Widescreen TV aspect ratio?

I always thought that the aspect ratio of widescreen TV's was 16:9 but when
I had a look at the properties of my DivX and Xvid files in Media Player the
aspect ratio it shows is not 16:9 (1.78:1) but 1.82:1 which is almost
identical to Panavision (1.84:1) even though the source is supposed to be
16:9 and I have set it to mark the files as being in 16:9 ratio.

Why are the DivX and Xvid codecs playing back my files in 1.82:1 aspect
ratio which is also refered to as 20:11, even though the encoders do not set
such a ratio instead of the actual 16:9 ratio I recorded the files in.

Has the aspect ratio of widescreen TV been changed to Panavision instead of
16:9. Are movies made in Panavision being squished to fit into 16:9 or are
the letter boxed or do they have their ends chopped off?

In article , Agamemnon
wrote:

I always thought that the aspect ratio of widescreen TV's was 16:9 but when
I had a look at the properties of my DivX and Xvid files in Media Player the
aspect ratio it shows is not 16:9 (1.78:1) but 1.82:1 which is almost
identical to Panavision (1.84:1) even though the source is supposed to be
16:9 and I have set it to mark the files as being in 16:9 ratio.

Why are the DivX and Xvid codecs playing back my files in 1.82:1 aspect
ratio which is also refered to as 20:11, even though the encoders do not set
such a ratio instead of the actual 16:9 ratio I recorded the files in.

Has the aspect ratio of widescreen TV been changed to Panavision instead of
16:9. Are movies made in Panavision being squished to fit into 16:9 or are
the letter boxed or do they have their ends chopped off?

Widescreen TVs are indeed 16 x 9, which as you say is less wide than a
Panavision picture. Terrestrial stations habitually clip the edges of
the Panavision picture to fill the entire screen. Sky Movies usuall
show Panavision films in the full width, with black bars top and
bottom; so do most DVDs.

Your DivX and Xvid files have very possibly been encoded with the full
Panavision picture - like any computer graphic the horizontal and
vertical size in pixels can be anything you like since the image/movie
specifies it. Playing them back on the computer should result in the
correct aspect ratio, either in a window or filling the screen width
with bars above and below. Playing them onto a widescreen television
depends on how the program playing them handles it. The TV may resize
them to 16 x 9 by squashing them, or clip them, or lettebox them.

Of course not all films are Panavision, and some films made from the
late 1950s on, other than CinemaScope, Panavision etc., have apsect
ratios wider than 4x3 - usually around 1.66:1. These are usually
cropped to 4x3 by TV, but sometimes are cropped to 16x9, which works
fairly well. VistaVision is a special case, since the wide-ish picture
can be shown in varying aspect ratios and the original photography
allows for this (hence the odd marker in the top right-hand corner at
the start of every reel).

"Agamemnon" wrote in message
...
I always thought that the aspect ratio of widescreen TV's was 16:9 but when
I had a look at the properties of my DivX and Xvid files in Media Player
the aspect ratio it shows is not 16:9 (1.78:1) but 1.82:1 which is almost
identical to Panavision (1.84:1) even though the source is supposed to be
16:9 and I have set it to mark the files as being in 16:9 ratio.

Why are the DivX and Xvid codecs playing back my files in 1.82:1 aspect
ratio which is also refered to as 20:11, even though the encoders do not
set such a ratio instead of the actual 16:9 ratio I recorded the files in.

Has the aspect ratio of widescreen TV been changed to Panavision instead
of 16:9. Are movies made in Panavision being squished to fit into 16:9 or
are the letter boxed or do they have their ends chopped off?



because you like doing cats up the bum.





--
Gareth.

That fly... is your magic wand.
http://www.last.fm/user/dsbmusic/

On Sat, 26 May 2007 09:40:04 +0100, "Agamemnon"
wrote:

I always thought that the aspect ratio of widescreen TV's was 16:9 but when
I had a look at the properties of my DivX and Xvid files in Media Player the
aspect ratio it shows is not 16:9 (1.78:1) but 1.82:1 which is almost
identical to Panavision (1.84:1) even though the source is supposed to be
16:9 and I have set it to mark the files as being in 16:9 ratio.

This is actually correct.

Standard definition 'PAL' widescreen digital TV is based on a screen
720 pixels wide by 576 pixels high (using a non-square pixel aspect
ratio of 1.46:1).

However, the actual 16:9 portion of this image is not the full 720 x
576, it's actually 702 x 576, for various dull historical reasons to
do with analogue blanking and stuff.

So, if you expand 702 x 576 by the pixel aspect of 1.46:1, you get
1025 x 576, which is 1.78:1 or 16:9.

However, if you expand 720 x 576 by 1.46:1, you get 1056 x 576, which
is 1.82:1, as you have found.

