Well I had a debate today, not the first mind you, with my one brother about wide screen versus full screen. He will not watch anything if it's in full screen. He feels you lose half the picture if you watch it that way.
Personally for me it depends on the form of wide screen as to whether I will watch it or not. I have seen some wide screen that you have only a few inches of the movie showing and several inches of black on the top and the bottom, I can't see much of the movie then because it's so small. The ones were it's only an inch of black at the top and at the bottom I don't mind but some just seem to take it too far. To be honest I've watched the same movie in both formats and have not noticed any extra on the sides. If I have a choice I'll go with full screen any day.
So which do you prefer? Will you watch a movie that is in the other format or do you insist on finding the other?
[question posted by emeraldisle]
responses and comments:
i prefer full screen-i really don't like the black box-but there was one movie that did clip parts off if you didn't watch it widescreen.i was kind of annoyed by that. the 2nd "pirates" movie is the one,now that i think of it. i suppose if i had one of those huge tv's i'd switch to widescreen more often. [scarlet_woman]
I agree, if I had a tv designed for it so that the black areas weren't viewable it would be different. The black sections to me take a way from it usually. It just seems to me as if I'm missing part even though I know I'm not. [emeraldisle]
If I have a choice, I will choose wide screen. My husband has drilled it in to my head that it is better somehow. I am not sure how. If there is no choice of format, it doesn't matter. I mean, when you watch tv it is full screen, right? Actually, I just looked at my tv after I typed that and noticed that my husband has somehow set MY tv to wide screen. The cheeky bugger. [Trace86]
Uh oh sounds like he's in trouble :) That was a bit cheeky of him to switch your tv that way on you. Most tv I watch is in full screen, although I have seen some done in widescreen which I can't figure out since most tv's are set for proportions of full screen. [emeraldisle]
Oops...I'm a widescreen watcher...I just prefer it that way...the advantage of it too, is that with that black space on top and bottom in particular is that often like to switch the subtitle option to a foreign language like French and you can see it better and doesn't interfere with the picture itself-- [pyewacket]
I always have the closed captioning on so yes when there is that slight black area on top and at bottom I don't mind it. The closed captioning often goes where that is. It's just the ones with the tons of black area on top and bottom that really bug me. [emeraldisle]
Hello emeraldisle. I have noticed the same thing that you have noticed in regard to some widescreen versions, however, if widescreen is available, I will get it instead of full screen. This has less to do with my appreciation for wide screen or any cinematic effect, and more to do with my large, wide screen style television and I am stubborn. [Transdisc]
Glad you got a chuckle :) They were though and worse it was a movie I wanted to watch, Brigadoon with Gene Kelly. I couldn't watch it and that really bummed me out. [emeraldisle]
I like full screen better myself. The wide screen seems to cut out some of the picture to me. [Shaun72]
Same here. I know logically it doesn't but it sure seems that way depending on the movie. If I have a choice I get full screen. [emeraldisle]
I'm with you on this one emerald! I have seen movies in both formats, have not noticed any real difference (then again I didn't sit and frame by frame compare) and to be honest, the presence of white space around my picture drives me nuts! I want my entire screen filled... I bought this size because I wanted that size picture! LOL If I have my druthers... I'd go for full screen any day too. [hockeygal4ever]
Heheh yeah I don't compare them frame by frame either. I just go by over all experience. You have white space though? Ours is black which I think would be less intrusive then the white but it's still a pain. I like my sreen filled in. [emeraldisle]
You know, my partner and I have debated about this also. ha ha He also uses the same excuse that you loose some of the picture with full screen. But really, we have been loosing those couple of inches for a very long time now and no one stopped and complained before. No movie was held back from getting an Oscar just because there were a couple extra inches that were left unseen. We get the main picture and the movie story line. That is all that is needed. and I have tried to watch movies with that black line on the top and bottom. And honestly, that line at the top and bottom just irritate me to the point that I am missing more than what I lost because now I am thinking about how annoying the lines are and not paying attention to the movie! LOL So, my partner and I have come to the agreement. We will purchase the movies for full screen...and the day that he gets a TV for the wide screen format, we will worry about which to buy then. ha ha [brokentia]
Exactly we never realized anything was missing, why fix it if no one cared? Let alone fix it so that it looks weird. I think you came up with a good agreement on the format. I just wish all movies came in both formats. Some only come in one or the other. We should be able to have the choice of which we prefer, like full screen if we want. [emeraldisle]
It depends on the film. The one film that comes to mind is Carmen Jones. There's one scene where you can't see some of the group that is singing if you are seeing it in full screen. Another is Scarface. The scene where they are at dinner, with full screen , you can't see Michelle Pfeiffer.But there are others that it doesn't matter. [sarahruthbeth22]
