreen versions. It seems after two weeks all the widescreen DVDs vanish and all that are left are full screen versions.:(

Personally if Wal-Mart does not have the DVD I want I usually order it from Amazon.com. They usually send me DVDs within 2-3 days after ordering.

And like above, I have a few friends that don't like widescreen TVs. But only one has been constantly reluntant to watch anything on a widescreen. But she also stands 6" away from a plasma TV and complains about the "dots".

Same problem I have. I am the same distance from any big box store and have to buy dvd's at wal-mart.

People love fullscreen. Almost everyone I know buys the fullscreen version for the simple fact it doesnt have "bars" on the screen. You explain to them that you miss 30% of the movie and they say, "How can that be you have the bars on the screen?" To each thier own. If they want fullscreen let them have it. But it is a pain in the rear when you go to wal-mart they are selling all three Jurasic Parks for $9.99 each, ohh but wait they are in fullscreen.:rolleyes:

[ragged]

Aren'tthe widescreen versions are more expensive than fullscreen? Is that why the "cheaper" stores like walmart, costco etc stock them more than the widescreen.

[j_garcia]

Aren'tthe widescreen versions are more expensive than fullscreen? Is that why the "cheaper" stores like walmart, costco etc stock them more than the widescreen.

No, they are the same price. It's not so much that I don't like 4:3, it's that I ABSOLUELY HATE pan & scan. How can anyone watch this and think it looks OK? 4:3 native material with no panning is OK, I can tolerate it, but I always check the package to make sure it says wide or anamorphic. I've been burned a few times accidentally buying the wrong one (FS), but in each case, I returned it unopened for the WS version.

[jake51s]

I have almost stopped buying DVD's altogether at B&M stores because I always seemed to have trouble finding the format I wanted.

I found deepdiscountdvd.com (www.deepdiscountdvd.com) and they are consistently the cheapest, especially on box sets, and have almost everything. I have great experience with their customer service and with free shipping and no tax, can't beat it. Here in TN I have 9.25% sales tax so that can add up pretty quick.

[j_garcia]

I use them as well. Gotta compare prices, because sometimes they don't have the best price, but on the whole they are great. DEFINITELY when they have the 20% off and free shipping sales :) I wait for that to come around....

[Naves74]

Ok here is the worst example of backwoods poedunkville at its finest.

So my girlfriend and I want to get a movie to watch tonight because we have watched all three of our netflix movies and the new ones have not come in yet because they dont ship on Sat.. I live in the middle of no where but we still seem to have three rental stores. One of them, Movie Gallery, is a chain and has some DVD's and most all new releases but never has anything in. So we go there and ofcoarse they dont have anything in so we cannot rent anything. We proceed to go to the next place, Smokey Mountian video. They have two dvd's of each new relase and about 12 VHS copies. So all of the DVD copies are gone. So we go to the last resort. At the third store they have all of thier dvd's in a corner of the store and the rest of the movies are VHS and take up the majority of the store. However, all of the dvd's the store has are in fullscreen. I just cant do it. I cannot stand to watch a movie in fullscreen. Call me a purist call me an elitist but I will not watch a movie with %30 of the movie cut out so I can fill my tv with a "full" image. It is rediculous they even carry VHS let alone Fullscreen DVD's.

[jmanlp]

I really think that everything should standardize on 16:9 and be done with it. I can really understand both sides of the argument. Black bars can be really distracting to some people especially on LCD/Plasma where the black bars end up being not so black. I too like watching widescreen movies and hate fullscreen because of the picture loss, but something that really bothers me is widescreen movies that are too wide for my widescreen. I would like it more if all content would perfectly fit a 16:9 TV without any shrinking/stretching/warping of the picture. It doesn't bother me so much as the picture goes, what bothers me is a lot of people who watch a movie on a widescreen tv for the first time always end up asking about the black bars.... "I thought you said it was widescreen, how come there is still black bars? It must not be wide enough." After all 16:10 like my computer monitor is very close to the golden ratio and therefore the most astetically pleasing shape. So shouldn't a 16:9 Widescreen be wide enough?