Lost in formats...

Hi,

I recently got "Casino Royalle" in Blockbuster, and the cover said
it's in original widescreen format, 2.8:1.

On my Panasonic 42 in plasma it did appear in this ratio, however the
picture seemed stretched. I used zoom mode, and it increased
vertically, after which the image appered normal. However the quality
of the image, although pretty good, was not as good as, for example,
cable HD programming.

Can anybody explain this? Do movies on DVD come in different
formats? Should I look for some specific format to get most of my TV?

Thanks,
Arkadiy

On 2007-03-27, Arkadiy wrote:
Hi,

I recently got "Casino Royalle" in Blockbuster, and the cover said
it's in original widescreen format, 2.8:1.

On my Panasonic 42 in plasma it did appear in this ratio, however the
picture seemed stretched. I used zoom mode, and it increased
vertically, after which the image appered normal. However the quality
of the image, although pretty good, was not as good as, for example,
cable HD programming.

Can anybody explain this? Do movies on DVD come in different
formats? Should I look for some specific format to get most of my TV?

You're talking about the standard DVD, not HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, right?

The original aspect ratio of the film is 2.35:1. On DVD there are both
a widescreen version, and "fullscreen" version which has been trimmed on the
sides to fit 4:3 television screens.

You have the widescreen version?

It sounds like you've got some sort of aspect control problem either in your
DVD player or in your display.

An ordinary DVD will not look as good as quality HD broadcast or cable because
is has less resolution. DVDs have a maximum of 720x480 pixels (NTSC), where HD
programs are either 1280x720 or 1920x1080.

-Bill
--
Sattre Press Pagan Papers
http://sattre-press.com/ by Kenneth Grahame
http://sattre-press.com/pp.html

"Arkadiy" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi,

I recently got "Casino Royalle" in Blockbuster, and the cover said
it's in original widescreen format, 2.8:1.

========================
The cover of the actual package says 2.40:1.
========================

On my Panasonic 42 in plasma it did appear in this ratio, however the
picture seemed stretched. I used zoom mode, and it increased
vertically, after which the image appered normal. However the quality
of the image, although pretty good, was not as good as, for example,
cable HD programming.
=========================
Your DVD player and/or your TV are not set properly.
==========================

Can anybody explain this? Do movies on DVD come in different
formats? Should I look for some specific format to get most of my TV?

Thanks,
Arkadiy

=======================
Movies come in MANY formats.
The most common are 1.33:1, 1.66:1, 1.85:1, 2.35:1, 2.40:1
All will display in different aspect ratios on a properly set up DVD/TV !

On Tue, 27 Mar 2007 12:39:02 -0700, "Richard C."
wrote:

"Arkadiy" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,

I recently got "Casino Royalle" in Blockbuster, and the cover said
it's in original widescreen format, 2.8:1.

========================
The cover of the actual package says 2.40:1.
========================

On my Panasonic 42 in plasma it did appear in this ratio, however the
picture seemed stretched. I used zoom mode, and it increased
vertically, after which the image appered normal. However the quality
of the image, although pretty good, was not as good as, for example,
cable HD programming.
=========================
Your DVD player and/or your TV are not set properly.
==========================

Can anybody explain this? Do movies on DVD come in different
formats? Should I look for some specific format to get most of my TV?

Thanks,
Arkadiy

=======================
Movies come in MANY formats.
The most common are 1.33:1, 1.66:1, 1.85:1, 2.35:1, 2.40:1
All will display in different aspect ratios on a properly set up DVD/TV !

You could add that DVD:s come in 2 different SIGNAL FORMATS.
4:3 or 16:9.
To have the content display in the correct aspect ratio, the only
thing that has to be known by the display is the signal format.
Then the (letterboxed) content will display correctly (if the display
is designed to do that.
/Jan

Richard C. wrote:
On my Panasonic 42 in plasma it did appear in this ratio, however the
picture seemed stretched. I used zoom mode, and it increased
vertically, after which the image appered normal. However the quality
of the image, although pretty good, was not as good as, for example,
cable HD programming.
=========================
Your DVD player and/or your TV are not set properly.
==========================

I suspect his DVD player is set to output to a 4:3 TV. This is a
common problem with people buying wide screen TVs and not resetting the
output to 16:9 for their current (or new) DVD player.

Alan

On Mar 27, 5:39 pm, Alan F wrote:
Richard C. wrote:
On my Panasonic 42 in plasma it did appear in this ratio, however the
picture seemed stretched. I used zoom mode, and it increased
vertically, after which the image appered normal. However the quality
of the image, although pretty good, was not as good as, for example,
cable HD programming.
=========================
Your DVD player and/or your TV are not set properly.
==========================

I suspect his DVD player is set to output to a 4:3 TV. This is a
common problem with people buying wide screen TVs and not resetting the
output to 16:9 for their current (or new) DVD player.

Alan

That was exactly it. I changed the setting, and now everything shows
OK. Now I have to watch again all the movies I've watched in the last
month Thanks!

Arkadiy