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4:3 broadcasts?


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Old 02-02-2012, 19:08
DeelyBopper
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I got rid of the last square crt recently and noticed on my new telly that sometimes when I watch things they still appear in square proportions (I use Freeview).

For example, on channel Five I watched a film and it was boxed but when the ads came on they were widescreen. TV is set to 16:9 mode.

Is it because they are broadcast in that ratio? If so, why do they still use that format when you can't buy square tellies anymore?
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Old 02-02-2012, 19:25
Chris Frost
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Some stuff is still in the 4:3 format. The footy on ITV was (is?) pillar boxed; old TV show reruns, old and low budget films, cartoons, lots of pop video etc etc. They can be cropped a little top and bottom, but overdoing it can means close ups where the tops of heads are missing. That's not a good look, lol.
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Old 02-02-2012, 19:30
DeelyBopper
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Oh right, it the film was shot in 2000. So it happens with older stuff that hasn't been 'converted'?
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Old 02-02-2012, 20:00
Chris Frost
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Aspect ratios are also the choice of the Director. Sometimes it's down to artistic choices, other times it's budget.

"Converting".... not a great idea. Watch any of the behind the scenes documentaries and you'll often see a preview monitor with rectangles on the screen showing what the film looks like in 2.40:1, 16:9 and 4:3. More times than you realise the framing covers all options because films are sold in different formats for cinema, disc, and broadcast markets. However, this isn't always the case. That leaves cropping as the ugly option. As I said before, too much causes odd looking images. It's not worth destroying a film just so someone can have every square inch of their huge TV full of picture all the time. Use the zoom if it really bothers you.
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Old 02-02-2012, 21:36
AidanLunn
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Some stuff is still in the 4:3 format. The footy on ITV was (is?) pillar boxed; old TV show reruns, old and low budget films, cartoons, lots of pop video etc etc. They can be cropped a little top and bottom, but overdoing it can means close ups where the tops of heads are missing. That's not a good look, lol.
Any form of cropping for 4:3 material for 16:9 looks awful.

The correct way to do it is, for 4:3 material on 16:9 programmes, to have black bands on either side to fill up the space at the edge of the screen.

For programmes that are entirely 4:3, broadcast them that way.

And Channel 5 are well-known for being cheapskates and buying 4:3 copies of widescreen movies.
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Old 02-02-2012, 21:39
porkpie
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Its only been just over a decade since 16:9 became the standard so anything before that could be shown as 4:3.
The only way to show 4:3 images as 16:9 is to crop off parts of the top or bottom which is not a good idea.
If you are viewing SD channels then your tv set will have a ratio adjustment button where you can force the tv to display 16:9 all the time , but obviously this means stretching a 4:3 image which results in people looking short and fat .
Some tv's have various adjustments with many different names but all doing basically the same thing so you should find a setting where images can be stretched to fill the screen but the tv tries to ensure only the outer edges are stretched so that the important centre part of the image is less distorted.
IIRC Panasonic call it JUST. Other brands use their own names.

And some tv's won't allow you to play with the ratio on HD channels or anything connected via HDMI but this varies between brands also so your stretching or zooming may not always work

Films are another world.
As posted above films have been shot in a variety of ratios over the years so if the channel decides to show it correctly the borders/black areas can vary in size.
Some channels will show films that fill the screen but with Cinemascope films and others in that 2.35:1 ratio you lose side picture information
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Old 03-02-2012, 08:09
Sue_Aitch
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I watch DTTR on 4:3 Letterbox setting on a 4:3 TV, the banding so I get banding top and bottom when watching a widescreen programme and full 4:3 when watching a programme in that format. In other words my 1990s CRT TV is a 25" for 4:3 aspect ratio and a tad under 22" for 16:9 and a smaller screen for 2.35:1 releases. Possibly, OP, you used the Centre Cutout sttting when using the 4:3 CRT for DTTR?
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Old 04-02-2012, 09:36
stryvya
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a bit like asking "why do we still get B/W Films now all TVs are Colour"
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Old 04-02-2012, 10:10
Nigel Goodwin
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a bit like asking "why do we still get B/W Films now all TVs are Colour"
Exactly - yet people seem to expect all 4:3 material to magically become 16:9.
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Old 04-02-2012, 10:43
XxBlaKOuTZxX
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Dont most modern tv's have the option of full screen for 4:3 progs
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Old 04-02-2012, 10:56
call100
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Don't worry about it. Your TV is behaving how it should.
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Old 04-02-2012, 11:53
Deacon1972
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Dont most modern tv's have the option of full screen for 4:3 progs
Yes they do, but I can't think of one valid reason why anyone would want to use it, unless they prefer everyone to look like umpa lumpa's.

For those that choose to do this, I wonder what their reaction was when they went to see the recent release of The Artist as this was purposely shot in 4x3 (1.37:1) - as was The 2006 release of The Good German with George Clooney.
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Old 04-02-2012, 13:12
njp
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Yes they do, but I can't think of one valid reason why anyone would want to use it, unless they prefer everyone to look like umpa lumpa's.

For those that choose to do this, I wonder what their reaction was when they went to see the recent release of The Artist as this was purposely shot in 4x3 (1.37:1) - as was The 2006 release of The Good German with George Clooney.
As was every episode of The Wire.
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Old 05-02-2012, 01:51
AidanLunn
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The only way to show 4:3 images as 16:9 is to crop off parts of the top or bottom which is not a good idea.
You could stretch the image, you don't lose information that way, but you'd make Rodney Trotter look like James Corden!
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Old 05-02-2012, 09:18
DeelyBopper
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Thanks to those that answered my original question. I enjoy learning about this stuff but must confess I'm not half as clued up as you helpful souls. Cheers ma dears.
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Old 05-02-2012, 15:52
jenzie
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i'd rather use the zoom features on tv's to view 4:3 broadcasts myself, or PANORAMIC too (i did this with my first widescreen tv)
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Old 06-02-2012, 10:51
Soundbox
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For some reason I don't mind black bars top and bottom but side bars look odd. Shame there is no option of 14:9 TV's.
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Old 06-02-2012, 10:57
Caxton
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4 :3 is what it is. I prefer all programmes to be shown in their original format, it should be up to the viewer if they want to see it in stretchivision or not. How people can sit and watch distorted images is beyond belief.
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Old 06-02-2012, 12:03
noise747
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The problem with black bars on the side is my eyes seems to go to them instead of the picture. the only way I can watch 4:3 stuff like yesterday when I watched Fawlty towers on Netflix last night is to turn out the lights and watch in darkness.
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Old 06-02-2012, 12:11
spiney2
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Much of the tv that exists - including most of the best stuff ever made - is in 4:3 format.
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Old 06-02-2012, 13:46
call100
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Just imagine the square is one of those old CRT things that people blocked up their lounges with...
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Old 06-02-2012, 21:09
porkpie
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On their Bluray releases Disney go so far as to provide an additional version of any 4:3 film with the sidebars filled up by artwork so you can choose whether you have black bars or not
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