anything is fine for me ...its only a television [varunharry]
i think full screen is the better then wide screen because in full screen we see every thing clearly. [deepak_shinde84]
Like you I prefer the Full Screen At the moment I have a full Screen but it is hard to get them now so I hope my TV last a long time lol I am not keen on the Wide screens at all [gabs8513]
Yeah I'm not keen on them either and thankfully most of the movies I have are in full screen. I have a few that aren't but they aren't the real bad wide screen, where you have more black then movie. [emeraldisle]
i prefer full screen becuase u can see complete picture, wider screen for focussed pictures [madirajul]
full screen thats my vote for....i always love it that ways...it give that effects which is almost live.. [anjalisk2005]
you're a philistine! films are made in wide screen, they're made to be viewed that way. to make them full screen they have to either stretch the picture or cut bits off. It's an insult to the makers of the film to watch it in full screen when it was made to be seen in wide screen. [indium]
I think most make them knowing that bits will be cut off so that way it will fit in the reformat without losing important images. I've watched movies in both formats, I'm talking the same exact movie, and I didn't notice any amazing new aspects to it in the other format. [emeraldisle]
lol. Good question, because I am quite obsessive about this. I don't like to watch it with the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, so I use the full screen option. A lot of people have wide screen tv but I don't think it's a majority. To be perfectly honest with you I think they should broadcast it in both formats. I don't think you lose much by putting it in the full screen format. I actually did an experiment once to find out, and usually it is not a great deal. Thanks for asking the question, it gives me a chance to share my views on a subject that does make me fussy from time to time. Sometimes I think ... why did they have to broadcast this in wide screen? lol. [feliniti]
Most shows and movies shown on tv are done in full screen format, not all but most and most shows have always been filmed in full screen format. If you have a wide screen tv and watch a regular tv show done in full screen you end up with black stripes on the sides so that it fits correctly. TV shows were up until recently all filmed in full screen. It was only recently that some have tried going to the wide screen. It's mostly movies, particurly DVDs, that seem to be predominantly wide screen. [emeraldisle]
I prefer full screen I can see it better. [aprilgrl]
I prefer wide screen, but i would watch both sizes. [dawson]
I think it depends on the TV you are watching. We now have a 61 inch screen and wide sceen seems better because our TV is a little more rectangle then square. But to be honest on that size either full or wide looks pretty good. I have also watched a few movie in both wide then full and do agree there isn't much you are missing on the sides. [leese29]
I will agree that the size of the tv and it's style can make a difference. Since ours is not as big as yours that could be why we don't see a difference between what is shown between the two formats. My brother has a tendency to make it seem that in full screen they cut off half the image to make it fit. I haven't noticed that big of a difference between them. In fact the few spots where I did it was such a minor thing I couldn't see what all the fuss was about. [emeraldisle]
I will watch full screen movies, if I really HAVE to, but I prefer to watch them in WIDE screen. I'm not sure why, but I really like that I get to see the actual movie, instead of part of it being cut off. [elkhawk]
See to me that black area makes it seem like something is cut off. It might not be but it gives that impression. [emeraldisle]
It depends, some movies are shot in full screen instead of wide screen, so when they make it into wide screen they chop off the top. However, most wide screen movies are shown in wide screen and shot that way, so you are actually seeing more of the movie. [TruthElixirX]
I prefer full screen....if I have to watch something in wide screen I will, but full screen Wide screen is good if you have a wide screen TV or monitor to watch it on....but outside of that...nope give me full screen. The view of widescreen is to give you the feeling you are in a movie theater.(at least that is my understanding) Mooch [oneandonemakesix]
I prefer full screen. The black at the top and bottom of the screen with wide screen drives me crazy! I like for the entire screen to be what I am watching. My husband hates a wide screen picture and will complain if I have to get a video that is wide screen. [carolscash]
Heheh it drives me crazy too. I've seen some where it's not too bad, minor black line at top and bottom, but most of it bugs me too. If I have a choice I try to get full screen as well. [emeraldisle]
Hello emeraldisle, My husband used to be just like your brother when it first came out. We would rent a movie and he wouldn't watch it at all. Now we've adapted and just go with it. We still have old tv's, so we will have to buy new ones to change everything over, another headache, but I want a big flat screen to hang on the wall. I can get more furniture then :) [Heavensent53]
If I'm buying, which isn't often, I buy wide-screen. Full screen sometimes throws off perspective and you lose the impact of the scene. If I didn't buy it and am watching it I don't care what it is. Also as someone else mentioned if you are watching something with subtitles it is much easier to see it in wide-screen. [coachflaps]
I've never had a problem with the perspective being off at all with full screen. [emeraldisle]
when it has the black on top and bottom, it is just annoying. I wonder to myself, who'd wanna watch TV that way? and it is annoying when that is the only way the movie comes, too! [saralee1]
