DVD Question....

[anathema]

Originally posted by Chilly Down
Sorry I wasn't clear about my Labyrinth disc, Alex. I meant the options on the player, not the disc. My point is, I changed my preferences with a click of a button. Why can't it always be like this?

Er...it is, isn't it? When I got my player, I set it up for a widescreen set, and that's the only time I've ever had to change that setting. Widescreen material plays in anamorphic widescreen, 4:3 material plays in 4:3. You certainly shouldn't need to change it on a disc-by-disc basis!

 

[Chilly Down]

Umm, no, we're still not communicating. I'm sure it's due to my lack of DVD/technical knowledge.

The point is not: "Why do I need to set up my DVD player to show widescreen all the time?" because I don't. The point is: "If I can just press a button on my player and choose whether to watch fullscreen and widescreen, why is it that companies 'have' to put out two different discs, for fullscreen and widescreen, most of the time?"

 

[anathema]

Ah right, sorry

Most DVD players will not in fact display a widescreen disc as pan/scan if told to display for 4:3 - they actually letterbox it by scaling the image down and adding the black borders. Hence you get (allegedly) complaints from consumers about them "paying for a full picture, and why are you cutting off part of the image?!" On the average player, the only way to get a fullscreen image from a widescreen disc is to set the player up for widescreen, and put up with the resulting image being stretched on the TV screen.

There's no good reason why the studios don't just put out one version which will work for both formats - it's technically possible. Partly it's marketing (some companies are still too short-sighted and believe widescreen is strictly for film-buffs), and partly it's those aforementioned cheap players being unable to handle the pan/scan instructions that would be needed to do it.