What ratio ? DVD films.....

[Mad Mr H]

Hi,

What is the MOST common film ratio on DVD format ?





Mods feel free to move I could not work out the best place for this Q....

[nwgarratt]

I find most films are 2.35:1 and definitely more than 1:85:1 ones.

[Thekop]

I find most films are 2.35:1 and definitely more than 1:85:1 ones.
I agree :smashin:

[LFCRules]

Yep, in my collection of 350, probably about 75% are 2.35:1

[Cloysterpeteuk]

Wouldn't it be better to ask what people's favourite ratio is?.

My collection is mostly 2.35:1 (of course), but there are more 1.85:1 & 1.78:1 than most people would expect due to all the tv boxsets I have.

[Mad Mr H]

Wouldn't it be better to ask what people's favourite ratio is?

Not in this thread.....

Heres why....

This is part of a rather larger project, I wanted to check the "main" ratio used ready for a projection system.

Currently I have a fixed 8 foot 16:9 screen.

Im working on a project which might be better suited to a different screen ratio, for this reason I wanted to check what others thought was the most common, or knew was....

IF I could control the Movie makers I would have asked which your prefered ratio was and made it so :smashin: - But I dont, So I cant :thumbsdow

Thanks for all the info so far........

Does look like 2.35:1 is the most common

(I see velvet border bars in the future!)

[jameslindsey]

2.35:1 but resident evil II quotes 2.4:1 (probably rounded up 2.35)

As for preferred ratio? The ratio that the director shot edited and composed the film for. I get very annoyed if the film is butchered for any reason, be it edited for time, display, or content.:(
(Climbs down of soapbox)

I note that you are requesting this info for screen dimensions. Something I have been thinking about. Currently I have a 4:3 ratio telly. Must be the last person on the boards who has one of these, however I feel this offers the best of both worlds:

4:3 source shows full screen, full size.
16:9, 2.35:1 etc Anamorphic shown with black bars and at correct res as the TV has widescreen mode. Still gives a 24-25" image

I've seen widescreen TVs where the size of a 4:3 formatted image is compromised, some of the area is masked or some bizarre zoom effect is applied. One of the reasons why I have stayed with a 4:3 CRT for so long. Also I prefer a CRT picture to LCD/Plasma and Widescreen CRTs I have seen suffer softness or fringing at the edges due to the extremem angles involved.

I am now looking at projectors (29" is far too small) I think I will go for a 4:3 ratio one with the ability to display up to 2.35:1 (all be it 16:9 with black bars top/bottom but in anamorphic mode) as this will still retain the ability to zoom into the 4:3 image to get the absolute mazimum size possible.

In short I'll make sure my screen is big enought to display 2.35:1 at the minimum width I find acceptable - probably 200":rotfl:

[Thekop]

Not in this thread.....

Heres why....

This is part of a rather larger project, I wanted to check the "main" ratio used ready for a projection system.

Currently I have a fixed 8 foot 16:9 screen.

Im working on a project which might be better suited to a different screen ratio, for this reason I wanted to check what others thought was the most common, or knew was....

IF I could control the Movie makers I would have asked which your prefered ratio was and made it so :smashin: - But I dont, So I cant :thumbsdow

Thanks for all the info so far........

Does look like 2.35:1 is the most common

(I see velvet border bars in the future!)
I can see where you're coming from now... I've also wondered if getting a 2.35:1 PJ screen would be better than a 1.78:1 one... I guess it'll make more sense if you only watch DVD's on the Big Screen.. Interesting thread ! :cool:

[Mr.D]

Most films are shot 1.85:1.

The reason people think 2.35 is the most frequently used is because its more often used for mainstream wide release movies which are the ones that are ususally given a larger release run and significant dvd release.

However 1.85:1 is still the more frequently used.

[Kevo]

Most films are shot 1.85:1.

The reason people think 2.35 is the most frequently used is because its more often used for mainstream wide release movies which are the ones that are ususally given a larger release run and significant dvd release.

