Theater Version VS DVD version

[spirit]

I was just wondering, if I go see a movie with the aspect ratio of 2.35 : 1 and it comes out on DVD and I get the wide screen version, is the picture exactly the same as in the theater? Or does it being on DVD cut off a little of the picture? Like does it cut off from the sides or from the top and bottom at all when on DVD opposed to being the theater version?

I was just wondering because it looks no different from theater versions, but some people say it cuts a bit off no matter if the DVD is in wide screen.

Does anyone know for sure?

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum, spirit!

That's a good question. I always thought that it was exactly the same as in the theater, but I'd never heard otherwise. I'm curious to see what others have to say.

 

[Adam]

I did a Google search on "are widescreen dvds the same as theater", and this site came up (among others) that you might find helpful: http://www.audiolinks.nl/anamorphic/anamorphic.htm

 

[j_garcia]

Anamorphic does not apply to high def (Blu-ray) though. Your TV has an effect on what you end up with as well and what viewing mode you use. You can choose on the player as well, to display in either anamorphic or letterbox. Letterbox will display the entire image, while anamorphic will stretch to "mostly" fit the screen (16:9), however some of the image is cropped off on either side. So, how the movie is formatted itself can change what you see as well. In other words, there are a LOT of factors

 

[mtrycrafts]

I was just wondering, if I go see a movie with the aspect ratio of 2.35 : 1 and it comes out on DVD and I get the wide screen version, is the picture exactly the same as in the theater? Or does it being on DVD cut off a little of the picture? Like does it cut off from the sides or from the top and bottom at all when on DVD opposed to being the theater version?

I was just wondering because it looks no different from theater versions, but some people say it cuts a bit off no matter if the DVD is in wide screen.

Does anyone know for sure?

Check the back cover of a DVD for aspect ratio. I bet it is the same as in the theater.

 

[jostenmeat]

I was just wondering because it looks no different from theater versions, but some people say it cuts a bit off no matter if the DVD is in wide screen.

What j said. I've even seen screen shots of some dvd or bd version that had MORE picture than the theatrical. (Someone complained that a certain release was missing some pic compared to a different version/format, and it was interesting to see it being said that it was because they actually introduced more material that happened to be chopped off for the theatrical version).

Crazy.

 

[supervij]

I've noticed some chopping off at the theatre! Very often, I'll notice some picture on the curtains to the sides of the screen and in the area above and below the screen! I assume they want to make the image as large as possible, so they zoom it just a wee bit, figuring that there's nothing of interest in those areas.

Consider also that there's a bit of overscan on a lot of TVs. When using a test pattern such as DVE or the one on HDNet, I notice that there's something like 3% or something on each side that's cut off. So it's possible that you may NEVER see the full image! (Maybe if you watch it on a computer monitor.)

cheers,
supervij