Discovery filmed in 2:1 aspect ratio

[RAMA]

Well we know another reason the DSC trailer looked so cinematic:

“In terms of scope and scale, there’s something about ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ that really speaks to us as well.

CBS has allowed us to find a cinematic language that’s wider in scope — our aspect ratio is 2:1 — and it just lends itself to a very lyrical way of telling the story.

And just visually speaking, there’s also a little hint in terms of what J.J. Abrams did, a little bit, in terms of some of the visuals.

http://trekcore.com/blog/2017/06/star-trek-discovery-filming-in-21-aspect-ratio/

 

[Ovation]

Following the House of Cards approach.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

And it's running on CBS's netflix, makes you wonder how Michael Burnham would rise to Captain, Federation President and Empress of the Quadrant...

 

[SPCTRE]

http://trekcore.com/blog/2017/06/star-trek-discovery-filming-in-21-aspect-ratio/

That's actually a fascinating article.

 

[Trajet]

2:1 seems to be the preferred ratio for new "premium" streaming television shows. In addition to House of Cards, I'm pretty sure The Good Fight, and possibly Stranger Things also used it.

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

The 2:1 aspect ratio format is a compromise between the cinema 2.39:1 aspect ratio and the HD-TV broadcast 16:9 ratio. Only recently it has been used by Netflix and Amazon Video for productions such as House of Cards and Transparent.

 

[cultcross]

OK, so this is a topic I know nothing about, so bear with me, but what difference does the aspect ratio make to an ability to 'tell a lyrical story'?

 

[Spider]

OK, so this is a topic I know nothing about, so bear with me, but what difference does the aspect ratio make to an ability to 'tell a lyrical story'?

Desert scenes look more deserty, but obviously more tumbleweeds are necessary.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

CBS’s first ALL ACCCESS series The Good Fight have also taken on the 2:1 ratio to bring a theatrical feeling to their shows.

i had not noticed this in the CBS trailers and clips on their site.
When it comes time for CBS Home Video to release "The Good Fight" on DVD and Blu-ray we will see if they opt for 16:9 aspect ratio rather than Original Aspect Ratio OAR 2:1.
I think the standard definition DVD release would definitely get 16:9 aspect ratio with no letterboxing. So i would look at how CBS Home video does that release for how they will plan to release DSC on DVD, & Blu-ray. I think the eventual 4k UHD Blu-ray release will come later in 2020 and that will be in 2:1 OAR.
I would not be surprised if the required deliverables by CBS Interactive did not include a 16:9 4k UHD and 16:9 HD master in addition to the 2:1 OAR letterboxed versions. For viewing on mobile phones that is a very small strip of video and they may opt to make it 16:9 for mobile device streaming on the CBS all access app.

 

[Galaxy]

OK, so this is a topic I know nothing about, so bear with me, but what difference does the aspect ratio make to an ability to 'tell a lyrical story'?

Since this is more of an artistic thing, I am not sure if it is possible to give you an objective answer. The best I can think of is that the audience is more immersed in the setting. Trekcore gives a good example with the TNG bridge. When they switched to a wider aspect ratio for Generations they added the stations to the side of the bridge to use up the available space, made the bridge more lively.

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

OK, so this is a topic I know nothing about, so bear with me, but what difference does the aspect ratio make to an ability to 'tell a lyrical story'?

Umm, not much? But it if was Smell-O-Vision... now that's an immersive interactive storytelling experience!

 

[Mr. Adventure]

This is all just a scam to get us to buy 2:1 TVs in a few years!

So many people I know stretch everything on their TV so they might not even notice.

Desert scenes look more deserty, but obviously more tumbleweeds are necessary.

They just need to move the ones from the black bar up to the sides...

 

[Starbreaker]

A dude on Reddit just said that the show would be cancelled because they're filming in 2:1. I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

A dude on Reddit just said that the show would be cancelled because they're filming in 2:1.

Sounds legit.

 

[Tuskin38]

I watched the entire series of Star Wars: The Clone Wars which was in 21:9, I'm used to bars. So I'm fine with this.

 

[Ovation]

OK, so this is a topic I know nothing about, so bear with me, but what difference does the aspect ratio make to an ability to 'tell a lyrical story'?