The bottom line is that what you think of as a 16:9 or 1.78:1 picture
is actually a 1.82:1 picture - it's a 16:9 picture with a little bit
of extra at both sides. Technically these should be blanked off to
black, but it's completely normal to fill them with picture instead.
There's nothing wrong with doing that, but it does lead to some
confusion in the broadcast industry. Even some of the big-boys like
Sony Broadcast have got this wrong, so when their HD VTR's
down-convert true 16:9 HD to standard def, they convert from 1920 x
1080 to 720 x 576, whereas they should actually be converting it to
702 x 576 and adding 9 black pixels at each side of the picture.

Steve



The Doctor Who Restoration Team Website
http://www.restoration-team.co.uk

"Steve Roberts" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 26 May 2007 09:40:04 +0100, "Agamemnon"
wrote:

I always thought that the aspect ratio of widescreen TV's was 16:9 but
when
I had a look at the properties of my DivX and Xvid files in Media Player
the
aspect ratio it shows is not 16:9 (1.78:1) but 1.82:1 which is almost
identical to Panavision (1.84:1) even though the source is supposed to be
16:9 and I have set it to mark the files as being in 16:9 ratio.

This is actually correct.

Except that Panavision isn't 1.84:1 or anything like it )

(kim)

On Sat, 26 May 2007 13:56:06 +0100, "kim" wrote:

Except that Panavision isn't 1.84:1 or anything like it )

Ah, true, Dr. P! But I wasn't referring to that bit of his post, as
well you know!

Steve



The Doctor Who Restoration Team Website
http://www.restoration-team.co.uk

"kim" wrote in message
...
"Steve Roberts" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 26 May 2007 09:40:04 +0100, "Agamemnon"
wrote:

I always thought that the aspect ratio of widescreen TV's was 16:9 but
when
I had a look at the properties of my DivX and Xvid files in Media Player
the
aspect ratio it shows is not 16:9 (1.78:1) but 1.82:1 which is almost
identical to Panavision (1.84:1) even though the source is supposed to be
16:9 and I have set it to mark the files as being in 16:9 ratio.

This is actually correct.

Except that Panavision isn't 1.84:1 or anything like it )

1.85:1

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconVall...pectratio.html




(kim)

Agamemnon wrote:
"kim" wrote in message
...
"Steve Roberts" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 26 May 2007 09:40:04 +0100, "Agamemnon"
wrote:

I always thought that the aspect ratio of widescreen TV's was 16:9
but when
I had a look at the properties of my DivX and Xvid files in Media
Player the
aspect ratio it shows is not 16:9 (1.78:1) but 1.82:1 which is
almost identical to Panavision (1.84:1) even though the source is
supposed to be 16:9 and I have set it to mark the files as being
in 16:9 ratio.

This is actually correct.

Except that Panavision isn't 1.84:1 or anything like it )

1.85:1

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconVall...pectratio.html

Panavision is a company not an aspect ratio idiot, and that site's a load of
********, you stupid gimp.

--
ThePunisher

"Agamemnon" wrote in message
...
I always thought that the aspect ratio of widescreen TV's was 16:9 but when
I had a look at the properties of my DivX and Xvid files in Media Player
the aspect ratio it shows is not 16:9 (1.78:1) but 1.82:1 which is almost
identical to Panavision (1.84:1) even though the source is supposed to be
16:9 and I have set it to mark the files as being in 16:9 ratio.

Why are the DivX and Xvid codecs playing back my files in 1.82:1 aspect
ratio which is also refered to as 20:11, even though the encoders do not
set such a ratio instead of the actual 16:9 ratio I recorded the files in.

Has the aspect ratio of widescreen TV been changed to Panavision instead
of 16:9. Are movies made in Panavision being squished to fit into 16:9 or
are the letter boxed or do they have their ends chopped off?

Take a walk through the wide screen museum
http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/

In article ,
says...
Agamemnon wrote:
"kim" wrote in message
...
"Steve Roberts" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 26 May 2007 09:40:04 +0100, "Agamemnon"
wrote:

I always thought that the aspect ratio of widescreen TV's was 16:9
but when
I had a look at the properties of my DivX and Xvid files in Media
Player the
aspect ratio it shows is not 16:9 (1.78:1) but 1.82:1 which is
almost identical to Panavision (1.84:1) even though the source is
supposed to be 16:9 and I have set it to mark the files as being
in 16:9 ratio.

This is actually correct.

Except that Panavision isn't 1.84:1 or anything like it )

1.85:1

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconVall...pectratio.html

Panavision is a company not an aspect ratio idiot, and that site's a load of
********, you stupid gimp.

Ooh, look at Mr Perfect there(!)
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot uk
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