I've stopped trying to explain WS vs. FS to the masses. As long as I can get my widescreen dvd, actually OAR, I'm happy.

I've given up trying to explain it to people, too. If they want fullscreen, let them suffer with it. I certainly don't have to, so that's all I'm concerned with.

It's all a matter of perspective and perception really. The fullscreen folks don't realize they're missing out - simply because if you're not aware that something is missing from the picture, then in essence, you're not missing anything. That's the way the simple mind deals with things.

Many people hate "the black bars" - but I've become so accustomed to them, that I don't even notice them anymore.

did she by any chance get it from your stores FOREIGN FILM section?

Well it's still on the New Release wall. But I mean she must have read the back of it...right?

I've given up the WS vs Fool screen battle with by neighbor. He continues to buy Fool screen even though he has a 65in widescreen set. He says the it simply gives him a bigger picture.

Unbelieveable. I would guess the reason he says that is because he has his DVD player improperly set for 4:3 LBX, yet his TV is set to properly display 4:3 material (pillarboxed). In that case, fullscreen would indeed give him a bigger picture, as the image would be pillarboxed but cover the area from top to bottom. Widescreen material would be downconverted to 4:3, adding letterbox bars on the top and bottom of the image in addition to the pillarbox bars on the sides.

Of course, when I say "bigger picture," I mean in relation to the size of the set, not that he's actually seeing more of the image with fullscreen.

Well to be fair. many dvds don't really state very clearly what language they are in. Plus with so many dvds having english sub-titles listed as a feature, even when the film itself is in english, it can be very confusing for a person at the New Release wall. Plus some studios like Warner Brothers have the audio track listings in such small faint text at the very bottom, that you need a friggin microsope to read it.

True, true.

SPAWNDUDE,
Now that neighbor is a retard...does he buy widescreen DVDs too? or only Full screen? What's his reasoning? Does he not have faith in the anamorphic concept? Does he think Anamorphic is just a marketing trick?

What's funny is if you tried to pull the "more screen image with Widescreen" argument with a film that was shown open matte on VHS like "State of Grace", you'd lose, the moron would be right about "them black bars chopping off the top..." OAR should be important, not WS vs. FS neccesarily. There are several open matte VHS films, (and even some dvds even!) that don't actually pan and scan, they just show the whole open matte image. So be careful in the arguing! After watching say, "State of Grace" on VHS and doing an A/B with the DVD, the guy would come out winning the argument!

Ya, I found it funny at my local WalMart buying Episode 3. The foolscreen DVDs were almost gone, but they had a ton of widescreen versions left.

Like some other folks here, I'll give an opinion if asked (or if I'm reviewing, of course ) but I won't personally hunt down those who prefer P&S over widescreen. I'm no fundamentalist.

I really do think this issue is more about the size of your TV than anything else. I'm a total OAR bigot. I want to see a movie just exactly the way the director intended. However, I have a 14" TV in my bedroom. I watch movies on it occasionally because it's such a comfy spot. But, boy are the WS movies tiny. I'm pretty much just listening to them. In that situation I would prefer a FS version to be able to actually see what's going on.

Now, I'm not saying most of the folks at Wally World are going to watch their DVDs on a 14" TV, but even a 27" TV makes for a very small image with WS.

I disagree. I watch ws titles on a 27" set and I have no complaints (other than vainly trying to convince my wife a 42" DLP widescreen is a required purchase).

I have a 20" in my bedroom and have no problem at all. An easy way to boost up the size is to sit closer.

My experience the few times I've rented have been just the opposite. I grab WS, and then get a clerk warning me that I got WS and suggesting I get FS.

And when it comes to watching WS on my standard 32 inch Toshiba, I just imagine I'm watching on a widescreen set.

I watch widescreen on my 20 inch in my bedroom. Great Escape is 2.35:1. Never bothered me on the small screen. But, perhaps this is because I don't own a really large tv and am used to it. But, this would also apply to those who would buy dvds in FS because their tv is too small. I still think it is a combination of people being ignorant of what the difference really is and disliking the black bars. Plus, some people probably just like the ratio or like as much as possible for all their content to be in the same ratio.

Yeah but putting the TV on my lap cuts down on the comfy factor

I like to watch my movies in OAR, I could care less what anyone else watches in their own homes. I have no idea why some of you get so worked up because a total stranger wants to watch movies in fullscreen. Why do you care?

Wal-mart sucks and so do the fat, toothless, ignorant redneck employees who work there. Doesn't suprise me that they like foolscreen in the least.

Because we shouldn't have to check to make sure we don't accidentally buy the foolscreen release (since there shouldn't even be one to begin with), or have a movie come out ONLY that way. Make them watch it the right way or not at all. And yes, I am an elitist bastard.

I'm jealous. I only have a 10" in my bedroom.

I had a 10" in your bedroom, too, but your wife never complained.

(Sorry, had to do it. )

DJ

Last time I posted, some person told me I should be banned for life because I had a contrary opinion to his/hers. Hopefully this won't happen again. Anyway, personally, I prefer widescreen (or OAR for fullscreen vids). The key word is prefer. That's all it really is, a preference. I won't insult a person because they choose fullscreen over widescreen. It's not as big a deal as people make it out to be because the average viewer doesn't care. Because when you watch a movie in fullscreen, you're not really losing as much as we'd like to think you are (us being movie obsessed and all). Let's see: Fullscreen. Is the script in tact? Yes. Are the actors acting? Yes. Is the setting there? Yup. Is the sound there? Yup too. I remember growing up with the star wars trilogy in only fullscreen versions. In fact, the new dvds were the first time that I was able to see the original aspect ratio on all three films. And I've seen the comparison shots. They are very very different. But until watching the widescreen versions, I didn't realize any of this and I certainly didn't care. Not being able to see both luke and vader in the same shot while they faught in bespin didn't prevent my brain from filling in the gaps. Fullscreen doesn't destroy a movie because a movie is comprised of so many things. Fullscreen only destroys composition. For me, that's a big deal (even on my 13" TV). For others, composition might not be worth turning an already tiny TV into an even smaller one. And that's their prefernce. No need to call them stupid for not agreeing with you.

Of course she wouldn't complain, as I said she's used to it.