[opendtv] Re: Definition of Anamorphic
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 6 Oct 2009 15:12:38 -0500
Cliff Benham wrote:
> Mark Schubin wrote:
>>
>> BTW, I suspect the correct aspect ratio of "The Wizard of Oz,"
>> having been made after the Academy aperture was standardized,
>> is 11:8 rather than 4:3.
>
> I think this is a true statement. I also think this is the
> reason why the MGM logo appears slightly horizontally
> compressed in the new BD version of the film.
>
> I now think the BD edition shows the whole 1.37:1 frame
> [anamorphically compressed electronically by Blu-ray to
> 1.33:1]
Which begs the question, why couldn't the BD simply display the proper 1.37:1
Academy Ratio, then? Given that it bothered to include the pillars as part of
the data, why not make the pillars slightly less wide?
But back to Dan's question. The first time I saw "anamorphic" used to describe
*digital* content was when it was used to describe a wide-screen DVD. My
interpretation was, resolution was not wasted by letterboxing the DVD content,
to create the wide screen effect, but rather the entire DVD frame was used to
paint the 16:9 aspect ratio. So there is the analogy with film anamorphic
content.
I believe that DVDs are encoded as 720 X 480, at least in Region 1. That
translates to 1.5:1 aspect ratio. So no matter whether you're viewing a 4:3 DVD
or a 16:9 DVD, the encoding pixels are never square.
And yet, no one has ever referred to a 4:3 "full frame" DVD as "anamorphic." So
the term is not typically used in a square pixel sense.
I conclude that "anamorphic," when applied to DVDs anyway, means "compressed
horizontally with respect to the traditional 4:3 DVD frame, and requiring a
corresponding horizontal stretching in playback."
Bert
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