High-Def Digest: The Bonus ViewAspect Ratio Archives - High-Def Digest: The Bonus View

The Shape of Blockbuster Movies

Josh Zyber — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 13:00:30 +0000

Apropos of a long-winded argument that has raged in another post on this blog this week, I’ve taken the considerable time and effort to prepare a chart breaking down the last 20+ years of blockbuster movies, sorted by aspect ratio. Enjoy! First, let’s set some parameters: A lot of hot air was expended in the...

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Defying the Tyranny of Widescreen

Josh Zyber — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 13:00:04 +0000

Do you bemoan the fact that televisions ever moved from the old squarish 4:3 aspect ratio to the wider 16:9 HDTV standard? Do you regard my series of blog posts about Constant Image Height home theater with derision? (At least one of our readers sure does.) Do you take videos on your phone in Portrait...

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Constant Image Height on a Budget: The Panamorph CineVista Anamorphic Lens

Josh Zyber — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 19:00:22 +0000

In my Constant Image Height Refresher article a few weeks ago, I explained the two different ways of projecting a 2.35:1 movie picture onto a 2.35:1 screen in your home theater, either by the “Zoom Method” or by using an anamorphic lens attachment. Each process has its pros and cons. Zooming is easier and cheaper,...

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Where Movies and Home Theater Fail Math – How 2.35 = 2.40

Josh Zyber — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 19:00:28 +0000

In my Constant Image Height Refresher article the other day, I made a brief reference to the distinction between “2.35:1” and “2.40:1,” the two aspect ratio terms commonly used to describe “scope” widescreen movies. I didn’t have the time or space there to explain the actual difference between the two, or the mathematically-illogical reason that...

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A Constant Image Height Refresher

Josh Zyber — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 19:00:52 +0000

If projector owners are a niche within the home theater hobby, Constant Image Height projection users are a niche within a niche. A lot of that comes down to a simple lack of understanding. Also significant obstacles, however, are the complexity and expense of setting up a proper CIH system, which many viewers (even projector...

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The Truth About Aspect Ratios

Josh Zyber — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 19:00:06 +0000

Recently, a site called Filmmaker IQ launched an interesting web video that attempts to provide a beginner’s guide to the concept of aspect ratios, and to explain why not all movies are the same shape as one another. As a home theater advocate, I love and support this sort of thing. Unfortunately, as a pedantic...

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Perhaps Wider Isn’t Always Better

Josh Zyber — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 15:00:13 +0000

Regular readers of this blog know that I’m a proponent of Constant Image Height display in my home theater. Just last week, I posted about an interesting new technology that could improve the resolution of Blu-ray discs to benefit CIH projection. However, even I have to concede that the aesthetic advantages of a Cinemascope-shaped screen...

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“Folded Space” Squeezes More Resolution into a Blu-ray Image

Josh Zyber — Thu, 31 May 2012 19:00:17 +0000

Constant Image Height projection may still be a small niche within the home theater hobby, but its advocates (myself included) are passionate about the benefits of a proper “scope” presentation for movies on a 2.35:1 screen. One potential drawback of this practice, however, is the limited resolution available on a letterboxed Blu-ray disc. A new...

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Mid-Week Poll: The Great ‘Ghost Protocol’ Aspect Ratio Debate

Josh Zyber — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:00:06 +0000

Some of our readers may have noticed that yesterday’s Blu-ray post created quite a little kerfuffle in the Comments section about director Brad Bird’s decision to present ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol‘ on Blu-ray in a constant 2.35:1 aspect ratio, without the shifting ratios that were seen in IMAX theatrical screenings. Where do you fall...

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‘Transformers’ Trailer with 21:9 Enhancement on VUDU

Josh Zyber — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:00:41 +0000

Constant Image Height home theater viewers take note: VUDU now offers (for free) the ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ teaser trailer in high definition with 21:9 anamorphic enhancement. It’s not much, but it’s something. I expect that the majority of people reading this blog post will probably have no idea what I’m babbling on about....

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‘Barry Lyndon’ Aspect Ratio Controversy Solved

Josh Zyber — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 19:00:34 +0000

We home theater fans can be nit-picky types, sometimes obsessing over pixel-by-pixel imperfections in the latest Blu-ray releases. One such controversy erupted at the end of May when Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Barry Lyndon’ was released on the format in an aspect ratio slightly different than what people assumed it should be. After much arguing, a definitive...

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Wider Is Better

Josh Zyber — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 15:00:03 +0000

I recently posted about the Philips Cinema 21:9 TV, which is the first (and currently only) HDTV designed in a wider aspect ratio to support Constant Image Height display. Now, a company from Norway has done that one better by announcing at CEDIA the world’s first native 2.35:1 projector. This has certainly gotten my attention....

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