stupid question but.. what is the difference between 4:3 pan scan and 4:3 letterbox

[korgoth]

arent these the same?

my sony dvd payer has 4:3 pan scan, 4:3 letterbox

whats the difference, they are both made for a 4:3

 

[claudermilk]

The letterbox setting will give you the movie's whole frame with the black bars at the top & bottom; this applies to a standard 4:3 TV screen. The 16:9 is for widescreen TVs.
The pan & scan is what you usually see when movies make it to TV, the whole screen is filled, but the ends of the original theatrical frame are chopped off. I avoid pan & scan wherever I can.

 

[Audioholics]

The pan & scan is what you usually see when movies make it to TV

Meaning 4:3 TV of course. More and more things are showing up in widescreen - and hopefully this will be the standard in a very short time.

 

[korgoth]

yeah i remembered that movies are cut to pan scan or remain as widescreen letterbox, but the settings here are both in 4:3..

i just didnt know what the difference between it was. they both look the same.

it porportions the movie to fit into a TV (4:3) right? how come there are 2 different ones.

 

[Audioholics]

Please read this article.