I was at Costco yesterday and there was a mother with her two young sons, and she was asking them if their dad would want the Widescreen or Full Screen version of Spider-Man 2. So me, being the helpful person I am, mentioned to her that it depends on if he wants to see the whole movie or not. I went into explaining the difference, found out that they just have a normal 4:3 TV, assured them that, once they get used to the black bars, they will be glad they got Widescreen.

Her husband came up a moment later and I could tell she was trying to explain what I had said to her, but not doing so well, so I helped her out and explained it to him briefly. Needless to say, they left with a WIDESCREEN version of Spidey 2.

Later I was at Circuit City and there was this older woman (maybe 60-65) who was having the same predicament with Passion of the Christ, but she just didn't get what I was saying, so I gave up. She wanted the movie for her husband's new portable DVD player. I asked her what's the size ratio of the screen, she said; "8 inches". I knew there was no hope for her after that.

They probably cursed your name when they got home and saw the black letterbox bars.

I remember a time once when I thought WS was the devil.....boy was I wrong.

keep fighting the good fight

Most people don't want to be helped.

I basically tell people, when you go to the movie theater, look at the screen. Is it like your 4:3 tv at home or is it wide ( rectangular ) ? If that helps any ?

full frame is half the movie....if its half a movie i want half the price.....

plus you can't fit a rectange into a square unless it is smaller

That's deep...

I find it that it's a waste of time to try to educate them. Just let them live their little empty fullscreen life.

Exactly. If someone wants help, they will ask. Most people are happy thinking they know something. I'd imagine if you tried explaining it to most people, they would be insulted, and start yelling at you how wrong you are. I've had people ask me friendly why I like widescreen and I'll explain the whole rectangle thing. They will look at me, dumbfounded... "but the black bars cover up the screen... it's physically impossible to show more picture when you cover something up!" so I can't imagine how butting into someone's conversation goes.

Once I had a Futureshop guy try to sell me a DVD player because it had the "cool" feature where you could zoom in and get rid of the black bars. I then asked him why anyone would want that stupid feature. He looked dumbfounded, as if I was the first person not to jump for joy at the prospect.

same here, on the first DVD I watched, but ever since then I won't watch anything but widescreen. I was "making fun" of my roommate the other day for buying the fullscreen versions of all of the Lord of the Rings films and asked him why in the heck he wants full screen, especially on such an epic film saga like LOTR, and his reason was that you can see more of the picture, and that it's bigger on the screen.

Most people that I talk to understand the benefits of WS, but they, for the most part, just dont care. The fact of the matter is that movies are just not that important to a majority of the people in this world, save for the few who have a passion for it. Its no different for example, when people who are into say bike riding, try to convince on the benefits of getting a particular bike over the cheap ass one I bought from Target. I know it may be better, but it doesnt matter, it suites my needs just fine, just like a FS movie fits the needs of most people and there regular TVs just fine.

my mom got me a fullscreen dvd the other day so, i threw the dvd in the trash and slapped her.

I actually bought a FS DVD for my niece for Christmas. That's what she wanted (she's 11). They have a 21" 4:3. It felt weird buying it. Even with VHS, years ago, I always purchased the WS versions if available. Not that I'm a WS snob, but I've always understood the "letterbox" purpose. I don't recall anyone having to explain it to me.

Do you guys ever pull a muscle patting yourselves on the back?

I can't wait till WS TVs become the norm, and then people bitch that their "full screen" dvds don't take up the full screen anymore.

I think zidane349 tore his rotator cuff slapping his mom

I think we all need to take a moment and ask ourselves, "Is the screen half empty, or half full?"

Well, I just made one little comment and then she started asking questions, so she wanted help.

Yah. I mean, what's the chance of a woman getting 8 inches these days.

Face it everyone, there are lots of people who just don't give a damn. The only reason they have a DVD player is because someone gave it to them and VHS tapes are hard to find now. I often hear from my relatives that the only good thing about DVD's is the fact they can skip to the next chapter and they don't have to rewind. When they watch a movie the first time they skip gobs of chapters to get to an exciting part. They could care less for Directors Cuts, Restored Scenes, New Digital Transfers or bonus features.

I invite them and carefully explain to them the advantage of OAR or widescreen. I play a VHS tape of Gone With The Wind or Star Wars or whatever and play the DVD versions for them to show them the difference in picture quality. I demo some of the best 5.1 DD and DTS tracks from some of their favorite movies. What's the reaction?

"Yeah, its nice. But I don't care."


Philistines.

They deserve VHS.

You hit the nail on the head. And I got one of those bikes too.

The difference is though that you pay more for the better quality bike.

FS and WS DVDs are the same price.

They just need to stop making 4:3 TV sets. Period.

Well, you are stacking the deck with the ultra-resolution GWTW and the Lowry Digital-enhanced SW compared to the old VHS releases, but if that doesn't work I guess nothing will.