Letter box in an 16:9 ratio??

1. ThomW
   Member

   

    I was watching on my HDTV a program that had letter box withing the already 16:9 ratio.  What's that about?

   This industry sometimes forgets that there was a time in the not so distant past that the only time you got paid was when you woke up the next morning and went back to work. Earning royalties for something you did 20 years ago is only a recent phenomenon.

   Posted 2 years ago #

2. birdcat
   Moderator

   

   Was it created in 2.35:1? 

   Bruce Paul
   7Squared Productions
   http://www.7squared.com

   Posted 2 years ago #

3. robGRAUERT
   Member

   

   hmm...is your TV set to stretch 4:3 images to 16:9? Cause letterbox is really 4:3

   Rob Grauert, Jr
   http://www.robgrauert.com
   http://command-r.tumblr.com

   Posted 2 years ago #

4. XTR-91
   Member

   

   Was it footage originally shot in 4:3 and converted to 16:9, with the conversion method of adding black bars to the sides? The other options for converting between aspect ratios are cropping or stretching .

   Posted 2 years ago #

5. ThomW
   Member

   

    I just bought an HDTV for the first time in my life and thought that the only reason for the letter box was the 16:9 had to fit in 4:3 window.  Now, I'm looking at a 16:9 ratio screen.  So why would the movie have a letter box.

   Posted 2 years ago #

6. XTR-91
   Member

   

   If there's settings on your HDTV that tell it to zoom, crop, or stretch, then you may have problems getting the aspect ratio to dispay correctly. If the original movie was shot in 4:3 (letterbox), then the picture display will be in 4:3. Could you describe your television problem more clearly, such as listing the shape (aspect ratio) of the movie, and posting any custom settings on your HDTV?

   Posted 2 years ago #

7. birdcat
   Moderator

   

   There are several aspect ratios used in video/movie production. 

   Old standard def is 4:3 (720 X 480).  HD is 16:9 (as 1920 x 1080 or 1280 x 720). Some movies are shot in 2.35:1 which will give you letterboxing when viewed on a 1920 x 1080 set (you would need resolution of 2538 x 1080).

   Posted 2 years ago #

8. composite1
   Moderator

   

   After having some films shot in 16x9 exhibited on 4x3 screens (ewww!) we started throwing a letterbox on our films so they would look okay no matter what ratio they were shown at. I worked with a NatGeo crew shooting 1080i but framed everything for 4x3 so it would look fine at SD and on widescreen.

   H.Wolfgang Porter, Composite Media Producer
   Dreaded Enterprises Unlimited, Inc.
   http://www.dreadedenterprises.com

   Posted 2 years ago #

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