OK, I watched Giant yesterday but I am confused about the aspect ratio.

I like to think I know the difference between anamorphic and not, full screen and widescreen, etc. But, I am confused about this one.

When I watch anamorphic DVDs the aspect setting of my widescreen TV is always set on FULL. If the DVD is not anamorphic the aspect setting is on ZOOM because it zooms the smaller image up to the full size of the TV. At these settings 16x9 DVDs completely fill the screen and 2:35:1 DVDs have small black bars on the top and bottom. Great! I understand!

Now with Giant. I popped it in and put my TV aspect setting on FULL. There were small black bars at the top and bottom so I thought it was 2:35:1. But, the image looked stretched. I switched the aspect ratio on the TV to 4:3 and I didn't see what I normally see when the DVD
is not anamorphic. Hmmm.. I set the aspect ratio on ZOOM and wallah! The image looks correct and nothing seems to be cut off. I am now confused.

I find out today that GIANT is 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen. How do you fit this correctly on your widescreen TV? I am guessing that ZOOM was the right option because it looked correct but a little bit may have been cut off at the top and bottom. But nothing seemed to be cut off so I am confused.

If anybody knows the correct solution to my dilemma please let me know. This is the first time I have come across something like this.

its not anamorphic, they would put little bars on the side but that should be taken care of with overscan so you won't see the boxes on the sides.

Giant is not anamorphic. WB does not do 1.66:1 anamorphic transfers... A subject that can be and has been debated for days.

You zoomed the image, and indeed, some of it was lost.

As Rypro said, a 1.66:1 anamorphic transfer - in your situation - would display properly on your 16X9 in full mode. Set overscan would cut off the side bars, you won't see them. If the picture is stretched in full then you'll know that the film is not anamorphic. As for viewing non-amamorphic transfers on a 16X9, most home theater enthusiasts use a player with scaling.

These responses are correct. The edge enhancement on this dvd is ridiculous. Even on a 10 year old 27 inch set from about 20 feet away it was still VERY visible. It's really sort of disgusting actually how much this transfer was butchered by EE. There are some massive blue haloing in several sections and just about everything suffers from bad EE. Whoever authorized this transfer should be shot.

Thanks a lot for the feedback. I actually feel better now because as I originally thought all anamorphic transfers are displayed correctly with the FULL aspect.

The review I read said it was anamorphic which is why I was confused. Obviously the review was wrong.

I also agree that the transfer was not very good. But I loved the movie

Thanks again.

The Canadian release that was pulled from market was 1.85:1 anamorphic. George Stevens Jr. didn't like the choice of aspect ratio and demanded that Warner pull the disc and remaster it.

The new WB release is 1.66:1 non-anamorphic. If you watch it in FULL mode it will be stretched. If you watch it in ZOOM mode you will be cutting off a little bit of picture from the top and bottom. In order to see the whole picture without stretching you should set your TV for whatever mode you use to watch 4:3 content in the center of the screen with gray bars on the sides. Of course, that sucks too because now you'll have bars on all four sides.

The decision to release this disc non-anamorphic was a huge mistake. Warners could have slightly windowboxed the picture and given it anamorphic enhancement with very little effort.