Originally posted by: marioxb
Look. I know what anamorphic is. I have anamorphic DVDs. I also have non-anamorphic DVDs. I was (kinda) kidding when I said it would alter the movies. I mean it (kinda) does.

It kinda doesn't. Given an anamorphic and a non-anamorphic scan of the same film, the anamorphic one will be closer to the original. Why? Its higher resolution can capture more detail. The process of digitization and conversion to 480p 4:2:0 MPEG-2 will inevitably lose some detail from the film source, but non-anamorphic will lose more.

Neither process, however, affects the shape of the frame or the subjects therein. These are the "alterations" that most people are concerned about. Differences between the film master and the digital version are referred to as artifacts, and can occur with either anamorphic or non-anamorphic content. To say that one encoding method or the other "alters" a movie is a red herring.

(Finally, as has been pointed out already, the films were shot and projected anamorphically. Someone had to alter your movies at the telecine stage to make them fit within that 4:3 frame without distortion. This doesn't really matter, it's just interesting.)

Now I want you to say, "Thank you for educating me, Scruffy. I will not disappoint you again." Once that is done, go, and sin no more.