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Sky Movies Not Showing Films In OAR
mattyb
Posts: 1,185 Forum Member
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Are Sky struggling to obtain widescreen copies of films due to others having the rights? I know they opted to show the Imax version of Skyfall, however they're not showing Stardust in its OAR either. Have they done this with other non-Imax films? Just find it odd when they used to boast about their films being shown in their OAR.
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Sky movies is a poor offing anyway, I had it free for 2months at one time a few years ago and it was ok, but I quickly realised that it wouldn't be worth paying for!
I just buy the BluRays of films I want, as they are much better quality and in OAR!
Damn sight better audio, HD picture quality that actually still wow's you and you can watch i whenever you please, uncut!
(I believe its Sky's policy to show the unmatted version where available because of whino complaint sent to them over the using of OAR movies which are 21:9 because people think they have a widescreen telly, then entire screen MUST be filled or they might die!)
Sky show the vast majority of films in their OAR. In fact, I've never ever seen them show something not in its original ratio, and I watch a lot. As for Stardust, I just checked it out on Sky On Demand and it's 2.35:1. So I don't know what you're on about.
Stardust was broadcast yesterday in 1.85:1 on both transmissions, hence why I started this thread.Shaft (2000) is another film they had on-demand where they had a 4:3 copy before finally changing it.
Sky should show both versions then as they repeat them enough on those channels anyway, that is what I found out!
It was literally watch about a weeks worth and then the next two weeks or so you get the same films on!
All sky need to do is have OAR in the info in that corner bit that says if something is W widescreen, HD, DD Dolby Digital, AD Audio Description ect, if the film is OAR, if not it doesn't get included.
This could also be used by other general entertainment channels too, as those that want it will know where to look for it!
Which Stardust film as there is a 1974 version in 1.85:1 and a 2007 version in2.35:1?
2007 version
There should be a button that zooms any image in so it shows the centre 16:9 portion of either a 2.35:1 or a 4:3 film.
Then all broadcasters should show films and TV shows in OAR embedded within a 16:9 frame regardless of whether its an SD or HD channel!
Then those that don't like black bars can zoom in and those that want OAR can enjoy to our hearts content!
It doesn't work the other way as you can't put back what has already been cropped!
You lose chunks of picture with no increase in spatial resolution to compensate, and by zooming in at the receiver end artifacts will be more visible! So this kind of thing is best done before broadcast e.g. with two showings at the different aspect ratios.
I would be surprised if people who prefer their pictures butchered in this way are bothered about technical quality.
SHAFT is not 4:3 in On Demand. It's 2.35:1.
Not on Now TV it ain't, sorry.
Ah so! You never said that before - very misleading. You're not really watching Sky Movies at all.
Its the same just different branding!
http://watch.nowtv.com/movies
I quite agree that is why I advocate what I wrote.
Also there is no extra resolution, we have been here before!
An example is a 2.35:1 film gets sent to the broadcaster as 2.35:1 in a HD frame so the actual film detail is 1920*800 apx, you crop that to 16:9 it will come out at about 1420*800 roughly that is then upscaled to 1920*1080 and then split to an SD feed that gets downscaled to 720*576 and a HD feed if there is a HD channel.
So the resolution is actually still no more than 1420*800 roughly, but people will think that it is full HD!
Example 2 is a 4:3 TV film that a channel decides to crop to 16:9 (thankfully this is rare as broadcasters tend to show this in OAR with cropping the pillarboxing on the SD feeds), the picture is 1440*1080 or there abouts.
They then zoom in on the centre 16:9 portion of the 4:3 image so you get a resolution close to 1440*800 apx which is again upscaled to 1920*1080 the same as the 2.35:1 example above. There is still only about 1440*800 res of information though!
Both these examples get worse if the master they are working from is SD! In each example you would get roughly 540*430 res of information out of the original 720*576 image with the 540*430 getting upscaled to either full SD or now mainly full HD!
So if people want this cropping to go on at the broadcasters end we all suffer but if the broadcasters broadcast OAR then only those that want to crop will get a lousy picture and they won't care as they just want their TV filled!
The above is only because the movie distributors and broadcasters haven't got their act together. The two versions need to be produced either before we get to 1920 x 1080, or sent as 4K/UHD. Problem solved at little extra cost, most of which is in the broadcast rights not the film-to-video transfer cost.
Why is it misleading? I receive the movie channels live and on demand just like the satellite version. Now TV is Sky just on the IPTV platform.
You realise that most of the films of the last 15 years are only 2k masters even ones shot and projected on film!
So that only gives the slightest amount more resolution than full HD 6% more to be precise.
A measly 6% more isn't going to go that far, so my point stands and the problem of no more res remains!
That even goes for a lot of the films being shown today still, as 4k is often reserved for IMAX!
This is a bad state of affairs but I think its slowly changing.
Of course older films can be scanned in at 4k or even 8k if they had no digital intermediary and were edited by actually cutting film!
The other problem with older films though is that will they actually get a 4k or 8k transfer? And will broadcasters get their hands on that or just a standard full HD copy?
There is lots to consider, its better to provide the function to viewers to actually crop if they want, as they could then do that for DVDs and BluRays too if they so choose.
It would be a good TV feature but is less likely as it would mean software updates to old the, better to add to sky boxes, youview boxes, virgin boxes and as many freeview and freesat boxes that can actually be updated.
Then when that is done broadcasters switch to OAR only and tell complainers to sort the issue out on their own equipment! If their equipment doesn't have the feature then they are told its too old to have it.
Then the matter can be put to bed so to speak, as eventually everyone will be happy, as they can choose how they want to view their films on every showing!
Films should be shown on OAR only, those who like a full screen should pester their TV or STB manufactures for a zoom option.
I said misleading because from what you've said (unless I've misunderstood) is that Now TV are showing different (incorrect) ratios compared to what the Sky subscription channels are showing (you refer to SHAFT as being in 4:3 on Now TV which seems to make no sense - surely you meant 1.85:1)
Ah with you. No, Shaft is 4:3 on-demand which is very odd, yet its 2.35:1 when its broadcast, might be an over sight by Sky.
You meet my point exactly!
I only mentioned the possibility of 4k/8k transfer of old films as its potentially feasible, but as you say unlikely, as people will likely want just a full HD BluRay copy.
I imagine its actually done as a 2k transfer so they can be shown at a digital cinema?