The use of any particular aspect ratio is an artistic choice (unless imposed by the studio) that gives cinematographers and directors the ability to compose their shots/scenes according to their aesthetic inclinations. This especially true of films, as each film (with rare exception) is an entity unto itself. For TV, the choice seems driven by a belief that audiences will perceive the production to be a more upscale one than it might have been, as typically TV directors have far less latitude in the aesthetics of a series than film directors have on a singular production.

i had not noticed this in the CBS trailers and clips on their site.
When it comes time for CBS Home Video to release "The Good Fight" on DVD and Blu-ray we will see if they opt for 16:9 aspect ratio rather than Original Aspect Ratio OAR 2:1.
I think the standard definition DVD release would definitely get 16:9 aspect ratio with no letterboxing. So i would look at how CBS Home video does that release for how they will plan to release DSC on DVD, & Blu-ray. I think the eventual 4k UHD Blu-ray release will come later in 2020 and that will be in 2:1 OAR.
I would not be surprised if the required deliverables by CBS Interactive did not include a 16:9 4k UHD and 16:9 HD master in addition to the 2:1 OAR letterboxed versions. For viewing on mobile phones that is a very small strip of video and they may opt to make it 16:9 for mobile device streaming on the CBS all access app.

I would be highly surprised if there was any release with a different aspect ratio from the broadcast/streamed originals. The difference between 16:9 (1.78:1) and 2:1 is minor and likely further diminished by many 16:9 TVs having default overscan settings, along with the propensity (as I'll-advised as it is) for many people to zoom in any image so as to make the black bars disappear. The bars become really noticeable at 2.20:1 or higher--but even then, releases are not common with more than one aspect ratio. When CRT TVs were the norm, lacking the zooming ability of current flat screens, DVDs were sometimes released with multiple aspect ratio options (either selectable on the disc or in multi-disc sets--I have a number of each in my 1000+ movie disc collection), but that hasn't been the norm in quite some time.

 

[shady12]

So does CBS All-Access have DD 5.1 sound? I can't seem to find an answer on this anywhere and don't want to waste a week trial just to find out. I have read it doesn't, but that's almost impossible to believe. Super fancy, modern show in a 2:1 aspect ratio, but 80's sound technology when you could watch the 90's Trek series in surround?!

 

[jefferiestubes8]

So does CBS All-Access have DD 5.1 sound? I can't seem to find an answer on this anywhere

No. AAC stereo @ 96kbps.

I was let down by CBS All Access sticking to stereo despite the same programs being broadcast in 5.1.

All Access Bingeing on CBS Jun 23, 2017

a commenter wrote

Ripped a couple of program I was interested in, demuxed the audio stream, to discover that CBS is downmixing the 6ch audio to 2ch audio & they are converting the original dolby digital AC3@384kps to Apple AAC 2 ch@96kps.

Is CBS All Access Worth the Cost? October 6, 2016

for reference:

The quality for stereo is satisfactory to modest requirements at 96 kbit/s in joint stereo mode; however, hi-fi transparency demands data rates of at least 128 kbit/s (VBR).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding

MPEG AAC
Low Complexity AAC (a.k.a AAC-LC or generally referred as AAC) is able to provide slightly better audio quality at 96 kbs than MP3 at 128 kbs.

 

[Noname Given]

No. AAC stereo @ 96kbps.


All Access Bingeing on CBS Jun 23, 2017


Is CBS All Access Worth the Cost? October 6, 2016

for reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding

MPEG AAC
Low Complexity AAC (a.k.a AAC-LC or generally referred as AAC) is able to provide slightly better audio quality at 96 kbs than MP3 at 128 kbs.

Wow - they FILM in a modern cinematic format, but the audio quality for the CBS 'premier' streaming site is cinematic sound circa the 1950ies. I may actually just wait a year for the Blu-Ray release.

 

[shady12]

No. AAC stereo @ 96kbps.


All Access Bingeing on CBS Jun 23, 2017


Is CBS All Access Worth the Cost? October 6, 2016

for reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding

MPEG AAC
Low Complexity AAC (a.k.a AAC-LC or generally referred as AAC) is able to provide slightly better audio quality at 96 kbs than MP3 at 128 kbs.

Unbelievable. What a freaking joke. I'm moving Austria so I don't have to watch it like I'm some savage from 1983. I may have to wait until there's a better way to watch it.