ALL SCI-FI

[Robert (Butch) Day]

On the old board I often complained that we did not get the full picture when watching older movies on DVDs and BDs on our TVs. This might help.

Aspect ratios and usable film area:



Comparison of the most common film sizes:



Various aspect ratios as seen on both old TVs and new TVs:



What you would see with the two most common widescreen sizes and a 16:9 TV and an old 4:3 TV of equivalent sizes:



Now think of how much is cut off on 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954) and Forbidden Planet (1956) [both CinemaScope 55]; Robinson Crusoe On Mars (1964) and Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea (1961) [both CinemaScope]; The Space Children (1958) [1.85:1] and THEM! (1954) [1.75:1}.

Amazingly THEM! is almost always shown in 1.33 [4:3] which is smaller than the Academy Standard used at the time of 1.37:1!

And to "insult-to-injury" most DVDs and BDs list the filma as "original aspect" of 1.85:1!

Brent, you're our resident expert on this. Any comments, clarifications and corrections?
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Common Sense ISN'T Common

[Brent Gair]

[scotpens]

Just to confuse things further, in the early sound era the standard Academy frame was made narrower to accommodate the optical soundtrack, giving an almost-square aspect ratio of 1.2:1. By 1931, camera film gates were made slightly smaller overall, restoring the aspect ratio to 1.37:1 while still leaving room for the soundtrack.

Whew! It's enough to make you dizzy.