Neflix streaming at the wrong ratio - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

Terra Nivium · 2011-06-18, 08:31 PM

Predators and Fright Night ruined by the fact that Netflix have started streaming at the wrong ration. Taking 2.35:1 movies and blowing them up to 1.85:1 which is a god damn joke in the age the widescreen TV. Very disappointing.

Jake · 2011-06-18, 09:41 PM

Did you mean to say 1.78 and not 1.85? And did you mean Zooming (MAR with cropping) or Stretching (MAR no cropping) or Pan and Scan (MAR with cropping).

MAR = Modified Aspect Ratio.

oberst · 2011-06-18, 10:22 PM

It may not be Netflix at fault, but what they are getting from the distributor. I remember there was something a few years ago about widescreen 2.35 movies being shown at 16:9 on premium movie channels, presumably to avoid black bars. I think these transfers were coming from Alliance, and I know there were a couple of Blu-ray or DVDs they released in Canada that had these lower aspect ratio transfers instead of the original AR. It could be something like this was give to Netflix - if they did a cutdown 16:9 transfer for broadcast it might be what was available.

If you know someone with access to Netflix in the US, it would be interesting to see what aspect ratio it is there.

msgohan · 2011-06-19, 03:34 AM

Not available on Netflix US (neither version in the case of Fright Night).

One that I considered unwatchable on Netflix Canada was 500 Days of Summer stretched up from 2.35:1.

oberst · 2011-06-19, 10:25 AM

None of these look like typical "separate Canadian rights" types of things; they also all seem to be from Fox, and aren't available for streaming from US Netflix or US iTunes. It would seem somewhat odd for Fox to have put these out for streaming in Canada but not in the US; there must be some interesting story in there somewhere. In any case, I'd guess these were transfers reduced to 16:9 for Canadian movie channels, or something like that. I hope this doesn't become common, like pan-and-scan DVDs were in the early days.

I'd suggest dropping a note to Netflix, seeing if you can get any info out of them, or who to complain to further up the chain. If anyone wants to drop a couple of bucks on an experiment, it would also be interesting to see what aspect ratio you get on an iTunes Canada rental for one of these.

2011-06-18, 08:31 PM	#1
Terra Nivium Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Fall River, Nova Scotia Posts: 75	Neflix streaming at the wrong ratio Predators and Fright Night ruined by the fact that Netflix have started streaming at the wrong ration. Taking 2.35:1 movies and blowing them up to 1.85:1 which is a god damn joke in the age the widescreen TV. Very disappointing.

2011-06-18, 09:41 PM	#2
Jake Moderator Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Gatineau and Ottawa Posts: 10,171	Did you mean to say 1.78 and not 1.85? And did you mean Zooming (MAR with cropping) or Stretching (MAR no cropping) or Pan and Scan (MAR with cropping). MAR = Modified Aspect Ratio. __________________ Tip: See an offending post? Don't reply, report it by clicking on the 'Report Post' icon.

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2011-06-18, 10:22 PM	#3
oberst Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia Posts: 155	It may not be Netflix at fault, but what they are getting from the distributor. I remember there was something a few years ago about widescreen 2.35 movies being shown at 16:9 on premium movie channels, presumably to avoid black bars. I think these transfers were coming from Alliance, and I know there were a couple of Blu-ray or DVDs they released in Canada that had these lower aspect ratio transfers instead of the original AR. It could be something like this was give to Netflix - if they did a cutdown 16:9 transfer for broadcast it might be what was available. If you know someone with access to Netflix in the US, it would be interesting to see what aspect ratio it is there.

2011-06-19, 03:34 AM	#4
msgohan Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Vancouver Posts: 232	Not available on Netflix US (neither version in the case of Fright Night). One that I considered unwatchable on Netflix Canada was 500 Days of Summer stretched up from 2.35:1.

2011-06-19, 10:25 AM	#5
oberst Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia Posts: 155	None of these look like typical "separate Canadian rights" types of things; they also all seem to be from Fox, and aren't available for streaming from US Netflix or US iTunes. It would seem somewhat odd for Fox to have put these out for streaming in Canada but not in the US; there must be some interesting story in there somewhere. In any case, I'd guess these were transfers reduced to 16:9 for Canadian movie channels, or something like that. I hope this doesn't become common, like pan-and-scan DVDs were in the early days. I'd suggest dropping a note to Netflix, seeing if you can get any info out of them, or who to complain to further up the chain. If anyone wants to drop a couple of bucks on an experiment, it would also be interesting to see what aspect ratio you get on an iTunes Canada rental for one of these.