[78-L] Video Formatting issues on the Feinstein DVD - Standard TV owners take notice

[Michael Biel]

Forwarded by Steve Ramm from the series producer/director of the
Feinstein series 

> Our manufacturer confirmed our choice, pointing out that most people
> who invest in the purchase of a DVD tend to be people who also have
> invested in a newer wide-screen television set (often with Surround-Sound, etc.) 
 
HUH???  This is NOT TRUE. It is the people who buy BLU-RAY who have
invested in the new wide screen sets.  The idea that DVD buyers have
made that investment is STUPID.  And you can quote me.  With DVD players
going for $24.95, and VHS no longer an option, DVD is the BUDGET format
now, not the premium.  Your producer friend should have seen thru that
statement from "our manufacturer".  It makes no sense.  I wouldn't be
surprised if he has mis-remembered what he was told.  Since he repeats
it, he certainly doesn't understand the market.

He also made another error when he said:

> The series was shot and broadcast in widescreen High Definition,
> and as PBS no longer requires programs to be formatted for standard
> 4:3 television sets, the entire series was created as a widescreen program.

If he bothered to actually WATCH the program on the air, it WAS AIRED
letterboxed.  I can send him a copy of our discs if he doesn't believe
it.  Plus, if you remember my original postings, the 4x3 inserts were
carefully windowboxed -- black bars on all four sides.

> Ideally it should have been made into a Blu-Ray, to take full advantage
> of being high definition. But that proved unaffordable in terms of
> licensing and manufacturing costs.
 
Those who have the large home-theater set-ups will condescend to buy the
DVD if they have to, but they would rather have the Blu-Ray.

> So, to make a Standard Definition widescreen DVD, we had to compress
> our HD video into SD video, and also had to use a dual layer DVD to
> get three one-hour episodes on one disk. 

> Isn't it already a 2-disc set??  That's what the listing says.

> In order to have the least amount of compression, so that the DVD would
> look great on a big, wide screen, we did not letterbox it, since that
> would have required anybody with a screen larger than 32 " to have to
> "ZOOM" or blow it up to entirely fill the screen, and that image would
> be more pixilated. 
 
Does this guy own a TV??  ALL 9x17 sets would require the zoom feature
to see a letterboxed disc full-screen, even the little 19-inch sets. 

> If you play the DVDs on a computer (at least any of the current models
> we tested it on) it will play properly in widescreen, and it was also
> tested on a range of different television sets made in the last 10 years.
> Perhaps you can find a friend with a more recent model. 
 
> But certainly in your review you should mention that it is a widescreen program,
> so that there will be no disappointment from your readers who haven't made the
> 16 x 9 transition. 

Wouldn't it be more important to mention that the original film clips
are in their original 4x3 aspect ratios without the tops and bottoms cut
off?  Unless for the DVD they DID cut them off.  If they did that, I
will scream that fact from the rooftops.  Let us know if the full image
of the clips are seen.  I am not sure if these people understand how TV
works.  

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com