[opendtv] Re: 70th Anniversary Blu-ray and standard DVDs of the Wizard of Oz

  • From: "Stessen, Jeroen" <jeroen.stessen@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2009 13:19:38 +0200

Hello,

Bert Manfredi wrote:
> This is disturbing, Jeroen. I would rather crop the 4:3 frame some,
> to make it look wider, than be forced to watch all 4:3 content
> distorted! 4:3 is still quite common in non-prime-time.

Don't worry, we have many such modes. For 4:3 content on a 16:9 display:
- true 4:3 with wide side pillars (12.5% on each side, ignoring overscan)
- 14:9 movie expand = 16.7% enlarge + 2x  7.1% vertical cropping
- 16:9 movie expand = 33.3% enlarge + 2x 12.5% vertical cropping
- 16:9 movie expand with subtitles = same as previous, but more of the
  vertical cropping happening at the top, to protect the *sub*titles
- superwide / panorama mode = 33.3% non-linear enlarge (more expansion
  at the sides than in the middle) + 2x "some" vertical cropping
- auto-format, where the choice between 16:9 movie expand and panorama
  mode is made intelligently based on a measurement of the letterbox
  bars, and of course for true 16:9 content nothing needs to be done.
Whenever there is vertical cropping, the viewer can shift the picture
up or down with the cursor keys on the remote control.

The out-of-the-box setting is auto-format, and with a combination of
reliable widescreen signalling information and black bar detection this
means that the viewer normally does not need to do anything anymore.
Plus, with more than half of the broadcast content already being 16:9,
it is quickly becoming a non-issue. (Until the 21:9 display, that is.)


Cliff Benham wrote:
> The second chart lists all the aspect ratios of films available on DVD.
> Note that the number of 4:3 films on DVD is greater than the number of
> ALL those in *other aspect ratios*.

For movies ?! I understand that DVDs of (older) TV series are all 4:3,
and these are sold in very large quantities. But of the movie DVDs that
are sold in the shops here, I bet that over 90% are "anamorphic" 16:9.
And a fair percentage of those are letterboxed within the 16:9 frame
for an even higher aspect ratio, typically 2.35:1.
I don't think that we ever see movies anymore that are letterboxed
within a 4:3 frame, and very few movies that are original 4:3 or cropped
to 4:3. In Europe, the 4:3 format is really dead for any new products.

I have never seen a 16:9 DVD (or a D2MAC or DVB broadcast) that
implemented dynamic pan-and-scan for cropping to 4:3. I am not against
pan-scan, witness my patent US20040130664. It just never happens ?

Groeten,
-- Jeroen

  Jeroen H. Stessen
  Specialist Picture Quality

  Philips Consumer Lifestyle
  Advanced Technology  (Eindhoven)
  High Tech Campus 37 - room 8.042
  5656 AE Eindhoven - Nederland




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