Originally posted by: gltaylor74

Originally posted by: ESHBG
My response in another thread, but since I brought it up here too I will share my results:

--Okay, I found a non-anamorphic, letterbox DVD (and it was a 2001 Fox release too, imagine that *yawn*). The movie was shot in 2.35:1 so it was a great comparison. In my component mode, it keeps it letterboxed and it does NOT scale it any bigger to fill more of the screen. But since I have a DVD/VCR combo I could actually switch to the AV mode and still play/watch the DVD, and in that mode I can select the "Zoom" options to fill more of the screen. Quite honestly, I didn't really notice much difference in picture quality and I was satisfied with viewing the movie in that mode.

So yeah, I am still on the fence about getting the 09/12 DVDs but feeling *slightly* better about it all. I still don't know what is going through Lucas'/LFL's head, though. Maybe they figure with the technology out there today they can take the easy route, as most (all?) widescreen TVs, DVD players, etc., have a zoom feature. No excuse, though, no excuse...--

You may want to check out an older player, the Panasonic RP91. The RP91 can take letterbox material and "scale" it to 16x9 format. This allows you to keep your display in it's widescreen, or Full, mode. The Full mode is used with anamphoric material. The panny of course doesn't make the letterbox true anamphoric, but it does a good job and the big thing is keeping the display in Full mode where you don't get geometry distortion. They can probably get got pretty cheap now days. It is component only at 480p, no upscalling or anything.

Thanks for the info!

Re: the SEs, I still can't help but think maybe we all are missing the big picture and the opposite of what we think is true. My point:

1. '04 SEs are released on DVD in a box set including a 4th bonus disc. MANY fans are upset about the obvious video/audio screw ups and even more changes to the films. I know more people that DIDN'T buy them vs. did (myself included) or have since sold them.

3. Early '05, the DVDs can be purchased seperately. If the boxed sets sold as well as Lucas wanted, this wouldn't have been necessary until much, much later.

3. They are repackaged and resold in late '05, just in time for the Christmas season; but this barely made a blip on the radar and didn't sell very well at all.

4. 09/12/06 SEs are released AGAIN, this time A) they can be purchased seperately (again) with no boxed set and B) they inlcude the OUT. Inlcuding the OUT is guaranteed to bump sales up, moving the SE stock.

So that is 3 years in a row now they had to use different methods to try to sell the SEs! Of course the argument is there, "Well they are just milking the cash cow for all it's worth," and this may very well be true. But I say the proof is in the pudding so to speak, and a company that sells a solid product will not have to result to crappy repackaging, sub-par "bonus discs", etc., to push its stock. Let's take LOTR for example. They are re-releasing the DVDs this year BUT they come with really nice packaging, both versions of the films, more bonus footage, etc., etc. It is obvious to me they aren't selling to get rid of stock, they are selling a brand new, well thought out product!

So yeah, maybe we got this whole thing all wrong and are looking at it skewed. The SEs are the ones that aren't selling well, so now they need to use the OUT to sell them! Imagine the iorny in this folks! Plus, this method will now expose an entire group of people to the OUT that may have never seen it before. Some may actually say, "Hey, this version makes way more sense!", actually prefer that version and ask for that on future releases..

I firmly believe with each passing day and more thought that this is all blowing up in Lucas' face.