In
the pages that follow, you'll learn EXACTLY what anamorphic
widescreen on DVD is. You'll discover how it works and (more
importantly) you'll learn why you should care about it. We'll also
give you a primer on film aspect ratios - how they came to be and
what that means for DVD. My hope is that by the time you're through
reading this, you'll know everything you need to know about the
subject. And whether you own a widescreen TV or not, you'll want to
call, write or e-mail the Hollywood studios, and insist that all your
favorite widescreen movies on DVD be anamorphic-enhanced.
One
note before we continue... in the text of this Guide, I'm going to
be referring to the terms widescreen TV and Digital TV almost
interchangeably. You CAN get analog widescreen TVs that take
advantage of anamorphic DVD. They are very common in Europe and parts
of Asia (Europe has had anamorphic for years). But here in the
States, they aren't so common. Most peoples' first experience with a
widescreen, anamorphic-ready TV here, will be when they eventually
purchase a Digital TV. So to avoid undue confusion, that's what we'll
focus on. Just FYI.
So
let's get started...
Why
Anamorphic?
If
you've looked at the back of a DVD case these days, you've probably
seen all the bewildering terminology: 16x9, anamorphic widescreen,
enhanced for widescreen TVs&ldots; the list goes on and on. They're
all referring to the same thing. Simply put, anamorphic widescreen is
a special feature of DVD, that means that the video on the disc packs
the most resolution possible by the TV standards of today and the
near future. Mind you, we're not talking about high-definition
television-like resolution. While there have been technology
demonstrations of HD-DVD (High-Definition DVD), most industry experts
believe that such a format is more than a decade away, at the very
best case.
There
are several reasons for this. First of all, it will likely be years
before the DVD Consortium (the industry alliance that oversees the
DVD format) agrees to an official HD-DVD standard. Second, bringing
HD-DVD to the consumer marketplace at affordable levels will require
breakthroughs in blue-laser technology, which are only now beginning
to happen in the laboratories of the major electronics manufacturers.
Finally (and probably the biggest roadblock), there are VERY serious
digital piracy and copyright concerns that must be addressed on
behalf of the Hollywood studios and other content providers before
they'll feel comfortable releasing movies on disc in high-definition.
This has become a particular concern in light of the recent hacking
of DVD's current CSS encryption scheme.
But
here's the cool thing about current DVD technology: by mastering
widescreen movies on DVD using the format's anamorphic feature,
content providers can ensure that today's DVDs will look great even
on tomorrow's Digital TVs (which are starting to become available
now). So in the same way that consumers will enjoy even greater audio
quality from their DVDs by upgrading to Dolby Digital and DTS
5.1-capable audio equipment, they'll get better video quality too
when they buy a new widescreen TV. And even if you don't have a new
widescreen TV, you can still enjoy some of the quality benefits of
anamorphic right now on your current TV (as we'll discuss later in
this Guide).
To
knowledgeable DVD fans, seeing the terms "16x9" or
"anamorphic" on a disc is like having the Good Housekeeping
Seal of Approval. It tells them that in today's blistering consumer
electronics marketplace, where change and obsolescence can happen in
the blink of an eye, the DVD they're spending their hard-earned cash
on is at least a little future-proof. And that's important.
But
Why Widescreen at All?
Before
we get into how anamorphic widescreen works on DVD, we need to know
something about the nature of widescreen. As most of you know by now,
the vast majority of films made today are shot in widescreen aspect
ratios, meaning that the shape of the film image itself is much wider
than the screen of your current TV. The reasons for this date back to
the 1950s and are quite interesting from the perspective of film
history. But the result of it all, is that filmmakers (and
particularly the Hollywood studios) face some tough challenges when
working to bring widescreen films to home video so that you can all
enjoy them in the comfort of your living rooms.
For
years, there have been two major choices available when transferring
widescreen movies for home video: pan & scan or letterbox. In a
pan & scan transfer, the video camera "pans and scans"
back and forth across the film image to keep the most important
action centered on your TV screen. The problem with that, is that as
much as 50% of the film's original image can be lost in the process.
And the beauty of the artistic composition of objects and movement
within the frame is destroyed.
