An odd little question

[CaptainStoner]

Do you readily notice when the aspect ratio of an image is incorrect?

Say you've got a widescreen image squashed into a 4:3 screen, do you readily notice it the wrong shape?

I've noticed how some people don't seem to notice it at all. Even if it's people's faces, and it's pointed out, it isn't obvious to the observer.

I'm interested to hear people's own experiences and thoughts about this.

Yes, and it drives me nuts. When visiting my Mom's, they always have the widescreen on stretch mode. Or, maybe the camera really does add 20 pounds.

 

[TheGodBen]

I can notice even a small amount of distortion, such as a PC game displaying in 16:9 when it is supposed to be 16:10. It's very annoying, especially since my xbox doesn't correctly adjust for DVDs, so I have to change the aspect ratio on my TV instead.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I always notice when the aspect ratio goes off. In fact, my parents, when watching TV, always set the TV ratio to "Full" which is quite annoying as they watch ITV3 all the time (with its schedule of pre-widescreen classic ITV dramas) and forget to reset it to "Auto" when done. They don't seem to mind that Poirot is much stumpier-looking than before. The most jarring moment occurred when we all sat down to watch "Raiders of the Lost Ark" when last shown on BBC One earlier this year - the BBC decided to show an old 4:3 ratio print of the film (yes, I know, ), which, when stretched out on our widescreen TV, looked definitely wrong.

Incidentally, I also notice it quite markedly when a widescreen show is quite obviously squeezed onto 4:3 aspect ratio, making everyone look like the gangly alien from Close Encounters.

Incidentally, I also found it odd that the current DVD for Star Trek 6 (the one in my boxset) was at a slightly shallower aspect ratio compared to the other films. I thought it was a mistake until I read somewhere that this particular cut was made like this - why, I don't know. On an unrelated note, when I first purchased "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" on VHS well over 10 years ago, I sent it back because I thought the aspect ratio was odd-looking: one of the "letterbox" bars was missing when viewed on my old 4:3 cathode-ray televisions. (Apparently they're all like that.)

Incidentally (again), our TV also has a "Panoramic" view whereby the exact centre is normal ratio and the edges are stretched outward. It was fun for a while but fast-paced shows had the potential for motion sickness.

 

[Gepard]

Yes, I notice and it really can be annoying. Of course, if an image stays distorted for a while, I get used to it, but I'd much rather have things in the correct aspect ratio to begin with.

 

[Jadzia]

Incidentally (again), our TV also has a "Panoramic" view whereby the exact centre is normal ratio and the edges are stretched outward. It was fun for a while but fast-paced shows had the potential for motion sickness.

If you sit closer to the screen, the panoramic mode looks better, as the picture wraps around you more, making the stretched edges look truer. But it'll still give you motion sickness.

 

[Naira]

Yes, I notice. And I find it extremely annoying. It always amazes me that some people don't seem to notice and/or mind at all.

 

[Pingfah]

I've noticed how some people don't seem to notice it at all. Even if it's people's faces, and it's pointed out, it isn't obvious to the observer.

I think that's sometimes conditioning. Widescreen TVs have been popular in the UK for longer than programmes have been regularly broadcast in widescreen.

There was a period where everyone I knew with a widescreen TV was constantly watching squashed 4:3 TV shows because they could not be bothered to change it.

 

[Bishbot]

Yes, I notice. And I find it extremely annoying. It always amazes me that some people don't seem to notice and/or mind at all.

Its parents and grandparents, they never notice. It drives me crazy. My grandparents would rather have a cropped/distorted image than black bars on the screen. We were watching the newer "Pride and Prejudice" film not long ago, but my grandmother wouldn't believe it was supposed to look like that.

"Can't you get rid of the black bars?"
"Yes, but you'd lost the edges of the picture"
"Why doesn't it fill the screen?"
"It was filmed a different shape."
"But even with the black bars, I can still only see her head, the whole picture isn't there."
"Yes it is, that's a closeup."

And so on.

 

[Jadzia]

Yes, I notice. And I find it extremely annoying. It always amazes me that some people don't seem to notice and/or mind at all.

Its parents and grandparents, they never notice. It drives me crazy. My grandparents would rather have a cropped/distorted image than black bars on the screen. We were watching the newer "Pride and Prejudice" film not long ago, but my grandmother wouldn't believe it was supposed to look like that.

"Can't you get rid of the black bars?"
"Yes, but you'd lost the edges of the picture"
"Why doesn't it fill the screen?"
"It was filmed a different shape."
"But even with the black bars, I can still only see her head, the whole picture isn't there."
"Yes it is, that's a closeup."

And so on.

Remote controls too. The old ones can't figure them out. I've had my dad on the phone before now:

"The television has gone wrong. It won't switch on."

And I can hear mum in the background.. "Try pressing this one. Try pressing this one.", "No that's the remote control for the video.", "Well it might work...", "Is it the aerial?" "I'm not getting the bloody ladders out at this time of night.", "Is it because it's a thin-screen tele?".

(five minutes later)

"No it still won't switch on, all it says is AV in the corner of the screen."

 

[Holdfast]

I've noticed how some people don't seem to notice it at all. Even if it's people's faces, and it's pointed out, it isn't obvious to the observer.

I think that's sometimes conditioning. Widescreen TVs have been popular in the UK for longer than programmes have been regularly broadcast in widescreen.

There was a period where everyone I knew with a widescreen TV was constantly watching squashed 4:3 TV shows because they could not be bothered to change it.

Chalk me up as one of the lazy ones.

 

[Warp Coil]

I work in television, so it's kinda my job to be able to tell different aspect ratios.