Is there a reason why Standard Def shows that are widescreen aren't broadcast in 'anamorphic' mode? Zooming in on the image entails a loss of resolution.
SyFy's inconsistent use of HD
- Thread starter Mr. Laser Beam
- Start date
I've seen shows, same episodes, aired in 16x9 and in 4x3 and the tops and bottoms are NOT missing on the 16x9 versions. The picture is simply WIDER.
Umm... That's why they call 16x9 "widescreen".
If anything is missing from the 35mm originals when you go to the 16x9 version, you'll find EXACTLY the same material missing from the top and bottom of the 4x3 version.
Widescreen presentations don't remove from the top and bottom, compared to 4x3. They ADD to the sides.
You may be confused because of how widescreen material appears on 4x3 TV screens ("letterboxed").
NOTHING is removed, but rather the full widescreen image is displayed, but due to the difference in screen shape there ends up being black areas at the top and bottom of the 4x3 screens.
The black bars do NOT represent missing material. They're simply there because of the difference in the shape of the two formats.
If you "zoom" in on such a widescreen image and force the black bars (and the sides of the picture) off the screen, you end up with EXACTLY what the same show would look like when originally aired in 4x3.
I don't know if this helps to explain it at all: http://www.widescreen.org/widescreen_matte.shtml. I don't think the source material was widescreen to begin with.
Depending on how much of the source was used when creating the 4:3 version there may have had to be compromises when making the 16:9 version.
If they cropped all the sides when making the 4:3 version perhaps they could just open up the left and right to make a 16:9 version with all the vertical information used in the 4:3 version. If they used most of the vertical information for the 4:3 they would have to crop it on the top and bottom to get a 16:9 version.
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