2012 = A Year of Transition / 2013 = Some Still Don’t

| January 4, 2013

Why are a lot of broadcasters and film makers still confused over HD standards ???

Take some of the cable/satellite networks for example …

Taking a 4×3 standard definition source and stretching out the sides to fill in a 16×9 aspect ration is NOT HD !

All it does is make everything short and fat. Feels like a sick vertigo in time …

And it’s PAINFUL to watch.

YET – on most of the standard definition channels (the original feed) are perfectly letter boxed for 16×9 or 4×3 programs. So what is the point of paying extra for HD channels that aren’t actually HD ???

I did like what some news channels like Fox Business did at first – the kept the standard definition cameras (saved big bucks) and used the extra part of the HD screen for “information boxes” … great idea at the time!

The real hilarity for some particular networks that have their standard definition feed along with a “simulcast HD” feed for example, is that they actually have shows shot in HD originally but they still take a standard definition copy and stretch the sides out.

Oh, sure – the viewer can adjust their TV – sort of … but why should they have to ?

It never gets you to the actual proper aspect ratio and even so – when you stretch out a smaller image you get all those ugly artifacts (the industry term for those nasty distortions)

Then – what’s really stupid is a 16×9 image stretched out to the sides in a distorted anamorphic size … like they can’t make up their mind !

Then – there are DVD releases claiming to be “HD” where they just take a 4×3 movie and stretch it out to 16×9. This is basically lying and false representation of a product. There’s some jokers in the UK doing this.

Over 2012 there was a very interesting transition.

A migration to original aspect ratios. Like on EPIX channels.

One year earlier, they were showing 16×9 versions of movie that the sides of the image was lopped off to fill the standard 16×9 televisions (do we still call them televisions?) folks were buying up like crazy.

Here and there – we began to see original (anamorphic) 2.39:1 or whatever the movie was originally shot in.

Vistavision / Panavision / CinemaScope / or whatever the buzz word and screen aspect ratio was the original.

TCM finally understood and even made their standard definition side show original aspect ratios !

Way to go TCM ! And hopefully in the future, some of the older 1.33:1 4×3 movies (such as “Gone With The Wind”) will begin to be digitized into true HD (1080P would be fantastic) and fill the HD screens with black bars on the sides of course.

Think of your wide screen LCD/LED/whatever flat screen TV as a big, flat black pallet.

You do not necessarily have to fill the whole thing up with an image – just like the page of a magazine or newspaper …

It’s HOW THE “WHITESPACE” IS UTILIZED !!!

Sorry for raising my voice – it’s an important point …

“Whitespace” is essentially the blank part of a page. On the video screen it’s black … on paper, it’s white – which is why it’s called “white space” in the magazine / newspaper business …

Think of it as “open space” … using the frame effectively.

Like in “Lawrence Of Arabia”. The masterpiece of cinematography !

Freddie Young was the Director Of Photography on “Lawrence of Arabia” – as well as on “Doctor Zhivago” and even on my favorite James Bond movie “You Only Live Twice”

Wide screen TVs have made content creators free to be very creative and more entertaining / informative.

I utilize this in my feature documentary movies.

It’s great to have a talking head on one side while a supporting image is on the other side …

… it works very well … And to have images ooze out from the screen …

… but I digress …

What will we see in 2013 ?

More programmers (broadcasters) will have to follow suit – hopefully !

I was so very excited to finally see “Flower Drum Song” in its original aspect ratio rather than just a few months ago only see it in the old “pan and scan” square box – which ruined it like any other theatrical release.

Hopefully, this year we will see more original aspect ratios.

It’s OK to show 4×3 if that was what the footage was originally filmed in.

Maybe this is our modern version of growing pains of when “colorization” came in vogue … it took a little while to get it right … but some things should never be colorized like the beginning sequence of “Wizard Of Oz” which was designed to show the contrast between real life and the dream.

What I like is to film in 720PN format if the end product is going to be on DVD … but that’s another subject for another day …

Category: Tony Rollo Blog

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