Widescreen on VHS vs. DVD

Posted by Abner from user-2ive8o8.dialup.mindspring.com on October 13, 1999 at 07:45:07:

In Reply to: Re: Indy DVD soon? (very long post) posted by Rocky on October 12, 1999 at 22:40:31:

I also was one of the old widescreen (letterbox) fanatics who has had a hard time convincing people of how much better it is. However, it is indeed gaining acceptance due to DVD. I think one of the reasons is due to the dramatic increase in picture quality on DVDs. With VHS, you are starting off with like 300 horizontal lines of resolution or something. If you then show a letterboxed film in CinemaScope aspect ratio on VHS, you are only using half those lines because half is black. That's only 150 lines! Now those numbers are guesstimates on my part but I do know that DVD gives you 480-500 lines of resolution- better than laserdisc, VHS, or cable TV. Add to that the fact that DVDs can be made with anamorphic versions of the widescreen movies (squished using all the horizontal lines- letting the player unsquish them) and you see that it is possible to get much better picture quality from a widescreen DVD. Also, more people are buying larger, higher quality TVs and "Home Theater" sound systems. Now people who I had a hard time convicing of the value of letterboxed movies a few years ago swear by them and won't buy anything else! As more people get HDTV with its 16x9 display this will only increase.

Widescreen Indy on DVD! It must be coming soon!

Cheers,
Abner

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: I also was one of the old widescreen (letterbox) fanatics who has had a hard time convincing people of how much better it is.  However, it is indeed gaining acceptance due to DVD.  I think one of the reasons is due to the dramatic increase in picture quality on DVDs.  With VHS, you are starting off with like 300 horizontal lines of resolution or something.  If you then show a letterboxed film in CinemaScope aspect ratio on VHS, you are only using half those lines because half is black. That's only 150 lines!  Now those numbers are guesstimates on my part but I do know that DVD gives you 480-500 lines of resolution- better than laserdisc, VHS, or cable TV.  Add to that the fact that DVDs can be made with anamorphic versions of the widescreen movies (squished using all the horizontal lines- letting the player unsquish them) and you see that it is possible to get much better picture quality from a widescreen DVD.  Also, more people are buying larger, higher quality TVs and "Home Theater" sound systems. Now people who I had a hard time convicing of the value of letterboxed movies a few years ago swear by them and won't buy anything else! As more people get HDTV with its 16x9 display this will only increase.

: Widescreen Indy on DVD!  It must be coming soon!

: Cheers,
: Abner

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