[78-L] Video Formatting issues on the Feinstein DVD -

[Sammy Jones]

Since I work for a large state-wide PBS affiliate (Georgia Public
Broadcasting), here a few comments from my perspective (quoting comments
from Mike Biel and Steve Ramm):

> 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.

It is true that it is almost impossible to buy a 4:3 standard def TV of any
sort anymore, forcing many people to buy an HDTV when they want a new TV,
even if they would prefer a 4:3 CRT (which still can look excellent).  What
the producer might have meant was more and more people now own widescreen
TVs since it is difficult to purchase anything else.

> 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.

The program might have been aired letterboxed to viewers watching in
standard def on 4:3 sets, but viewers watching in HD, probably saw an image
that filled their entire 16:9 screens, with 4:3 material matted so as not to
crop.  Cable and satellite providers have the power to crop widescreen
material or to letterbox for SD viewers.  This is sometimes done in
consultation with the TV station (i.e., your PBS affiliate), but not
necessarily.  Viewers watching over the air have similar controls on their
HD TVs or digital converter boxes: you can zoom, stretch, or crop to your
liking.

I personally saw one of the episodes playing out of our master control on
Sunday night, and it was definitely full-res HD widescreen; not letterboxed.
Depending on viewers' cable or satellite providers, they might have seen the
program letterboxed, but probably saw it cropped (because I know that's what
the Atlanta-area cable/sat providers usually do to our SD signal).  The 4:3
archive clips would not have been cropped, since their aspect ratio was
preserved in the original widescreen program.

> > 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.

He's right about the image quality issue:  forcing letterbox on widescreen
material sacrifices a great deal of resolution, roughly anywhere from 1/2 to
1/3 depending on the image size.  

Because of this shortcoming, what is usually done is to create DVDs of
widescreen material as anamorphic.  The entire available image raster is
used, and the DVD will unsqueeze (for 16:9 HDTVs) or letterbox (for SD 4:3
sets).

In fact, most DVD players allow you to choose how you want them to handle
widescreen material.  There is generally a menu setting for "TV type."  This
would be 16:9 or 4:3, and then a menu setting for "widescreen playback" (or
something similar).  If you've told the DVD player that you are watching a
4:3 set, you can choose if you want to view widescreen material cropped or
letterboxed.

To Steve Ramm, check your DVD menu settings and see if there is a way to
make your DVD player display widescreen content in letterbox instead of
cropped or "pan and scan."  My guess is that this will solve your problem.

> > 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.

The fault is probably with the setting of Steve's DVD player.  Be sure the
player knows it's feeding at 4:3 picture, and set it to letterbox.

> 
> > 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.

Without having the DVD to watch, I can't be sure, but once Steve gets his
DVD player to display widescreen material properly, I imagine the 4:3 clips
will appear just as they did in the original program: uncropped.

Sammy Jones