Double Trouble..Give Me A Clue People!
With everything going on in the world today this would seem like a minor issue, but it is still an annoying one nonetheless. On the DVD I viewed, I was having quite the challenge in figuring out the widescreen from the fullscreen version.
Now I know the purists always want to view these things in the widescreen format. I will grant them that it is the truest to the cinematic original and experience. However, the reality is on an ol' fashioned, non-widescreen television that is a mere 20 inches to start with, the widescreen version just becomes too small, and the fullscreen is the more satisfying version.
Today's DVD had nothing written on either side. That's right, this was one of these double sided discs, which had no indication as to what was on either side (I scanned it in above). From the DVD's box, it indicated both fullscreen and widescreen versions. Hmmm...the gears were turning. I realized it was a 50:50 shot, but invariably Murphy's Law works overtime, and one consistently puts the wrong side in anyway. To further complicate matters, even the fullscreen version of the film starts for the first several minutes in the widescreen format so it's really not that obvious. There even wasn't one of those "This Video Has Been Formatted To Fit Your Screen" which are annoying and repetitive to say the least, but would have thrown me a bone. No, this time there really was no clue.
While by trial and error I solved the conundrum, I realized there is a real simple solution. The disc should be labeled on both the top and bottom with the verbiage "This Side Up For Fullscreen Viewing" and "This Side Up For Widescreen Viewing." Now, would that really be that difficult?
--Jonas
Now I know the purists always want to view these things in the widescreen format. I will grant them that it is the truest to the cinematic original and experience. However, the reality is on an ol' fashioned, non-widescreen television that is a mere 20 inches to start with, the widescreen version just becomes too small, and the fullscreen is the more satisfying version.
Today's DVD had nothing written on either side. That's right, this was one of these double sided discs, which had no indication as to what was on either side (I scanned it in above). From the DVD's box, it indicated both fullscreen and widescreen versions. Hmmm...the gears were turning. I realized it was a 50:50 shot, but invariably Murphy's Law works overtime, and one consistently puts the wrong side in anyway. To further complicate matters, even the fullscreen version of the film starts for the first several minutes in the widescreen format so it's really not that obvious. There even wasn't one of those "This Video Has Been Formatted To Fit Your Screen" which are annoying and repetitive to say the least, but would have thrown me a bone. No, this time there really was no clue.
While by trial and error I solved the conundrum, I realized there is a real simple solution. The disc should be labeled on both the top and bottom with the verbiage "This Side Up For Fullscreen Viewing" and "This Side Up For Widescreen Viewing." Now, would that really be that difficult?
--Jonas
Labels: dvd, rant, Television
posted by digitaldoc at 8:22 PM
2 Comments:
All of the DVD's like the one you have described that I have seen have "widescreen" or "fullscreen" etched around the hole in the DVD. It's usually very small and not easy to see.
yes Gyro, I've seen that before as well. That's why I scanned this disc. That was all the info on both sides.
Post a Comment
<< Home