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FAQ - Anamorphic, Enhanced for Widescreen DVDs. (Historical FAQ)
Updated Late 2017. 3,659 previous views.
The defacto FAQ for the answers to what an "Anamorphic" / "Enhanced for Widescreen TVs" DVD. Some expired links have been removed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anamorphic_widescreen
The telecine process for transferring film into video:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecine
People are often confused about Anamorphic DVDs. Let me clarify.
There is no "squishing" on a DVD, although it does look like it. (Remember there are only "bits" on the DVD, not actual pictures).
The anamorphic DVD contains "more information" than a non-anamorphic one. If you set your DVD player to 16:9, all of the information is utilized. If you set your DVD player to 4:3, some of the information (vertical resolution - every 4th line or so) is "discarded" for 4:3 TVs.
This is why you need to use only a horizontal stretch for anamorphic DVDs and need to use the "zoom" for non-anamorphic. The difference is a factor of 1.33. The actual aspect ratio of the film has nothing to do with whether it's anamorphic or not, although a lot of 4:3 DVDs are not anamorphic.
Do not confuse the aspect ratio (widescreen - which can be 1.85:1, 2.35:1, etc.), with the process - Anamorphic, also called enhanced for widescreen.
See also the FAQs on Black Bars and Widescreen Stretch Modes.
Please PM 57 if you have comments or suggestions for this FAQ.
The defacto FAQ for the answers to what an "Anamorphic" / "Enhanced for Widescreen TVs" DVD. Some expired links have been removed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anamorphic_widescreen
The telecine process for transferring film into video:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecine
People are often confused about Anamorphic DVDs. Let me clarify.
There is no "squishing" on a DVD, although it does look like it. (Remember there are only "bits" on the DVD, not actual pictures).
The anamorphic DVD contains "more information" than a non-anamorphic one. If you set your DVD player to 16:9, all of the information is utilized. If you set your DVD player to 4:3, some of the information (vertical resolution - every 4th line or so) is "discarded" for 4:3 TVs.
This is why you need to use only a horizontal stretch for anamorphic DVDs and need to use the "zoom" for non-anamorphic. The difference is a factor of 1.33. The actual aspect ratio of the film has nothing to do with whether it's anamorphic or not, although a lot of 4:3 DVDs are not anamorphic.
Do not confuse the aspect ratio (widescreen - which can be 1.85:1, 2.35:1, etc.), with the process - Anamorphic, also called enhanced for widescreen.
See also the FAQs on Black Bars and Widescreen Stretch Modes.
Please PM 57 if you have comments or suggestions for this FAQ.
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