However 1.85:1 is still the more frequently used.

2.35:1 is favoured by Hollywood and 1.85:1 by Europeans and 'art house' films then it's no surprise that the former is more popular.

[Mr.D]

2.35:1 is favoured by Hollywood and 1.85:1 by Europeans and 'art house' films then it's no surprise that the former is more popular.

That's not necessarily how the split works. Plenty of American films are 1.85.

[featherhall]

I prefer 1.85:1 (as they fill my 42" screen) , but most films are in 2.35:1

as long as they are anamorphic, which all new releases tend to be.

[Tejstar]

Most of the films I own are 2.35:1.

[Mad Mr H]

I found this.......

Historic and commonly used aspect ratios


1.19:1: "Movietone" - early 35 mm sound film ratio used in the late 1920s and early 1930s, especially in Europe. The optical soundtrack was placed on the side of the 1.33 frame, thus reducing the width of the frame. The Academy frame (1.37) fixed this by making the frame lines thicker. The best examples of this ratio are Fritz Lang's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Lang) first sound films: M (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M_%281931_film%29) and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Testament_of_Dr._Mabuse). This is roughly the frame size used for anamorphic photography today.
1.25:1: Commonly used computer resolution of 1280x1024. Native aspect ratio of many LCDs. Also the aspect ratio of 4x5 film photos.
1.29:1: Ratio of US Letter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_%28paper_size%29) size paper (11:8.5 inches), in landscape format.
1.37:1: 35 mm original silent film ratio, common in TV and video (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video) as 4:3. Also standard ratio for IMAX and MPEG-2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-2) video compression.
1.33:1: 35 mm full-screen sound film image, nearly universal in movies between 1928 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1928) and 1953 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953). Officially adopted as the Academy ratio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_ratio) in 1932. Still occasionally used. Also standard 16 mm.
1.414...:1: Aspect ratio of standard ISO 216 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_216) paper sizes (A4, A3, et cetera). More correctly it is the square-root of 2.
1.43:1: IMAX 70 mm horizontal format.
1.5:1: The aspect ratio of 35 mm film used for photography. Wide-aspect computer display (3:2). Used in Apple (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Computer) Powerbook G4 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powerbook_G4) 15.2" displays with resolutions of most recently 1440x960. Also the native NTSC DVD-Video resolution, 720x480, although most videos use non-square pixels for a 4:3 ratio.
1.6:1: computer display widescreen (8:5, commonly referred to as 16:10). Used in WSXGAPlus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSXGAPlus), WUXGA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WUXGA) and other display resolutions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolution).
1.618:1: the golden ratio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio).
1.66:1: 35 mm European widescreen standard, also Super 16 mm and Japanese HiVision. (5:3, sometimes expressed more accurately as "1.67".)
1.75:1: early 35 mm widescreen ratio, since abandoned.
1.78:1: video widescreen standard (16:9). Also used in high-definition television (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_television) One of 3 ratios specified for MPEG-2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-2) video compression.
1.85:1: 35 mm US and UK widescreen standard for theatrical film. Uses approximately 3 perforations ("perfs") of image space per 4 perf frame; films can be shot in 3-perf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-perf_and_2-perf_pulldown) to save cost of film stock.
2:1: Univision (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univision_%28film_format%29) System, developed by Vittorio Storaro (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittorio_Storaro), with the intention of making this a universal theatrical and television ratio. It never really went anywhere.
2.2:1: 70 mm standard. Originally developed for Todd-AO (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd-AO) in the 1950s. 2.21:1 specified for MPEG-2 but not used.
2.35:1 : 35 mm anamorphic prior to 1970 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970), used by CinemaScope (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinemascope) ("'Scope") and early Panavision (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panavision). The anamorphic standard has subtly changed so that modern anamorphic productions are actually 2.39, but often referred to as 2.35 anyway, due to old convention. No recent anamorphic films are 2.35. (Note that anamorphic refers to the print and not necessarily the negative.)
2.39:1: 35 mm anamorphic from 1970 onwards. Sometimes rounded up as 2.4. Sometimes referred to as 'Scope.
2.55:1: Original aspect ratio of CinemaScope (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CinemaScope) before optical sound was added to the film. This was also the aspect ratio of CinemaScope 55 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CinemaScope_55).
2.59:1: Cinerama (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinerama) at full height (three specially captured 35 mm images projected side-by-side into one composite widescreen image).
2.76:1: MGM Camera 65 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MGM_Camera_65) (65 mm with 1.25x anamorphic squeeze). Only used on a handful of films between 1956 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956) and 1964 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964), such as Ben-Hur (1959) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben-Hur_%281959_film%29).
4:1: Polyvision (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvision), three 35 mm 1.33 images projected side by side. Only used on Abel Gance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Gance)'s Napoléon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napol%C3%A9on_%28movie%29) (1927 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1927)).