The
view of the vast majority of serious film buffs is that it's ALWAYS
preferable to view a movie at home in the aspect ratio that the
film's director originally intended it to be seen. That means that we
prefer to view widescreen movies in the letterbox format (in which
the ENTIRE film image is presented, and black bars fill the unused
screen area at the top and bottom of the frame). To us, pan &
scan is as bad as colorizing a black & white film - it amounts to
artistic butchery. But that preference for letterbox viewing has
always come at a steep price - a loss of vertical picture resolution.
After all, if those black bars are going to take up part of the
screen on your TV, that leaves less picture area for the actual film
image. Thanks to DVD's anamorphic widescreen feature however, that
problem will soon be a thing of the past.
For
the sake of this Guide, I'm going to assume that all of you share
our opinion as to the proper way to view widescreen films at home.
But we understand that lots of consumers don't understand this issue,
or may not even be aware that there's an issue at all. So we've
prepared a special primer on aspect ratios, that will explain exactly
why films come in different shapes than your TV, and how it makes a
difference when you watch them at home. And believe us... it's a HUGE
difference (as you'll see). I've taken actual freeze-frames from
several new and classic movies on DVD to illustrate things for you in
an easy to understand way. And when you're done, you can jump right
to Page 2 of the Guide, and we'll continue our explanation of
anamorphic widescreen (you won't miss a thing).
Anamorphic
DVD At Last!
All
right - here's where we get to the meat of anamorphic widescreen. As
most of you know, those of us here in the U.S. have a Digital TV in
our future, like it or not. The reason for this, is because the
Government has mandated a full conversion of American television
broadcasting to Digital TV by the year 2006 (although the realities
of the marketplace will probably mean that the actual conversion will
take as much as a decade longer). Digital TV (aka DTV, as determined
by the Grand Alliance - the industry consortium which decided upon
the standard) is really some 18 different formats labeled under one
umbrella term. Some of these formats are Standard definition (SDTV -
meaning that they use the same 525 lines of picture resolution that
current analog NTSC does today) and some are High-definition (HDTV -
broadcasting at a full 1080 lines of resolution). All are fully
Digital, which should result in much better reception quality - with
a DTV, you'll either get a perfect picture, or no picture at all
(gone are the days of watching electronic snow on your TV). Some of
the DTV formats don't even deliver video at all, carrying instead
simply computer data, for such things as live stock quotes, sports
scores, Internet access and more. In fact, one of the big
controversies at the moment, is that the major TV networks want to
use the extra bandwidth that DTV provides to broadcast MORE channels
of SDTV, instead of the HDTV we all expect (you see... by
broadcasting MORE channels instead of better channels, they can sell
more advertising).
But
I digress. You all want to know what Digital TV has to do with
anamorphic DVD. Here's the deal: one of the cool things about DTV is
it's aspect ratio - 1.78:1 (also known as 16x9). In other words, the
future of TV is widescreen. Surely, you can already imagine how much
easier that will make it to bring widescreen movies to home video. No
longer will TV's aspect ratio require the butchering of widescreen films.
Ah...
but it gets even better. Digital TV is "anamorphic ready".
Which means that if a widescreen movie on DVD is recorded in the
anamorphic format, a Digital TV can "unsqueeze" the video
image contained on the disc, so that it fills the full width of the
TV screen, while retaining a LOT more vertical resolution. In other
words, the video's vertical resolution will blow a standard letterbox
transfer away. The image you'll be seeing will contain a LOT more
lines of vertical resolution (still not fully high-definition, but
much more than on a Standard TV), so the picture will be clearer and
cleaner than you've ever seen it before... and you'll still be seeing
the original widescreen aspect ratio as the director intended you to.
And all this is with the current anamorphic DVDs that you all have in
your movie libraries today - there's no need to buy new discs. How do
you like them apples?
So
How Does Anamorphic Work?
Given
all of the early foot-dragging by the Hollywood studios toward
anamorphic on DVD, you're probably convinced that it must surely be
an expensive and time-consuming process. You couldn't be more wrong.
All that's required from the perspective of the Hollywood studios, is
to request an anamorphic transfer during the telecine stage. I've
done some digging, and discovered that this generally costs no more
than it does to commission a standard letterbox transfer, as long as
the proper film elements are available (extra costs are usually only
incurred if the original film elements are in need of restoration).
