In a video store the other day, a gentleman was asked if he
wanted the WS or P&S version of the movie; He chose the P&S.
This is STILL happening for one major reason; North Americans are WAY
behind in technology compared to the Japanese and Europeans.
As long as they KEEP pushing 4:3 TVs and KEEP showing 4:3 TV programs,
this warped preference of the unsophisticated video viewer will continue.
Digital TV still has less than 10% penetration and they KEEP pushing out the
HDTV broadcast mandates in North America. It's pathetic.

"Richard" <rander3127@rogers.com> wrote in message
news:ec75e55a.0408131636.2ca818cb@posting.google.c om...
Which country has the largest population, AND the largest installed base of
4:3 tvs in the world? Unless you have plenty of disposable income, you just
dont go out a buy new widescreen HDTV's becuase they are there. WHen you
are ready to replace your existing tv, you have to weigh the price vs. what
you can afford. The cost differential is still pretty high in NOrth America
as well. Its just a simple matter of money mostly.

In article <ec75e55a.0408131636.2ca818cb@posting.google.com>,
rander3127@rogers.com (Richard) wrote:

Was he asked if he wanted pan & scan or "full screen"? I'm guessing it
was the latter. If the store clerk had asked the Joe Schmo if he wanted
a P&S version the Joe Schmo would have likely just given the clerk a
blank stare. This is just a rough estimate, but it seems to me at least
8 out of 10 people have no idea what pan & scan is despite the fact that
the term has existed since the 1970's. Pretty sad. People need to be
taught what P&S is. I wish I could make everyone I know sit down and
watch that "Why Letterbox?" featurette on the Die Hard DVD. Infact I
made my mother watch it just so she truly understood what P&S is.

But believe me, it used to be much much worse just a few years ago. Take
a time machine back to 1993 and go into a video store. The clerk would
have handed the gentlemen a pan & scan VHS tape and the option of a
widescreen version wouldn't have even been available, let alone brought
up by either one of them.
--
BL

"Richard" <rander3127@rogers.com> wrote in message
news:ec75e55a.0408131636.2ca818cb@posting.google.c om...
Were you there when this happened? Did you speak up?

"Richard" whined:

BFD. Most people should be so lucky that their biggest worry is stupid
aspect ratios on tvs.

T.B.

TB wrote:
Why is it, that everytime some guys discuss something, some looney has
to show up shouting "BFD". Why the hell do you think AR is their "biggest"
worry?? This is alt.video.dvd and butchered movies are one big problem
in the US home video market, but it's by far not the biggest.

l8er
ronny

Black Locust <bl2112@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<bl2112-97F3CC.22171513082004@typhoon3.uswest.net>...
Yes, the P&S was my modification. I refuse to use a term that makes it sound
like the version he wanted has any merit.
-Rich

"Jay Stewart" <brewclan@shaw.ca> wrote in message news:<WMhTc.98909$J06.18515@pd7tw2no>...
Did I speak up? No. I used to when this happened, but it's gotten to
the point where those who still choose P&S are simply too stupid to be
convinced the correct aspect ratio version is worth seeing and the proprietors
of video stores are simply trying to be all things to all people in order to
maximize their sales. Kind of like Hollywood and PG rated movies.
-Rich

Biz,biznospam@notatt.net says...
Not the United States, so how does this relate to the original post?

Sorry should have been installed user base of tvs and/or dvd players. Of
course you knew that, but were too much of a smart ass to just politely
correct me.


"Mark Spatny" <vfxproducer@NOSPAMhotmail.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1b884879d957fb62989a44@news.west.earthlin k.net...

"Biz" <biznospam@notatt.net> wrote in message
news:xwATc.450130$Gx4.82447@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
the reference to China was about.

On 13 Aug 2004 17:36:13 -0700, rander3127@rogers.com (Richard) wrote, in part:

Why on earth would anyone want to force people to run out and spend lots of money
on a new TV set, when they already have a perfectly good one?

At least America is a real democracy, where the political elites don't think they
can bully ordinary people! (Well, aside from the Supreme Court, of course.)

This is why we have loonies, but you don't have Susan B. Anthony dollars
replacing your dollar bill.

John Savard
http://home.ecn.ab.ca/~jsavard/index.html

Biz,biznospam@notatt.net says...
Which I still don't know is the United States. I have no data one way or
another, and I wouldn't assume that the US has the largest installed
base. For all I know China has more TVs. Even if fewer TVs per capita,
the larger population and the proliferation of pirated DVDs may make it
a much larger DVD market.

Black Locust <bl2112@hotmail.com> writes:

This was the main motivation for buying a laser disc player in
'91. Only way to get widesceen movies then.

--
Scott Streeter
ss@wpi.edu
http://www.wpi.edu/~ss/

Richard wrote:
Maybe when movie studios start droping using that false lable "Full Frame"
and start calling it what it really is, along with including information
with
releases describing to people why Widescreen is better then maybe just
maybe people might start waking up.

--
Brian The Demolition Man Little

jsavard@excxn.aNOSPAMb.cdn.invalid (John Savard) wrote in message news:<41201dce.9499828@news.ecn.ab.ca>...

You tell 'em John! Fight the power!!

-Eric

rander3127@rogers.com (Richard) wrote in message news:<ec75e55a.0408131636.2ca818cb@posting.google. com>...
I saw the same thing... only it was worse... the guy actually said "I
don't want the top and bottom chopped off..."

(SIGH)

In defense of 4:3 sets though... I am going to buy a big-screen 4:3.
Why? I have a lot of video games and they're all 4:3. In fact, I
probably spend more time playing games than watching DVDs. Yes, I'll
make sure that it does proper 16:9 conversion... But while I'm not
distracted by having black bars on movies, I think I would be
distracted by having black side panels on video games.

Of course if they made TVs in anything other than silver right now it
wouldn't be as bad. :^)

- Jordan

Jordan Lund wrote:
I actually own a 32 inch HDTV myself, for the reasons you just
mentioned. Tho I'll admit playing "Enter The Matrix" on my XBox
at 1080i is very beautiful even if the game itself isn't so. ;-)

--
Brian The Demolition Man Little