darkshadowdog

In all seriousness I wonder if there is actually a large enough market of people who prefer full screen over widescreen for the production companys to continue churning out new release dvds in full screen. Can anyone explain to me how companys are still profiting by producing full screen dvds?

Harry Lime

Most average people dont give a rats ass about widescreen cause they dont understand. Some actually believe that widescreen is the one taking away from the image with the black bars or that because they have a regular tv then they have to buy fullscreen cause it fits they type of tv they have.

I can understand (even though it makes me sick to my stomach) why they release new released films in full screen because those are the types of film that appeal to the average person who doesnt care but I can understand for the life of me why Sony releases Marlon Brando's Burn! in fullscreen.

Dr. Mantle

I work in the electronics dept. of a Fred Meyer, and people most certainly still buy fullscreen.

Thought widescreen is definitely the general preference. Whenever a title has both versions, the widescreens sell much quicker.

NitroJMS

Blind ignorance.

At my store, I normally point out the advantages of widescreen dvds to customers who are checking out with full screen and simply point to the newer HDTVs as a prime example as to why buy a widescreen version. Sometimes I'll convert them, but most Joe Six Packs are set in their ways. The funny thing is, that of my "Tuesday regulars," most of them buy full screen, so they must be sitting at home with hundreds, if not thousands, of full screen movies. I try warning them all the time that they will eventually need to repurchase in the future to avoid "black bars" again with their new TV down the road, but they are too set in their ways.

I don't know if its a gender thing either, but it seems that women are much more likely to listen to my explanation and switch over to widescreen, especially those under 50.

NatrlBornThrllr

Do people really still start threads about this topic?

darkshadowdog

Do people really still enjoy capping threads? Just kidding, sorry if this has been covered before but it hasen't while ive been on the boards...

SINGLE104

This subject has been beaten to death!

joshtown

I guess I can understand why people still purchase Fullscreen, and obviously it doesn't bother me, to each his own.
What I can't stand is when a studio takes advantage of the fact that "collectors" or "film fanatics" will only purchase widescreen. For instance Miramax with The Great Raid. They put out a much more expensive widescreen version / directors cut, and pretty much forced us to buy it, making the regular DVD only full screen and bare bones. That was ludicrous.

DarthPrime

I'm the only person in my family that buys Widescreen. Most of them understand that with Fullscreen they are missing part of the movie, but they don't care because they don't like "black bars".

Other than Movie Gallery, all the local stores only stock Fullscreen. The last time I was in one of the local stores a customer that was checking out was thanking the guy working there for stocking Fullscreen, because he hated having bars on his TV. Also the Fullscreen movies at the local stores seem to rent out very quick, while Movie Gallery stays fairly empty and always has a new release in stock. From what I have seen Fullscreen greatly outnumbers Widescreen in my area.

LilDears

I deal in used DVDs. It has been my experience that Full Screen sell much faster and at higher prices. To paraphrase Revenge of the Nerds... "there are a lot more of them than there are of us".

Doughboy

The dude behind me in line at Target last Saturday was buying The Legend of Zorro. He had a Fool Screen copy. But he also had a Snidley Whiplash style moustache, so I guess it was only fitting.

MovieExchange

I have a lot of people that come into my store that will only buy fool screen. As others have said in this thread, I try my best to educate them... but most of the time it would be more productive if I just banged my head against the wall repeatedly.

I start by explaining how they aren't really losing any picture, it's just a compression method for better quality. From there, I go to the "your next TV is probably going to be a widescreen tv, so you're going to end up with those black bars you hate all over again."

The ignorance astounds me. Especially from the ones that say that if they have to buy a widescreen film, they'll just use the "zoom" feature on their DVD player. And here I thought they didn't like missing part of the picture?

This is why I say that any real improvement in quality of releases will never come. The majority of DVD buyers are just too god damn ignorant and they want to stay that way.

Now some of them can be converted. I try and teach them about different aspect ratios in widescreen because to be honest, I'd be a little pissed if I bought a movie and it looked like almost 50% of my screen was taken up by black bars. If I have a used copy of the movie in stock, I'll put it in and show them how not all widescreen films are like that.

Mr. Cinema

It won't matter once everyone owns a 16:9 tv, especially if more studios start cropping their 2.35 releases to 1.78.

DeeKay

My parents won't buy anything BUT fullscreen!! They say that the "black bars" are distracting.... Go figure!

fliggil

My roomate often buys fullscreen because she's annoyed by the black bars. She knows the difference between why widescreen is important and such, she just doesn't like the black bars.

Anubis2005X

The worst? My friend's dad has a a very nice 42" 16x9 plasma hanging on his wall. I've tried educating him about widescreen, but it hasn't sunk in yet. The last time I was there, he was about to put in his full screen copy of Cinderella Man on his widescreen tv. (Shudder)

jaschiero

Any idea how many times I hear "what's wide screen, and what's full frame stand for", and "what's the difference?", and "which one should I get", and "do I have a widescreen tv", "what do you mean 'black bars' ". We mostly run out of widescreen stuff when we get both in, but there's tons of people who will only buy FF and probably never will given the choice. Also the same type of people who get mad because we don't have all the VHS's they want and won't buy a DVD player because they don't get that 'new fangled technology stuff'.

Same reason why some people walk onto a car lot, sees the 'pretty red one', or the 'cool 4X4 truck', asks how much it is, and just buys it full MSRP or more.

MEJHarrison

Do people really still buy full screen movies? Of course. As much as people like to talk about how dumb the studios or marketing folks are, they're not so stupid that they wouldn't notice if full screen wasn't selling. Since they're still making them, it only seems logical that they're still selling.

bboisvert

Because people are buying them?

Just look at Amazon. The fullscreen Harry Potter 4 is currently the #11 best seller, even with 2 other widescreen editions to choose from.

horroru

What I find even more disturbing is that the general public doesn't understand what Original Aspect Ratio means. I was explaining to a coworker the difference between full vs widescreen last year, and he came up to me later asking why the 1933 King Kong wasn't available in widescreen!
So now I preach the wonders of OAR -- most people seem to get it, although some end up with glazed over eyes....

Giles

I find it incredulous to go in Best Buy on Tuesday's and watch all the folk gather round the new release table and inquire 'is this the fullscreen version' 'only widescreen, eh?'

I just roll my eyes in my head.

DJ_Longfellow

Yep, I was at the Media Play closeout and heard an older couple saying they would buy it, but it's NOT Fullscreen. I just rolled my eyes...

It's basically the uneducated public that do NOT like the black bars on top or bottom. It's just the public not knowing better, since most people still own a 4:3 TV. NOW, even people with WS tv's are uneducated when they get a 2.35:1 DVD. They are like, there are black bars on my WS TV. ***Lord of War***cough****

Fok

People are just plain dumb. I've shown a guy examples and he still doesn't believe that widescreen is the way to go

Sabrett

Dramatic much?


Anyway...I, for one, know the difference between the two, but I buy whichever one has a nicer color bar going across the top of the cover art.

illennium

Because most people just don't care. Is it that hard to understand? Just because aspect ratio has become the nerdy videophiles' cause celebre doesn't mean that everyone else has to care. I buy widescreen but I watch all my movies on a tiny old TV and use the internal speakers for sound. So what? The A/V experience just doesn't matter that much to me. And I'm a film fan who goes to the movies regularly and owns 700 DVDs. So imagine how little most casual fans care about this issue.

Is that a bad thing? No. It's personal preference. Many people just choose not to care about A/V issues. It never ceases to amaze me how people can defend liking the shittiest, most worthless movies based on "personal taste" but not caring about something as silly as aspect ratio somehow imputes ignorance.