The best possible film transfer would, of course, be a
high-definition anamorphic transfer. That will run you several
thousand dollars more... but there are advantages to it. The most
obvious of these is the higher video quality an HD transfer will
afford you. Also, you'll get a digital master of your film that can
sometimes be digitally cleaned up and restored to better than
original theatrical quality. This master can be stored to preserve
the film for future generations in pristine condition (the data won't
degrade like film will). Better still, this master can be used to
originate the film on every home video and broadcasting format
currently available today, from VHS and Laserdisc to DVD and HTDV.
Once
the transfer is done, and you've got a digital master of your film
in hand, all that's required in the DVD authoring stage is to tell
the technician that you want the widescreen video to be in anamorphic
mode. The tech simply goes into his authoring software, and presses a
button to insert the necessary flags onto the disc (so that the DVD
player and DTV will recognize the anamorphic signal). That's it.
That's as hard as it gets.
Okay...
so your disc is anamorphic, and you've got your DVD player and DTV
ready to go. I'm sure by now you're all wondering how anamorphic
works after you pop the disc into your player... and more
importantly, how it looks. I'm more than happy to explain it to you.
In fact, it's probably easier if I just SHOW you. Below you'll find
links to demonstrations I've put together using actual video from a
pair of films that are available on DVD in BOTH anamorphic widescreen
and standard letterbox (non-anamorphic). I'm using two films as
examples, because I want to show you the difference between films in
Academy Flat (1.85:1) and Anamorphic Scope (2.35:1) aspect ratios. So
go ahead and click over to those (first one, then the other), and by
the time you come back here, you'll know exactly how anamorphic on
DVD works.
The
following is a comparison of anamorphic and non-anamorphic
(letterboxed) widescreen DVD video, as displayed on Standard 4x3 and
Digital 16x9 TVs. For this demonstration, we've chosen to use
snapshots of actual DVD video from the film Good
Will Hunting
(aspect ratio is 1.85:1). Buena Vista's U.S. DVD version (on the
left) is non-anamorphic. By contrast, Alliance's Canadian DVD release
(on the right) is anamorphic.
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Non-Anamorphic (Letterboxed) |
Anamorphic |
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The
video recorded on a non-anamorphic DVD. Notice the black bars at the
top and bottom of the frame. These are actually present in the signal. |
The
video recorded on an anamorphic DVD. Notice that the image appears
"squished" horizontally, while retaining its full vertical
resolution. Notice that there are virtually no black bars visible in
the signal. Normally, you would never see the video in this state.
The only time you would see this "squished" picture, is if
you were watching the disc on an improperly set-up DVD player, using
a Standard 4x3 TV - the player thinks you have a Digital 16x9 TV. A
quick adjustment in the player's menu would correct this problem. |
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Non-anamorphic
video as it appears on a Standard 4x3 TV. This is the familiar
letterboxed image you're used to. |
Anamorphic
video as it appears on a Standard 4x3 TV. The DVD player performs a
mathematical downconversion on the video signal, in effect combining
every 4 lines of vertical resolution into 3 until the correct aspect
ratio is achieved. The black bars at the top and bottom of the image
are generated electronically, completing the image. Visually, it's
nearly indistinguishable from a non-anamorphic (letterboxed) DVD image. |
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Non-anamorphic
video as it appears on a Digital 16x9 TV. The gray bars are
generated by the TV to fill in the unused portions of the screen.
Using the TV's "zoom" mode, you can magnify the image to
fill the screen electronically, but at the cost of degrading the
image quality significantly. |
Anamorphic
video as it appears on a Digital 16x9 TV. The "squished"
image recorded on the disc (seen at top) is sent directly to the TV,
which stretches the video signal horizontally until the correct
aspect ratio is achieved. As you can see, the image fills the frame,
while retaining its full vertical resolution. The picture quality is stunning. |
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I
Don't Have A Digital TV - Why Should I Care?
But
what if you've got a widescreen DVD and you can't find any markings
about anamorphic on the packaging? Many of Columbia TriStar's
widescreen DVDs are anamorphic (but not labeled as such). How do you
tell? Well... remember that problem we mentioned a few minutes ago,
where people were seeing "squished" pictures on their
Standard TV? You can use that to find out - simply go into your DVD
player's setup menu and tell it that you have a widescreen TV (it may
be labeled simply "16x9"). On your Standard TV, if a disc
is anamorphic, it will look squished. If it looks the same, it's non-anamorphic.
Don't forget to switch your DVD player's setup back to Standard
"4x3" TV mode when you're done!
Bill
Hunt, Editor
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