i'm trying to compare 2.35:1 and 1.85:1. like 90% on my dvds are 2.35:1 which means even more of my picture is taken up my black bars. i'm glad i haven't ditched my tv for a widescreen. i'm just tryin to figure out why this format is so popular if even on widescreen tvs u're losing some of ur picture ??

3/14/2006 8:05:59 PM

obviously i know nothing about this, because i thought the two major aspect ratios were 4:3 (standard) and 16:9 (widescreen)

*shrug*

3/14/2006 11:21:44 PM

the answer is:

because Movies are created for Movie Theatres, not for your home television. Movie screens have been set up for 2.35:1 since the late 1950's.

3/14/2006 11:51:11 PM

It's also up to the director what format they want to shoot their movie in. And not all of them want to "limit" their "creative freedom" because you don't want to see bars on your TV.

3/15/2006 12:06:31 AM

ok, dumb question

why dont they set up tvs with that ratio

3/15/2006 12:07:47 AM

movies shot in 2.35:1 are considered CineScope movies.. next time you're in a theatre and the screen looks wide.. you're watching a movie in that ratio.. if it's more square.. it's Flat aka 1.85:1..

in most cases, flat movies are enhanced for 16:9 so that it fills the screen since 1.78:1 is close to 1.85:1

with 2.35:1 being so much wider, you would lose a lot of information on the left and right for it to fill a 16:9(widescreen) tv.

in any case, a wide screen tv will be much better viewing for movies than a standard tv.. since most of the screen is taken up by the image on the widescreen tv.

^ for movies shot in 1.85:1 you would have black bars on the side.. so something has to give..

[Edited on March 15, 2006 at 12:08 AM. Reason : ]

3/15/2006 12:08:06 AM

movies went widescreen after telivision started taking off in order to give people a reason to go to the theater

so what'll they do after widescreen tv's are standard?

3/15/2006 12:17:15 AM

3/15/2006 12:35:40 AM

if movie theaters were setup up to do 2.35:1 for so long why did they even create the 1.85:1 standard? AND then build huge tvs that are supposed to simulate the theater expirience around it?

3/15/2006 3:15:48 AM

market segmentation

3/15/2006 3:45:58 AM

^^ movies were originally shot in 4:3 (full frame).. when CinemaScope was invented in the 50's, the standard ratio changed from 1.33 to 1.85, since widescreen was becoming big. Now we have two popular ratios.. 1.85:1 and 2.35:1.

1.85:1 movies are usually still shot in 4:3 then cropped on the top and bottom at the projector.. these are soft matted flat movies.. if the projectionist doesn't frame a soft-matted flat movie correctly, you may actually see boom mics, and edges of sets

there is also hard matted where they are filmed in 4:3 but with the top and bottom already cropped..

1.85 is still used today, mainly because it's cheaper.. 2.35:1 has to be shot on certain film with certain cameras (PanaVision for example).. and creating the anamorphic image isn't cheap either.

3/15/2006 10:11:36 AM

ding ding we have a winner.

3/15/2006 12:11:08 PM

I forgot to add.. another reason for the two formats today.. is it's really hard for a director to get the effect they want in scope that they can achieve in flat.. such as in War of the Worlds.. Spielberg made the movie FLAT so that the alien ships would look taller. Really hard to get that illusion on a Scope/Super-wide screen.

3/16/2006 7:03:16 PM