oar/oair is either how the director intended the movie or tv show to look in theaters on dvd. The oair would be like having the full screen version of some Kubrick titles, buffy ect.
An anamorphic person is someone who would refuse to buy a disc if the dvd isn't anamorphic enhanced.
A widescreen person needs the movie/show to be in widescreen whether thats the way the creater intended it to look or not.
Or just a person who just is happy to have the movie on dvd, full screen non anamorphic or what not.

I am a oar/oair person.

oar

even if it's in fullscreen. if it was meant to be shown that way.. it should be.

oar matters first then anamorphic if it is 1.66:1 or wider

Most (or perhaps even all) of the new DVD titles are anamorphic nowadays. So anamorphic video is a problem mainly with catalog titles.

OAR it is.

Wow, all of you are pro oar.Maybe not as of now but I know some posters here would prefer if either their movies fill "their" sets (anamorphic) and some who just want widescreen only.

the most important thing to me is the discs manufacturing quality. it needs to last more than just 5 years without going belly up.

then OAR. but if the disc dies....nothing will matter, will it?

....but if a film/dvd is not oar or ws, it does not mean I dont/wont accept it. just give the film in the best presentation possible, and I'll be happy.

OAR

If it's not anamorphic widescreen w/ DTS = NO SALE.

, but what about chapter inserts?

OAR followed by Anamorphic. That makes the other 2 choices a non-issue.

there's no point in buying a dvd if it's not OAR. there's no point in buying a widescreen dvd if it's not anamorphic (AR > 1.60:1). I absolutely refuse to buy any discs that aren't OAR or are letterboxed widescreen. P&S may have been a necessary evil for low-res VHS-era equipment, but we're too far past that to ever go back.

OAR

if I refused to buy a dvd because of no oar or aws....I'd be missing out on some killer films....especially b and z horror films.

what does OAIR stand for?

anamorphic means something different than just 'filling up the screen'.
it means maximized resolution for digital displays.
their are 4:3 sets (primarily the Sonys) that can take advantage of anamorphic enhancement.

while i would still consider purchasing an OAR disc w/out 16:9 enhancement, there have been many i have had to sell off because the final quality just didn't cut it.
a 2.35 movie that is not enhanced is almost impossible to watch on any display over 50",
and forget about front projection.

w/ sub $1,000 pjs available at Best Buy, front projection is definitely going to be more of a force in the future and anamorphic discs are going to be a neccessity, and a bare minimum with the looming advent of HD dvd about 10 years from now.

it is a near total waste to put out an OAR widescreen disc that isn't enhanced at this stage in the format.

OAR, followed closely by Anamorphic.

OAR is most important. others are icing on the cake.

OAR

Just give it to me on DVD with good sound and good picture quality. Fullscreen is better than 2.35:1 to me so OAR does not matter.

Original Aspect/Intended Ratio?

I remember I once tried to popularize IAR ("Intended Aspect Ratio"). I thought it would be more applicable. Then again, I'm no good at popularizing anything, so...

Some people just like to stick with the "OAR" acronym. Maybe they just like forms of boat propulsion, I dunno.

Are you joking or not?

Unfortunately, he's not. G prefers pan&scan to OAR, as he hates the black bars on his screen.

He's gonna be really angry a few years down the road when a widescreen TV shows up in his home, and suddenly all his movies have those black bars along the sides !

Nah, then he'll stretch 'em. Sick.

Definitely OAR first - there are several movies out there that I'd love to own, but I won't buy a P&S version, point blank.

After that, anamorphic for widescreen DVDs; I can live without it, and I have non-anamorphic DVDs in my collection, but if I'm going to actually buy a DVD, I'll wait for it to be released in an anamorphic transfer unless there are some really exceptional circumstances.

After that... assuming OAR in both cases, I do prefer the look of a widescreen composition to that of a 4:3 composition. There are exceptional circumstances, of course... I would actually have preferred that Babylon 5 had been released in the 4:3 ratio, given that the problems with the CGI in the widescreen version make for a distinctly less satisfactory viewing experience. (And in that case, I'd argue that both aspect ratios have a decent claim to be OAR)

I suppose that if I had X amount of money to spend and I was trying to decide between two movies/TV shows that I liked *equally well* (and were of equal transfer quality, etc.), then I would probably *first* buy the widescreen one, and postpone the 4:3 one. But if it's something I want, then I want it regardless - like the Star Trek shows. (But I love it that Stargate is widescreen!)

You've got a point there. Although for some B- and Z-grade horror movies, I think I'm going to buy other regions if they are OAR and anamorphic. Case in point, The Shaft released pan 'n' scam by Artisan; if I even remotely liked the movie, I'd buy the R2 release that's OAR and anamorphic.

The majority of inexpensive Asian (read, Universe Laser) horror discs are not anamorphic. They are OAR. If they were simply pan 'n' scam, I'd probably pass. OAR is most important.