# Letterbox eliminator: sign of the apocalypse. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 4, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118 "2004-04-04T00:52:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/61 "2004-04-07T13:03:57Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > Actually, my Harry Potter examples were supposed to show that the studio tried to accomodate both formats. In these shots, the widescreen shows more of: > [the chess pieces](http://plum.cream.org/HP/dvd/Big/15624.jpg) > [Fluffy, the three-headed dog](http://plum.cream.org/HP/dvd/Big/15127.jpg) > [the Quidditch scoreboard](http://plum.cream.org/HP/dvd/Big/11634.jpg) It does seem to me quite nice of the studio to accommodate both audiences. However, it also occurs to me that the letterbox eliminator ain’t gonna help with this: whereas the studio can show more of the picture, the letterbox eliminator will necessarily show less, by cutting off the edges of the widescreen version. Eh. Six of one, half dozen of the other for me. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/62 "2004-04-07T13:05:10Z")
[QUOTE=John Harrison] > [@Philster](#): > > Projection TVs can be ‘damaged’ by the static black bars on the top and bottom, so some folks use the full screen version to prevent this. > QUOTE] > > Only if the TV settings are adjusted incorrectly. Enlighten me as to what ‘adjusted incorrectly’ would mean. Black bars at the to and bottom of proj tv would result in those areas aging differently. If a heavy user of letterbox ( a big movie fan who watches a lot of movies) keeps watching everything in letterbox, the tv will eventually start to show the black bars when you are watching regular full screen tv, games, etc. Sure, jacking up the color and contrast to the limit would speed the process a little bit, but watchin 60% of the total viewing time in letterbox format will ‘burn’ in those black bars. Letterbox, depending on the TV, should be limited to about 20-25% of the total viewing time of the tv. ---
**Author:** ![spectrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@spectrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spectrum)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/63 "2004-04-07T19:02:47Z")
I cannot understand the people who prefer their movies Mutilated. Even when I owned a 12" TV I tried to find copies of movies in their original aspect ratios. My current 27" screen is very comfortable, even on 2.35:1 films, from across the living room. 27" TVs aren’t exactly expensive these days, either. I wish there were a way to make the mutilation of film illegal, or at least require written assent to the butchered version by both the film’s director and cinematographer. As someone who makes digital video projects, and someday would like to make a feature film, I’d also like to say that I hate, hate, hate shooting in 4:3. Human vision is naturally much wider than it is tall, and the squarish constrains of television aspect ratios are very limiting. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/64 "2004-04-07T19:08:47Z")
Newer projection TVs that use [digital light processing](http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/projection-tv4.htm) should be free of burn in problems. Older projection TVs use small CRT tubes, then magnify the image. Regular TVs can also have burn in problems, but usually not as bad as these older projection TVs. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/65 "2004-04-07T19:24:27Z")
> [@spectrum](#): > > I cannot understand the people who prefer their movies Mutilated. Well I cannot understand the people who prefer a large portion of their screen to be filled with ugly black bars. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![spectrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@spectrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spectrum)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/66 "2004-04-07T19:47:04Z")
The black bars aren’t ugly. They’re just there to ensure that you’re seeing the image in all it’s cinematic glory. If you don’t watch a movie in original aspect ratio, you can’t claim to have seen the film. Pan and Scan butchers the art of visual storytelling. Open matte is not quite as bad, but even then, you’re not actually seeing the film, but some mutilated television pseudo-equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/67 "2004-04-07T20:46:57Z")
> [@spectrum](#): > > If you don’t watch a movie in original aspect ratio, you can’t claim to have seen the film. Sure I can, and no elitist film snob is gonna stop me! Mwahahahahaha! I saw Start Wars in the made-for-TV version, and I’ve seen the film! Seriously, this is the sort of El Dorko nonsense I was talking about. What’s important to you is not important to everyone else, and talking about “mutilating” the film is a little bit hysterical. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/68 "2004-04-07T21:10:10Z")
> [@spectrum](#): > > The black bars aren’t ugly. Good logic there. I think I can trump that, though: Are too, are too, and no backs. > [@](#): > > If you don’t watch a movie in original aspect ratio, you can’t claim to have seen the film. Pan and Scan butchers the art of visual storytelling. Open matte is not quite as bad, but even then, you’re not actually seeing the film, but some mutilated television pseudo-equivalent. Geek. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/69 "2004-04-07T21:27:31Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Get a bigger TV. I am holding out for the 65" widescreen LCD projection that will handle most/all formats AND cost less than $3000.00 CDN. I know I will be waiting a while… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/70 "2004-04-07T21:34:01Z")
BTW, for the really geeky [Build your own LCD projector](http://www.audiovisualizers.com/madlab/lcd_proj.htm) and [another](http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=281) ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/71 "2004-04-07T22:19:43Z")
