Widescreen or Full Screen?

[GameMaster]

When I first started buying DVDs I wasn't conscious of the two different formats. When I got my first one or two widescreen DVDs, I just thought it was purely an aethestic choice for people who liked the black bars on the top and bottom or for people that had widescreen TVs. What I didn't know at the time was that widescreen actually contains the whole picture while full screen cuts some of the picture out because of the ratio difference between the theatre screens and TV screens. Anyway, before I knew this, I chose full screen because it seemed to me like you were getting more considering your whole screen is filled as opposed to widescreen where the top and bottom of my TV would just lay useless filling in black bars. Having become enlightened, I think I may have made the wrong choice buying full screen DVDs.

What's your opinion?

Here's a good example site to show what I'm talking about:

http://www.starwars.com/episode-ii/release/video/f20020925/index.html

[Dyne]

I accidentally bought Serenity in Full Screen and have already opened it.

I watch all my personal DVDs on my TV downstairs, which would need Fullscreen anyways. But I love those black bars (see: avatar/signature) and chopped screen isn't cool.

[Canyarion]

I hate what they did to Jurassic Park on DVD. Now I can't show people the mistake of the landing helicopter. :(

[Happydude]

i prefer widescreen...although if the TV is small or if i'm watching something on my PC i would prefer full screen.

[The Duggler]

They shouldn't be allowed to release full screen DVDs. It's just stupid.

[Jonbo298]

I dont own a Widescreen TV yet but I always buy the Widescreen versions of DVDs to be prepared for when I do have one and not regret always having full screen when my Widescreen TV has black bars on the left/right or stretch the image and make it ugly.

I've grown used to the black bars on top/bottom of my regular TV. Its not a bother to me.

[Null]

never understood why people got fullscreen movies.

especially since most dvd player now have a zoom option that can turn a widescreen into a full... so with widescreen movies you get both in 1. (altho i dont use that option, i'd rather have the full picture.. but still. if you actually for some odd reason did want it fullscreen.... get wide and zoom it.)

[Canyarion]

But as GM and I said, they sometimes cut off pieces from the top and bottom (as in Jurassic Park).

[Null]

no not sometimes. theres something about that jp one your talking about, whether they just goofed up or something else to it. but movies that are made in widescreen wont be cut off, because it would throw off the perportions of it.

perhaps they just didnt think anyone would ever actually buy jp :p


and gm said he became enlightened as to whats really going on. im not seeing where he said anything that agrees with that.

[Canyarion]

Ah, I now see that I misunderstood GM. Guess I was too upset about JP. :baby:

[Null]

i've looked up about jp, i have found absolutly nothing yet that says top and bottom were actually cut when made in widescreen. i mean i could get ahold of the dvd to look at it easily..but i'd have nothing to compare it to.. you comparing the fullscreen dvd to widescreen? or fullscreen vhs to wide dvd or what?

what version do you have? is it an actual copy?

[Dylflon]

Widescreen for me.


Always.

[thatmariolover]

never understood why people got fullscreen movies.

especially since most dvd player now have a zoom option that can turn a widescreen into a full... so with widescreen movies you get both in 1. (altho i dont use that option, i'd rather have the full picture.. but still. if you actually for some odd reason did want it fullscreen.... get wide and zoom it.)

They don't autopan from left and right when action switches places on screen though; which is one of the features that I think needs to be added to HD-DVD. The ability to provide panning information so that there only needs to be one format of DVD instead of worrying about Full Screen and Wide Screen really seems like common sense to me.

As for me, I always buy Wide Screen, but I know a few people that want Full Screen.

[Null]

They don't autopan from left and right when action switches places on screen though; which is one of the features that I think needs to be added to HD-DVD. The ability to provide panning information so that there only needs to be one format of DVD instead of worrying about Full Screen and Wide Screen really seems like common sense to me.

As for me, I always buy Wide Screen, but I know a few people that want Full Screen.


doubt it would happen, because as the media gets more and more into HD, and the switch to hd tv happens... they're all gunna be widescreen tv's anyway.. therefore just ruling out fullscreen alltogether anyway.

[Krypton]

some movies like Star Wars Episode 3 was good with widescreen, but others I prefer fullscreen.

[jeepnut]

Widescreen. Every time. Anything else is just silly.

[DeathsHand]

Always widescreen... And I have a ****-ton of movies... *counts list*... 75 DVDs, not counting the 2 or 3 music DVDs I have... And I'm sure that number will increase dramatically, as I have just recently found another job...

The only time I considered buying a Full Screen movie (VHS at the time!) was when I was dumb and like... 12 years old... Ignorant, as they say, to the differences between full and widescreen...

Now the only fullscreen movie I own is the original Night of the Living Dead... Since... It's not available in widescreen...

[Canyarion]

Null, I hope you don't doubt my Jurassic Park knowledge. ;) I've seen the movie at least 80 times.
I'm comparing the widescreen DVD (it also says Collector's Edition on it...) to VHS.

