Wide screen vs full screen

[mill4023]

Not too up on current technology--but supposedly the widescreen movies can be shown on a wide screen tv without the letterbox (we watched one movie this way and my BIL's house this weekend).

Depends on whether the movie is 1.85:1 or 2.33:1.
Widescreen TV's are 16:9 (just about 1.8:1), so a 1.85:1 movie will just about fill the entire screen, while a 2.33:1 movie will still have empty space(black bars) on the top and bottom, but they will be much thinner than if you were watching on a 4:3 regular tv.
If you have a regular tv, it's really a matter of whether you'd rather see the whole picture or see a bigger picture with the sides chopped off. Widescreen is really the right choice, but I'll admit that sometimes if I rent a DVD that includes both versions, I'll occasionally choose to watch it in fullscreen. Typically, I only do that for movies like comedies, where the visuals aren't as important as the dialogue. I would never dream of watching something like Harry Potter, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc., in anything but widescreen. The other really good point someone made is that all TV's will be widescreen fairly soon. In addition, all TV broadcasts will be in widescreen in a few years. I believe all HDTV will be broadcast in 16:9. So if there's any chance they will buy a new tv anytime between now and forever, widescreen is the only way to go.

 

[Jen D]

Gotta do the widescreen! Otherwise you're not getting the whole picture. I go crazy watching cropped pan and scan stuff on TV. They really butcher some of these movies. I'm so glad that cable channels are letterboxing more and more.