All this talk of bigger and better TV sets reminds me of a passage from _Fahrenheit 451_ > [@](#): > > “It’s really fun. It’ll be even more fun when we can afford to have the fourth wall installed. How long you figure before we save up and get the fourth wall torn out and a fourth wall-TV put in? It’s only two thousand dollars.” > > “That’s one-third of my yearly pay.” > > “It’s only two thousand dollars,” she replied. “And I should think you’d consider me sometimes. If we had a fourth wall, why it’d be just like this room wasn’t ours at all, but all kinds of exotic people’s rooms. We could do without a few things.” > > “We’re already doing without a few things to pay for the third wall. It was put in only two months ago, remember?” > > “Is that all it was?” She sat looking at him for a long moment. “Well, goodbye, dear.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/72 "2004-04-08T00:27:12Z")
Pan and Scan makes baby FilmGeek cry. Try watching Ghostbusters on TV and forever become a widescreen watcher. It is by far the worst Pan and Scan I have ever seen. It gives me headaches. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/73 "2004-04-08T02:27:53Z")
> [@FordPrefect](#): > > BTW, for the really geeky [Build your own LCD projector](http://www.audiovisualizers.com/madlab/lcd_proj.htm) > > and [another](http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=281) Better info can be found [here](http://www.diylabs.org/projector/index.htm). ---
**Author:** ![spectrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@spectrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spectrum)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/74 "2004-04-08T17:14:43Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Sure I can, and no elitist film snob is gonna stop me! Mwahahahahaha! I saw Start Wars in the made-for-TV version, and I’ve seen the film! > > Seriously, this is the sort of El Dorko nonsense I was talking about. What’s important to you is not important to everyone else, and talking about “mutilating” the film is a little bit hysterical. > > Daniel I make films. The thought of someone ripping apart one of my films so that the unwashed hoi polloi don’t have black bars on their screens makes me want to vomit. That is so damn disrespectful to the artistry and effort that goes into making a film. Not that anyone gives a damn, because people are stupid and selfish. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/75 "2004-04-08T17:15:44Z")
Maybe what the world needs is a TV screen shaped like this: ```auto --------------------- | | ---- --- | | | | | | | | | | --- --- | | ----------------------- ``` 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/76 "2004-04-08T17:39:52Z")
> [@spectrum](#): > > I make films. The thought of someone ripping apart one of my films so that the unwashed hoi polloi don’t have black bars on their screens makes me want to vomit. That is so damn disrespectful to the artistry and effort that goes into making a film. Not that anyone gives a damn, because people are stupid and selfish. A friend told me about an interview she read with James Ellroy, author of _LA Confidential_. The novel is apparently extremely complex and rich, with multiple storylines and a large cast of well-developed characters. The movie, while quite a fine movie in its own right, necessarily cut out many characters and storylines and simplified the whole narrative. Anyway, the interviewer asked Ellroy if he was upset about what the director had done to his book. Ellroy scowled, perplexed, and said, “What are you talking about? They haven’t done anything to my book. Look, it’s right there on my shelf, just like it’s always been.” You have much to learn from Ellroy, young grasshopper. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![spectrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@spectrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spectrum)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/77 "2004-04-08T18:01:50Z")
An adaption of a book to film, where it lists who did the adaption, is different. That’s at totally different medium. The film doesn’t purport to actually be the book. Mutilated videos, however, still is the film’s cinematographer, after ruining his work. It still lists the film’s director, after cutting out 40% of her blocking and direction. It still lists the writers, even after cutting much of the non-verbal parts of their scripts. And it purports to actually be the film, when it’s not — it’s a ripped apart, addled, poorly created facsimile with little resemblance to the original work of art. It’s like taking a poster of the Mona Lisa, cutting it in half and drawn all over by a four year old with a box of crayons and then hanging it as the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/78 "2004-04-08T18:07:01Z")
> [@spectrum](#): > > I cannot understand the people who prefer their movies Mutilated. I’ll bet you don’t subscribe to [Clearplay](http://www.clearplay.com/). Their DVD player is [shipping to Wal-Mart](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3611969.stm) as we speak. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/79 "2004-04-08T18:07:58Z")
So, **Spectrum** , what movies have you made? I’m as pro-widescreen as any here, but you’re making this way too personal. Are you an actual working cinematographer? And no, \*\*LHoD[/d], I will not buy you a large-screen TV. How like a Democrat to expect to be handed things instead of working for them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118/80 "2004-04-08T18:28:56Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > And no, **LHoD** , I will not buy you a large-screen TV. How like a Democrat to expect to be handed things instead of working for them. 😃 [coding corrected] I can tell you’re an independent, because I can’t think of a political party whose platform involves telling other people what luxury items they should spend their money on, or even care about :). **Spectrum** , all the hyperbolic analogies in the world won’t advance your case. If you care so much about the movies you make, don’t sell the rights to a distributor without an ironclad contract. Once the artwork leaves your control and gets into my house, I get to do what I want with it. Don’t like that? Don’t sell it to me. Daniel [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterbox-eliminator-sign-of-the-apocalypse/238118.md?page=5)