Post by dkennedy on Mar 11, 2005 7:46:12 GMT -5
The Clicker: Questions gathered from the back of a DVD case
Posted Mar 10, 2005, 5:44 PM ET by Peter Rojas
Each week Stephen Speicher contributes The Clicker, a weekly column on television. Last week he talked about projection CRT TVs, this week he answers some questions gathered from the back of a DVD case:
In honor of Oscar season I’d like to dedicate this column to three different people. First, I want to thank Andy Rooney. Without him, writers would be required to produce actual content. He loosened the reins and made it possible to look at one’s desk, see an object, and start writing nearly-incoherent babble. God bless Andy! Next I would like to thank “The X-Files” creator Chris Carter. Carter told the world that it was alright to ditch an ongoing storyline for a week in order to pursue a story that does absolutely nothing to advance the plot. However, most importantly, I’d like thank the good people who make Advil. They’ve made it nearly bearable for me to write with a busted wrist.
So, without any further delay, I present “Questions Gathered from the Back of a DVD Case.”
Question 1:
”I just bought a widescreen HDTV and I STILL have black bars on the top and bottom when I watch certain movies. What’s up with that?”
The answer is simple. Movies are often wider than HDTVs. HDTV’s 16:9 aspect ratio (a.k.a. 1.78) is simply a compromise between television’s 4:3 (1.33) and film’s 21:9 (2.35). If you’re willing to incur the wrath of film purists, many TV’s have stretch modes designed to compensate for these black bars. However, I wouldn’t recommend it.
Question 2:
“Speaking of widescreen — What the heck does anamorphic mean? I often see it on DVD cases. I know that it’s good but I don’t know why.”
There are two main methods of producing a widescreen DVD: letterbox and anamorphic. Anamorphic discs simply conserve more of the original data. Here’s how:
Whether a movie is widescreen or pan-and-scan, the same number of pixels is being sent to the DVD player. In the case of NTSC DVDs that number is 345,600 (720 x 480). The important part is how you use those pixels.
Letterbox DVDs waste a lot of potential resolution by actually sending the black bars at the top and bottom of the picture. In fact, if you watch a letterbox DVD (1.78) the top 61 lines and the bottom 61 lines are nothing but black lines. That means that of the 480 potential lines of resolution 122 are wasted.
Anamorphic DVDs (1.78), on the other hand, don’t send the bars. Instead they treat the signal a little like a fun-house mirror. They pack data into all 480 lines of resolution. The result is that the raw image will looked stretched (i.e. the image will look too tall and objects will look too thin). See
The DVD player then compensates for this fun-house effect by stretching to fill the screen.
Question 3:
“What the heck is a key grip?”
OK – that one isn’t technically on the back cover, but I’ve always wanted to know. So, I thought that I would use this as an excuse to research it.
The key grip is the chief of the grips.
Question 4:
“Uh, what’s a grip?”
Good follow up question! The grip is responsible for much of the equipment on a movie set. A grip will build and maintain scaffolds. A grip will lay tracks for cameras. They will also move the crane or the dolly during the shot. If it’s part of the filming process chances are the grip has a grip on it!.
Next week we return to our foray into HDTV display technologies with a look at DLP.
As always feel free to send an email to theclicker@theevilempire.com.
Posted Mar 10, 2005, 5:44 PM ET by Peter Rojas
Each week Stephen Speicher contributes The Clicker, a weekly column on television. Last week he talked about projection CRT TVs, this week he answers some questions gathered from the back of a DVD case:
In honor of Oscar season I’d like to dedicate this column to three different people. First, I want to thank Andy Rooney. Without him, writers would be required to produce actual content. He loosened the reins and made it possible to look at one’s desk, see an object, and start writing nearly-incoherent babble. God bless Andy! Next I would like to thank “The X-Files” creator Chris Carter. Carter told the world that it was alright to ditch an ongoing storyline for a week in order to pursue a story that does absolutely nothing to advance the plot. However, most importantly, I’d like thank the good people who make Advil. They’ve made it nearly bearable for me to write with a busted wrist.
So, without any further delay, I present “Questions Gathered from the Back of a DVD Case.”
Question 1:
”I just bought a widescreen HDTV and I STILL have black bars on the top and bottom when I watch certain movies. What’s up with that?”
The answer is simple. Movies are often wider than HDTVs. HDTV’s 16:9 aspect ratio (a.k.a. 1.78) is simply a compromise between television’s 4:3 (1.33) and film’s 21:9 (2.35). If you’re willing to incur the wrath of film purists, many TV’s have stretch modes designed to compensate for these black bars. However, I wouldn’t recommend it.
Question 2:
“Speaking of widescreen — What the heck does anamorphic mean? I often see it on DVD cases. I know that it’s good but I don’t know why.”
There are two main methods of producing a widescreen DVD: letterbox and anamorphic. Anamorphic discs simply conserve more of the original data. Here’s how:
Whether a movie is widescreen or pan-and-scan, the same number of pixels is being sent to the DVD player. In the case of NTSC DVDs that number is 345,600 (720 x 480). The important part is how you use those pixels.
Letterbox DVDs waste a lot of potential resolution by actually sending the black bars at the top and bottom of the picture. In fact, if you watch a letterbox DVD (1.78) the top 61 lines and the bottom 61 lines are nothing but black lines. That means that of the 480 potential lines of resolution 122 are wasted.
Anamorphic DVDs (1.78), on the other hand, don’t send the bars. Instead they treat the signal a little like a fun-house mirror. They pack data into all 480 lines of resolution. The result is that the raw image will looked stretched (i.e. the image will look too tall and objects will look too thin). See
The DVD player then compensates for this fun-house effect by stretching to fill the screen.
Question 3:
“What the heck is a key grip?”
OK – that one isn’t technically on the back cover, but I’ve always wanted to know. So, I thought that I would use this as an excuse to research it.
The key grip is the chief of the grips.
Question 4:
“Uh, what’s a grip?”
Good follow up question! The grip is responsible for much of the equipment on a movie set. A grip will build and maintain scaffolds. A grip will lay tracks for cameras. They will also move the crane or the dolly during the shot. If it’s part of the filming process chances are the grip has a grip on it!.
Next week we return to our foray into HDTV display technologies with a look at DLP.
As always feel free to send an email to theclicker@theevilempire.com.