Why do people buy Full-Screen DVDs?

[RaDragon]

The only Fullscreen DVDs I buy are TV series... Movies are always WS.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: FrankyJunior

Originally posted by: Deeko
I'll never understand people who won't tolerate bars on the top or side of their picture.

The people with fullscreen TV's that buy fullscreen movies. Idiots. Purely.

I have a widescreen TV now, and my roommates insist on stretching any 4:3 signal to cover the bars on the side. Why??? It looks terrible.

There are some questions with no answers....

Only reason for that is if most of the TV you watch is in 4:3, you can get burn in real easy on widescreen TVs. You do get used to having it stretch eventually. My brother had to have his TV replaced because he had major burn in lines after less than a month just from watching normal TV.

See, now THATS a valid reason, but I can assure you that 95% of those that buy fullscreen DVD's don't know that.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: gigapet

Originally posted by: MrChad

Originally posted by: gigapet
Not everyone especially my parents would even understand what you are talking about. So fro them fullscreen is what is easiest. but like i said .....would it costs what 4 cents more to print the dvd with both formats?

First of all, the zoom feature is a simple setting on the DVD player. If you read the manual you can locate it easily.

Secondly, you clearly don't understand what's involved in mastering a DVD. P&S transfers take a great deal of effort to create (the zoomed-in portion pans across specific portions of the full widescreen image, and this area changes as the scene changes). DVDs also have limited space, so adding a P&S version would require sacrificing things like a) video quality, b) audio tracks or c) special features. It is not as simple as "4 cents."

have you ever dealt with ppl over 50 before? they can have 50 friggin manuals, a video, a powerpoint, an instructor and still not know how to even switch the tv input to view the dvd channel. Get over it man some ppl are content with full screen and until the the majority of dvd watchers all have giant lcd panels on there walls i dont see them stopping full screen dvds from being made.

and your point about its not as simple as 4 cents perhaps is not four cents perhaps its 50 cents. I have bought a few dvds for 12 bucks that have both formats and bonus scenes.

There's nothing for me to "get over." I don't berate people who buy fullscreen DVDs. Like I said before, fullscreen users are either misinformed or they just don't care. If they are misinformed, I will educate them about what OAR really means. If they don't care, I don't bother. You parents probably fit into this category.

Regardless of the price you pay for a DVD, the pre-production costs of adding a full screen transfer are a lot higher than 50 cents. There is no difference in cost once you start stamping DVDs for packaging. Studios usually have three options: 1) release a widescreen only DVD, 2) release a DVD with both widescreen and P&S, or 3) release two separate versions of the DVD.

Option 1 is cheaper, but many studios still believe that families won't buy widescreen-only releases. Non-blockbuster and catalog titles are generally released in widescreen only.

Option 3 is the most expensive (two transfers and two sets of packaging), but for popular titles many studios will go this route (covers all bases). Two separate versions allows them to satisfy both groups without sacrificing extra features.

Option 2 is a compromise. You can satisfy the same customer bases as option 2, but there's no need for a second set of packaging. Of course, some extra features may be sacrificed.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: FrankyJunior

Originally posted by: Deeko
I'll never understand people who won't tolerate bars on the top or side of their picture.

The people with fullscreen TV's that buy fullscreen movies. Idiots. Purely.

I have a widescreen TV now, and my roommates insist on stretching any 4:3 signal to cover the bars on the side. Why??? It looks terrible.

There are some questions with no answers....

Only reason for that is if most of the TV you watch is in 4:3, you can get burn in real easy on widescreen TVs. You do get used to having it stretch eventually. My brother had to have his TV replaced because he had major burn in lines after less than a month just from watching normal TV.

See, now THATS a valid reason, but I can assure you that 95% of those that buy fullscreen DVD's don't know that.

Gray bars on the side (as opposed to black) should alleviate many burn-in problems when watching 4:3 content on a 16:9 screen.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: MrChad

Originally posted by: gigapet
Not everyone especially my parents would even understand what you are talking about. So fro them fullscreen is what is easiest. but like i said .....would it costs what 4 cents more to print the dvd with both formats?

First of all, the zoom feature is a simple setting on the DVD player. If you read the manual you can locate it easily.

Umm... why would they want to use the zoom feature when the important area of the picture is not always in one place?

Secondly, you clearly don't understand what's involved in mastering a DVD. P&S transfers take a great deal of effort to create (the zoomed-in portion pans across specific portions of the full widescreen image, and this area changes as the scene changes).

I think he does realize that, but they're doing it anyway to produce the Full Screen version of the DVD/VHS. It wouldn't make any difference in sales if they sold them together.

DVDs also have limited space, so adding a P&S version would require sacrificing things like a) video quality, b) audio tracks or c) special features. It is not as simple as "4 cents."

You're right, but they could use flippers and put the FS version on one side and the widescreen version on the other side. Many DVDs are like that. Puting a second DVD in the case wouldn't cost too much either... they're not that expensive to produce.

