Sandy
Smash Champion
The ABC's of Widescreen vs Fullscreen
Throughout the test of time (or at least for the last 50 years) there has been a huge debate on which version is the superior choice. That answer is all based on your opinion and what you prefer to get out of your home-theatre experience.
To some people, it's Widescreen no doubt about it; from keeping the director's vision intact, to having the ability to watch the ratio that appeared in their theatre. Now others prefer Fullscreen due to the fact the picture fills up their entire screen, leaving out the "black bars" that comes with Widescreen DVD's. Others believe having "Fullscreen" means it "fills" up the entire screen and thus giving you "more" of the picture. That is a misguided perception. In fact you're actually losing about 50% of the original picture. The black bars are there to keep the original theatrical ratio intact, without cutting out any of the picture as Fullscreen does by "chopping" off the sides and/or pan-&-scanning the center of the image to fit into your screen.
This thread has been set up to answer those questions and to enlighten those still unclear what the difference between Widescreen & Fullscreen are as well as the difference between the different widescreen aspect ratios: 1.85:1 and 2.35:1. Please click on the links below (each rated out of a 5 * based system, with five "*" being the best) to begin your ABC's of Widescreen vs Fullscreen lesson. Also, keep in mind some sites have sub-links of their own throughout their guides/site (eg. Digitalbits) and it is strongly advised to click on those as well while reading.
Noteworthy Sites:
• A StarWars.com Widescreen lesson * * * * *
• Widescreen-O-Rama * * * * ½
• Digitalbits.com * * * * ½
• Hometheaterforum.com * * * *
• Widescreen.org * * * ½
Examples:
¤ Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope
¤ The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
¤ The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
¤ The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
¤ More Examples...