Widescreen, screen size differences?

[IndyMichael]

Is there a standard screen size for wide screen movies? Sometimes the black bars on top and bottom look to be about 3 inches and sometimes they look more like 4-5 inches on our 32 inch tv. I've didn't use to be a fan of widescreen movies, since my tv isn't that shape, but lately we've been renting a lot of movie in the widescreen format and noticed a difference.

[Rusty]

I've noticed the same, apparent, inconsistency in the vertical size of a widescreen presentation on my 36 inch 4:3 set. I don't know what the reason is.

BTW, when I come across any program or movie using widescreen format, I change the channel to a program that is in the 4:3 format. Watching widescreen format on a conventional 4:3 TV can eventually cause so much uneven wear on the CRT phosphor coating that noticable and permanent uneven brightness will occur. Many people dismiss this as being untrue but it is a fact, proven in such venues as the Rauland CRT facility near Chicago.

I love the widescreen format and I will, eventually get a widescreen set. But, I will not do so until widescreen is the standard format used by all channels.

[invaliduser88]

The two common wide screen formats are 16:9 and 2.35:1

[Mark Holtz]

Give www.widescreen.org a good read.

Basically, there are three commonly used film ratios:
* 1.37:1 (Academy Ratio). This was the film format used prior to 1953, and thus is the same ratio as most of the TVs sold over the years, thus full-screen.
* 1.78/1:85:1 - This is one form of widescreen. Films shown at 16:9 monitor will fill the entire screen of a HDTV monitor, but will have black bars on a regular TV.
* 2.35:1 - Another form of widescreen. On a HDTV monitor, the black bars will be smaller than on a regular TV.

Movies which are anamorphically enhanced are made for 16:9 screens, but the DVD player downconverts the picture for the 4:3 monitor.

[IndyMichael]

I must say, I like the bigger (taller) widescreen format better.

[BobaBird]

Compare dimensions of regular (4:3) vs widescreen (16:9) TVs, http://www.cavecreations.com/tv2.cgi

[DarrellP]

I don't care what the aspect ratio is as long as it is shown in it's intended aspect ratio.

[STXJim]

This comparision of aspect ratio is pretty cool. Check this out! (http://thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/aspectratios/widescreenorama.html)
Make SURE you visit page two.

[Martyva]

That is good. our eyes see more in a rectangular field of view and the 16:9 and 2.35:1 modes are great. Talked to the person who makes the transfers for digital film. He said that there were 74 aspect ratios that film is and has been shot in. The most common since 1953 has been 1.85:1 (including drum roll please most television). You didn't know how bad it really was for analog color tv, did you?

[Lurker]

That aspect ratio comparison at Digital Bits is cool, but I believe it is biased and tries to hide the main thing that most people object to. It shows all of the wide screen images larger than the full screen images, but in reality the wide screen images appear much smaller than the full screen images on TV screens. I believe it would be a much more objective comparison if it showed the wide screen images shrunk the way they really appear on the TV.