But what would REALLY be nice is if the DVD standard included support for encoding the pan & scan information on the disc so it's not necessary to include two separate versions of the video on the media. All they'd need to do is include for every frame the x/y coordinates of one corner of the zoom box, and the size of one side of the box. You could store all of that in 6 bytes. The DVD player would obviously need to be capable of handling that information, hence it would need to be part of the DVD standard. Unfortunately it's not. You'd lose a little bit of resolution on the fullscreen version, but the people who watch the fullscreen version aren't the kind of people who would be likely to care.

 

[jst0ney]

in reguards to the OP those people are <mr_burns>idiots</mr_burns>

 

[BDawg]

Originally posted by: Turkz
AFAIK TV shows only come in full screen DVDs.

Monk is widescreen and wonderful!

 

[PanzerIV]

I only buy widescreen but my parents don't really care, especially my mother who gets annoyed by the bars. I don't think it's a big deal. It's their money and when they want to see how it really should be done then they can just come to my house.

 

[machintos]

Originally posted by: gigapet
my guess is NOT EVERYONE OWNS A WIDESCREEN TELEVISION! DUH!

My thought exactly. I don't own a WS TV but I buy WS DVDs anyway. This annoys the hell out of my sister who doesn't like the black bars.

 

[artikk]

Originally posted by: RaDragon
The only Fullscreen DVDs I buy are TV series... Movies are always WS.

:thumbsup: My sentiments exactly. However, I really would like/love to see my tv shows in ws.:brokenheart:

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: mugs
But what would REALLY be nice is if the DVD standard included support for encoding the pan & scan information on the disc so it's not necessary to include two separate versions of the video on the media. All they'd need to do is include for every frame the x/y coordinates of one corner of the zoom box, and the size of one side of the box. You could store all of that in 6 bytes. The DVD player would obviously need to be capable of handling that information, hence it would need to be part of the DVD standard. Unfortunately it's not. You'd lose a little bit of resolution on the fullscreen version, but the people who watch the fullscreen version aren't the kind of people who would be likely to care.

Actually DVDs DO have this capability. (Well, it's part of the spec at least). Unfortunately it's never used.

Link

Dynamic Pan & Scan

DVD has the capability to pan across a widescreen image horizontally via instructions coded into the video bitstream itself. This would allow for the widescreen and the Pan & Scan versions to be contained in the same space as one version of the film. Currently, it is decided that players lack the ability to perform these calculations uniformly and smoothly, so this feature may never see the light of day.

(Editor's Note: There have been some reports of overseas development in this area, but so far no major authorists have seriously committed to developing the capability further.)

 

[Megatomic]

We've been buying widescreen DVDs for the past 2 years now in preparation of getting the appropriate widescreen HDTV set. To be honest, we've gotten used to the black bars.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: MrChad
Actually DVDs DO have this capability. (Well, it's part of the spec at least). Unfortunately it's never used.

Well then they should make it not suck and use it.

 

[Eli]

I don't buy DVDs, but even if I did.. I wouldn't buy full screen. I'm paying for the movie, I want the WHOLE movie.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: FrankyJunior

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Um, maybe those people w/out a widescreen tv don't like black bars? How much of the population with a DVD player have a widescreen tv? My guess is less than 20% of the population. Out of that 80%, I would venture to say only about 20-30% mind the black bars on the movie. Nice to see that you can't comprehend what the mass public wants.

20-30% of 80% is only 25% of the total. That's hardly the Mass Public. And history easily shows that the Mass Public is so compeltely uninformed that basing anything "Because the mass public says so" is just adidiotic as wanting a Full Screen Movie.

Do you not speak English? 20-30% mind the black bars on the movie, IE, they like the WS version on a normal PC. That's 75% who would rather buy the FS. (All arbitrary figures) So what if the mass public is uninformed? Movie companies keep putting them out because they sell a lot. It's like any new technology - you don't cut off the old technology cold turkey - you ween them off of it and slowly decrease production on one and increase production on the other. I guess that's too hard for you to understand.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: FrankyJunior

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Um, maybe those people w/out a widescreen tv don't like black bars? How much of the population with a DVD player have a widescreen tv? My guess is less than 20% of the population. Out of that 80%, I would venture to say only about 20-30% mind the black bars on the movie. Nice to see that you can't comprehend what the mass public wants.

20-30% of 80% is only 25% of the total. That's hardly the Mass Public. And history easily shows that the Mass Public is so compeltely uninformed that basing anything "Because the mass public says so" is just adidiotic as wanting a Full Screen Movie.

Do you not speak English? 20-30% mind the black bars on the movie, IE, they like the WS version on a normal PC. That's 75% who would rather buy the FS. (All arbitrary figures) So what if the mass public is uninformed? Movie companies keep putting them out because they sell a lot. It's like any new technology - you don't cut off the old technology cold turkey - you ween them off of it and slowly decrease production on one and increase production on the other. I guess that's too hard for you to understand.

Unfortunately your "arbitrary figures" are contradicted by actual sales numbers. Widescreen DVDs outsell their Fullscreen counterparts, and stores like Blockbuster actually prefer the widescreen format (implying that their customers prefer it as well).