[Mr.D]

The anamorphic standard has subtly changed so that modern anamorphic productions are actually 2.39, but often referred to as 2.35 anyway, due to old convention. No recent anamorphic films are 2.35. [I](Note that anamorphic refers to the print and not necessarily the negative]

Crap. talk about overcomplicating things.

2.35 is super35 spherical.
Anamorphic most definitely refers to the negative although you can make anamorphic prints from spherical formats.However formats refer to the principle shooting format.
Scope is cropped to 2.40 on exhibition to provide more room for splicing.

There are really only two 35mm formats: academy and fullap.
Academy doesn't use the soundtrack area , fullap ( full aperture) uses the entire film area between the sprockets.
Stick an anamorphic lens in front of an academy centred film camera and you are shooting scope.

fullap is super35. And you can crop it to a variety of aspect ratios.

far too much mystery going on.

the exotic formats are interesting from a historical point of view but little else.

[CrazyHorse]

Originally posted by jameslindsey
As for preferred ratio? The ratio that the director shot edited and composed the film for. I get very annoyed if the film is butchered for any reason, be it edited for time, display, or content.
(Climbs down of soapbox)

What he said. I've had my rant about this in another thread, but what jameslindsey said just about sums up my opinions on this.

Originally posted by MadMrH
2:1: Univision System, developed by Vittorio Storaro, with the intention of making this a universal theatrical and television ratio. It never really went anywhere.

:mad: Thus resulting in Apocalypse Now not being released on DVD in it's original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 :mad:

Somebody should wake Coppola up and tell him there's an audience and market for the 2.35 version and this is how it should be re-released later this year. I've already bought the original version & Redux, so unless this new edition has a tonne of worthwhile extras - or the Hearts of Darkness doc! - I won't be buying a cropped print yet again! (sorry for going slightly OT there :grin: )

[Mad Mr H]

Cr*p. talk about overcomplicating things.


HI,


I just WISH to highlight that I found that info.....it is not mine and I thought might of of use to someone........

If it is not then Im sorry I mentioned it!

What I really want to know is "hi def" 1920x1080, will the FULL resolution be used if so its 16:9 OR will people use the resolution 1920x1080 AND create the media with top and bottom blank areas ??? 2.35:1

[Kevo]

Which 'people'? TV programme makers or cinema film makers?

It's important to differentiate between the two.

I don't see 'High Def' changing the way FILM makers (using film) make their films as far as the AR is concerned as they are primarily making it for a theatrical release. So no change there...2.35 or 1.85. So we'd still see black borders on a HD release of a 2.35:1 film (no problem).

As regards TV makers using high def, then obviously they would use the full 16:9 AR (be it in 1080 or 720 res)

BUT....there is still a lot of people using 4:3 TVs so they would still have to be wary of the 14:9 'safe area', possibly logos too depending on who there intended market is....so again no change there, although i've noticed recently that this 'safe area' is (fortunatley) being ignored and TV prormamme makers are at last utilising the full width of the 16:9 screen.