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Movies on DVD and VHS are often available in two
screen formats: full screen and wide screen. The full screen is where a movie is
modified to fit a television screen. If you have watched a video release, you
have probably seen the message: “This film has been modified from its original
version.” The wide screen version maintains the same size and shape of the
original theatrical version. The reason for the different versions is aspect
ratio. Motion picture screens have a different aspect ratio then a television
screen. The aspect ratio (a ratio of width to height) of a television screen
is 1.33:1. This means the screen is 1.33 times wide as it is tall. The most
common aspect ratio for movie screens is 1.85:1 to 2.35:1. While a television
screen is almost square a movie screen is rectangle. Therefore, a video release
must fit the rectangle movie screen onto the square television screen. The wide
screen version displays an image with black bars at the top and bottom of the
screen. Some people find this disturbing. Movie buffs and die hard artists
prefer the wide screen because it captures the essence of the filmmakers’
vision. The full screen actually removes the far left and right side of the
movie image in order to fit the movie within the television screen aspect ratio.
So the full screen, although appearing to be the whole movie, is actually
missing information. Knowing the difference can help you choose the format you
prefer. Remember that the wide screen version contains the aspect ratio of the
original theatrical release and that the full screen version is where only the
middle part of the original theatrical is used to fill the television screen.
About the author:
Lawrence Roth Webmaster - Rothline
Entertainment: Games, Movies and Software for people of all ages.
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