If you don't believe me, watch the DVD, skip to the scene where they explain about the DNA and cloning (the little movie with Mr. DNA). At one point, a drawn dino hatches from an egg and suddenly becomes very big. In the widescreen version, the top of the head is cut off.
And when the helicopter had landed, you can't see its position on the floor. If you could, you'd notice an inconsistency with the previous shot. :)

[Null]

i wouldnt go around saying 'jurassic park knowledge' too much. :p


and im asking so i can look up info on it. your reading too much into stuff. hehe.

[KillerGremlin]

As an owner of a Hi-Def TV....widescreen. But I bought widescreen before then. My dad informed me of the loss of picture on the sides, way long ago. A lot of my friends always got fullscreen, not that I care. Their loss.

I always thought the widescreen ratio was the ratio used on actual screens in the theaters, which would mean no image is lost on wiescreen.

[Null]

it is the actual ratio.. well there are 2, 1.85:1 and 2.35:1, a 1.85:1 would completely fill up a widescreen tv, 2.35:1 would leave black bars on even a widescreen tv. (which obviously you've seen being a hdtv owner. hehe)


but what you see in the theatre is what you get on a widescreen movie.

im wondering if maybe for Canyarion's collecters JP, they changed it kinda like a directers cut of the original.

[Canyarion]

The movie is exactly the same as the VHS version, they didn't add any deleted scenes (and I know there are deleted scenes, I remember them from the cinema [Ian Malcom (I think) picking up a toy T-Rex, making it roar and putting it down again (perhaps they weren't allowed to have their own merchandise in the movie)]).

Again I will say that I am not aware of different versions in Europe/Holland.

[Vampyr]

I prefer widescreen when it comes to buying movies on DVD. I'm a perfectionist, and I just want things to be exactly as they are supposed to be.

[Bube]

I also prefer widescreen. You can choose to watch in letterbox format even if you have a fullscreen tv anyway... Why get less for your money?

[MrCoffee]

now I have a qeustion, I am an hardcore gamer/inspiring programmer/netowrk techinion/regular trechnicion...more liek computer guru, anyway I am getting a 19inch LCD sometime nextweek. Tell me this I have a choice between a 19inch widescreen and just a regular 19. Not im wondering if this will make my gaming ability go all weird if i go widescreen, and how it will affect my workspace? Will everything get streched out or what? Give me your opinion.!!

[Dyne]

Widescreen will cost a hell of a lot more, I can tell you that.

Other than that, you might have black bars on the sides for some games? I think it all depends on your video card.

Your workspace should be fine once you install the necessary drivers.

[Null]

now I have a qeustion, I am an hardcore gamer/inspiring programmer/netowrk techinion/regular trechnicion...more liek computer guru, anyway I am getting a 19inch LCD sometime nextweek. Tell me this I have a choice between a 19inch widescreen and just a regular 19. Not im wondering if this will make my gaming ability go all weird if i go widescreen, and how it will affect my workspace? Will everything get streched out or what? Give me your opinion.!!


ah the exact same question i had when getting my new lcd monitor.

i went with the widescreen lcd. and honestly i absolutly love it.

workspace.. windows will work fine in widescreen. you should be setting the windows resolution to whatever the optimal resolution of the montor is.. mine is 1440x900. workspace is easily a lot better. you get more space left and right to work with.. move 2 windows side by side easier. its just a lot better. it came with stuff to install, but it worked as soon as i plugged it in. infact, you could probably test widescreen out right now... find a widescreen resolution and switch to it.. then go into your monitors settings and shrink the screen up and down.


gaming can get tricky. as far as for me, (i dont know if its the same for every lcd widescreen monitor) it wants to run every game in the desktop resolution. 1440x900, that worried me at first, but actually since its running at the optimal resolution, it runs them without any slowdowns or loss of frame rates at all.

Counter-Strike: Source was the easiest of the games to setup. i simply selected the widescreen ratio, and resolution and done.. the game looks BEAUTIFUL, i get an advantage over many people cuz i can see more to the left and right. and the higher resolution makes everything sharper (on my CRT before, the more i upped the resolution, the more power it needed to run the game, not the case when i put it at this resolution on the lcd)

other games is where it got tricky... Quake 3 and Quake 4 i had to go in the config and setup a custom resolution, really wasnt hard, they work perfect except for the crosshair isnt quite in perfect perportion.

Battlefield 2 doesnt support widescreen yet, but lotta people are bugging them about it, and theres some work arounds to get it working.. i got the game running in wide, but the HUD is stretched.

had to go into the config and setup warcraft 3 and unreal tournament 2004 for a custom resolution also.

i had a website that listed all the games and how to do it.

and it doent cost a lot more... 19inch wide was about the same price give or take as a normal 19inch.



I absolutly love mine. i've gotten all my games to work in it, (mine doesnt have an option to give black bars on the left and right, so if a game didnt then it would be stretched)
but most new games support wide i think now anyway.

i'd never go back to a normal monitor, wide for me. :)

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9200/desktop16pl.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=desktop16pl.jpg)

[GameMaster]

Where did you get your cool wallpaper?