How Widescreen Won

Last weeks DVD sales (note that widescreen versions outsell their fullscreen counterparts):

Billboard

 

[miri]

I prefer full screen movies. I have a tiny 19" Hitachi television that my mom bought for me as a kid. She bought it for me in 1985 and the picture is still great and has never been serviced. Id rather have a bigger picture because for me, having widescreen on a 19" television is a small picture.

 

[Kelemvor]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: FrankyJunior

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Um, maybe those people w/out a widescreen tv don't like black bars? How much of the population with a DVD player have a widescreen tv? My guess is less than 20% of the population. Out of that 80%, I would venture to say only about 20-30% mind the black bars on the movie. Nice to see that you can't comprehend what the mass public wants.

20-30% of 80% is only 25% of the total. That's hardly the Mass Public. And history easily shows that the Mass Public is so compeltely uninformed that basing anything "Because the mass public says so" is just adidiotic as wanting a Full Screen Movie.

Do you not speak English? 20-30% mind the black bars on the movie, IE, they like the WS version on a normal PC. That's 75% who would rather buy the FS. (All arbitrary figures) So what if the mass public is uninformed? Movie companies keep putting them out because they sell a lot. It's like any new technology - you don't cut off the old technology cold turkey - you ween them off of it and slowly decrease production on one and increase production on the other. I guess that's too hard for you to understand.

Sorry to have to educate you in proper grammar but it someone Minds something that means they DON'T like it or it bothers them. If I Don't Mind something, then I like it. I don't mind black bars. That means I Like the black bars....

Learn to Speak first, then maybe your other thoughts will have some weight with others... Take a few minutes and let that sink in and then feel free to start posting again... We'll all appreciate it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyway back to the Original Point.

I don't think anyoen cares if someone buys full screen or not. What we care about is the sometimes flawed reasons that people buy fullscreen. Many people think that because of the Black Bars they are missing the top and bottom of the movie. This is a flawed reason beacuse it's false.

Buy amd watch whatever you want. Just don't base you decision on invalid facts.

 

[Jack31081]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: FrankyJunior

Originally posted by: gigapet
my guess is NOT EVERYONE OWNS A WIDESCREEN TELEVISION! DUH!

Unless you were kidding, You're probably one of the people this post is aimed at. only RETARDS think that you need a widescreen TV to watch a widescreen DVD. Hello.. McFly... What shape is a movie screen? Wide rectangle. What shape is a TV? Almost square. How do you fit a rectangular picture onto an almost square TV? You either just put it on there which leaves some black space above and below the picture, or you shop out half the picture to make it into a square....

Morons and old people buy full screen. They don't know (and probably can't comprehend) any better.

Um, maybe those people w/out a widescreen tv don't like black bars? How much of the population with a DVD player have a widescreen tv? My guess is less than 20% of the population. Out of that 80%, I would venture to say only about 20-30% mind the black bars on the movie. Nice to see that you can't comprehend what the mass public wants.

It's also nice to see you're quite skilled at pulling numbers out of your butt.

This isn't really a hard question. Some people with smaller TVs would rather see most of the picture take up their whole screen instead of seeing the whole picture, but having it be smaller. No need to come up with magical statistics.

That said, some people really do think widescreen cuts off the top & bottom. My aunt bought me a full screen copy of 'Minority Report' for Christmas a while back. She said, "I even got you the fullscreen one so you don't get the black bars that cover up the top and bottom." I almost laughed.

 

[Kelemvor]

Originally posted by: Jack31081


It's also nice to see you're quite skilled at pulling numbers out of your butt.

This isn't really a hard question. Some people with smaller TVs would rather see most of the picture take up their whole screen instead of seeing the whole picture, but having it be smaller. No need to come up with magical statistics.

That said, some people really do think widescreen cuts off the top & bottom. My aunt bought me a full screen copy of 'Minority Report' for Christmas a while back. She said, "I even got you the fullscreen one so you don't get the black bars that cover up the top and bottom." I almost laughed.

I was walking through Walmart to pick up some pictures a while back and some guy was buying the star wars triology DVD set. he asked the WalMart employee what the difference between WS and FS was and the Walmart guy told him that WS was for people with WS TVs. I almost stopped and corrected him but figured it someone is going to ask the opinion of a WalMart employee they deserve whatever answer they get.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: FrankyJunior

Originally posted by: Jack31081


It's also nice to see you're quite skilled at pulling numbers out of your butt.

This isn't really a hard question. Some people with smaller TVs would rather see most of the picture take up their whole screen instead of seeing the whole picture, but having it be smaller. No need to come up with magical statistics.

That said, some people really do think widescreen cuts off the top & bottom. My aunt bought me a full screen copy of 'Minority Report' for Christmas a while back. She said, "I even got you the fullscreen one so you don't get the black bars that cover up the top and bottom." I almost laughed.

I was walking through Walmart to pick up some pictures a while back and some guy was buying the star wars triology DVD set. he asked the WalMart employee what the difference between WS and FS was and the Walmart guy told him that WS was for people with WS TVs. I almost stopped and corrected him but figured it someone is going to ask the opinion of a WalMart employee they deserve whatever answer they get.

Actually, you should have politely corrected them both. The WalMart employee might have spread the correct information to other people.