I agree with you. I went to watch one DVD tonight and it had the choice of both and they showed them side by side. I really analyzed it. Yes the wide screen had more to the sides but guess what? It was cropped at the top. The full screen had more on the top and less on the sides. So either way you are losing some of the image. [emeraldisle]
I have had this wide screen full screen debate a time or two myself. I love widescreen but I do not limit myself to just that. You do lose something when watching the fullscreen over the widescreen, though modern movie makers seem to have a less noticable views with this. Try watching both versions of such classics as Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, or any of the great musicals from that era, or big films from that time frame, Gone With the Wind, Oklahoma, Ben Hur. These movies are more noticible as to what is lost from the screen, films took into account the Panoramic views during that period of the film industry. Since the popularity of renting and buying films many film makers seem to take into account this, and so the nuances and details of the film are not as much an issue. So I can agree with him to some degree, and I know there were a few dvd's that even when they first came out, offered the full or wide screen option on one dvd. I wish they would do that again. But they found out they can make more money but selling it separately. So I don't mind either version for the most part especially for the newer films. For older classics I do prefer the widescreen as these films do offer so much more in the widescreen view. [nowment]
Then I would suggest you take the DVD back, it seems to be defective. I mean I have seen the wide screen with the "letterbox" as they call it, when you see th black boarder on top and bottom, but if you watch it on a tv screen large enough then you can tell that it is full image of the movie. nothing cut out or cropped out, so what you are referring to is unusual not something I have run across before on the widescreen version. Which is why I wonder if maybe you have a defective DVD. Thought it doesn't surprise me that they may have cut something. [nowment]
I prefer full screen. But if I have no other choice I will watch wide screen. But I pretty much rather have full screen. they do not clip that much off when they make it full screen. [dragonryder]
You should read my response to the one above about the cropping. I agree though I'd rather have full screan, I don't find it as distracting as I do wide screen. [emeraldisle]
My hubby is the same way, although he will watch full screen movies, he will not buy them full screen. I really don't care myself. I think that if you have a wide screen tv then it's best to watch the movie on wide screen format because really, you will see the whole picture that way. Or if you have a big tv, wide screen may be the best format. But if you have a small full screen tv, the picture may be too small to be appreciated. [uiwwitch]
I agree if I had a wide screen tv I'd probably want wide screen movies but I have a full screen tv. Some of the movies can be too small to see right in the wide screen format on a full screen. That's the type that drive me nuts. [emeraldisle]
The TV that I have is wide screen so it doesn't have that weird black below and above the picture. I don't know much about it - I bought it... my ex picked it out... And I only buy the widescreen version of the movies. I don't know why... I was just told it's better with my tv and I just always buy/rent the widescreen. [Withoutwings]
With a wide screen tv that makes sense. It's just like with a full screen it makes sense to use full screen. You go with what fits your tv screen. [emeraldisle]
Well your brother is correct really. When you view a movie in widescreen you are seeing the picture as it was shot on film and displayed in theaters. When you view the same movie in fullscreen, the picture is reformatted to fit into a square. You do lose some of the picture at the sides and often from the top also. Personally I prefer fullscreen because I've haven't gone out and gotten HD tv that displays things in widescreen by default. When I do (and I will soon) I'm sure I will rather watch the picture in widescreen as well. So really it depends on the movie, and the tv you are watching it on. [filmbuff]
Something to keep in mind is that in full screen the image is reformatted to extend up and down farther. The perspective is skewed, so it may appear that you are losing the image in widescreen but in effect that are adding or stretching the image to fill up the top and bottom of the screen in full screen mode. If you are using a normal square tv than yeah I'm with you 100%, watch in full screen. When you update your tv to a highdef widescreen I think you'll like the widescreen versions much better. [filmbuff]
I have had this discussion too. I think some movies it doesn't matter but some it does. When Ever After first came out on DVD it was wide screen only. I hated it. There was one scene in the movie that I noticed it cut something out that I found took away from the movie. It was the part when the bareness was being introduced to her new home, step-daughter, and servants. The father said she wasn't use to getting her hands dirty and she did something with her hands that was funny like she wouldn't be getting them dirty. Well in the wide screen addition in cut her hands out! But for Christmas we bought a wide screen TV so we are only getting wide screen DVD's now. The TV makes them better because you don't usually have to worry about the bars :) [GnosticGoddess]
Thanks for best response:) [GnosticGoddess]
Well, my mom loves wide screen but most of my friends prefer full screen so I've gotten used to both. I like full screen more but wide screen isn't that bad. [FraYFaN09]