[Null]

somone made that on deviantart.

[DimHalo]

I always get widescreen. When I first started getting dvds I thought full screen was better, but I didn't care much... i just bought whatever. At the time all the movies i got ended up with both options.

Now I only get widescreen unless i make a mistake. I like the way it looks better.

My mom only buys the full screen. She hates the black lines.

[Null]

well next time shes watching a movie ask her whats going on to the left and right, and when she says she doesnt know, say BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE OVER THERE! :p

why buy a movie when your not getting it all. and someday when she gets a new TV, every movie she has is going to have even thicker black lines to the left and right.


people have gotten me full screen movie as a gift before, i return em and get wide, heh.

[GameMaster]

Which begs the question, why don't DVDs just have both options on one disc? I think some of my early DVDs have both just like JS was talking about.

[Null]

a few reasons.

the few i have and have seen with both on it, have it on both sides of the disc, one is wide one is full.

reason 1. people actually like seeing a graphic on the top of the disc rather then both be a data side. more appealing to people.

reason 2. space, ones i have with both formats on the same disc dont have much in the way of special features. not a big reason, but it plays a part in some ways.

reason 3, the main reason... Money. theres a number of reasons why they get more money releasing both formats.. one i always argue is that everyone buying full screen now because they dont like black bars... will end up rebuying movies in widescreen years later when hdtv's become standard.

[MrCoffee]

Widescreen will cost a hell of a lot more, I can tell you that.

Other than that, you might have black bars on the sides for some games? I think it all depends on your video card.

Your workspace should be fine once you install the necessary drivers.


See that worries me, because they are teh same price...
19LCD (Not Widescreen) (http://www.mikescomputershop.com/product.php?productid=278&cat=120&page=1)
19inch LCD Widescreen (http://www.mikescomputershop.com/product.php?productid=279&cat=120&page=1)

The thing is they are both $369.99

[GameMaster]

Well, looking back on my collection, not all of them are full screen. Just some of the really good ones like the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. -_-

Based on the opinions and research that's presented in this thread, I'm going to start buying widescreen.

I won't be replacing the current full screen films that I have though. Sure, I'm missing out on some of the onscreen details, but all the important stuff is still visible.

Here's a side question: I've been looking at some TV series at Amazon and I noticed they don't have a widescreen specification. I assume that because they are TV shows that were designed for viewing on televisions, they are by default full screen and nothing is missing becuase that is the way they were originally filmed. Am I right?

[Null]

ahem. as i said, widescreens at the same sizes are going to be around the same price as thier normal screen brothers.

i think i looked at that acer when i was thinking about mine. the viewsonic had a better responce time and was brighter people said.

mine was 309 when i ordered it... oddly now its 325







and GM, yes most tv shows (expecially older ones are full screen only) and i cant say i've ever seen a tv show that has come in both formats.. even ones like Alias, or Lost which play on full screen for normal tv's, only come in wide screen when you buy the DVD.

[Dyne]

Oh. I guess they measure diagonally 19 inches. Then you can ignore my comment.

[MrCoffee]

i think im gona stick with the original sqaure...

[Null]

hehe. i flip flopped back and forth between that choice too.

[DimHalo]

well next time shes watching a movie ask her whats going on to the left and right, and when she says she doesnt know, say BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE OVER THERE! :p


I've actually done that. She doesn't care.

We also had a huge wide screen tv and she really didn't like that. Because all of the regular tv shows had all the blank space on either side.

She's pretty open to change, but I think this is one thing she doesn't want to budge on.


As for the two options on one disc... mine have graphics on them but there's not much for extras. I like my extras so i'll choose those over having both options. (Although, widescreen isn't much fun on a little tv... but I don't have that problem now that i've replaced my 13 inch tv with a 20 inch)

[Null]

widescreen is also a more natural field of view. normal vision from your eyes if you think aobut it is widescreen. in full screen people are actually looking up and down more then they need to, with wide it allows your eyes to stay more centered and still pick up everything easier.


and i know what you mean about widescreen on a little TV... luckily for me tho, my ipod has the option to watch in wide screen, or zoom in and take up the full ipod screen... very nice feature :)

[BreakABone]

I don't care either way.

And it really depends.

Movies I don't care one way or another.

Most TV broadcasts come in fullscreen so go with that as well.

I mean I can understand the difference, but its just a picture.. or maybe I'm just not a details person.

[Canyarion]

i think im gona stick with the original sqaure...
Which isn't really square...

So Null, found out anything about JP yet? :p

[Null]

i quit looking. i couldnt find anything that says they cut it off.. i found some stuff on errors that said the error couldnt be seen in widescreen because a tv cuts it off, and if played on the computer or a projector it would show it (like the 2nd helicopter, the one holding up the camera man or something) but thats not what your talking about.

sooo i gave up. lol

[Canyarion]

Did you stumble on any news of the deleted scenes? I once searched for them, but no info on them. :unsure:

[Typhoid]

I like Wide Screen on any size TV.

Because it gives it more of a "movie" feel, and less of a TV show feel to it.