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Originally posted by: jimbo
Fullscreen is 67% of the image. More then half but still better to go wide.
Often there's even less image than that in pan-and-scan. It depends on what the original aspect ratio of the movie is.
If a movie's original aspect ratio is 1.85:1, you lose about 28% of the image in the pan-and-scan version. If the original aspect ratio is 2.35:1 (like in Star Wars) you lose about 43% of the image in the pan-and-scan. And in the rare cases when the original aspect ratio is actually wider than that, you lose even more. In 2.55:1 you lose about 48% in P&S, in 2.66:1 you lose exactly half the picture in P&S and in 2.76:1 you lose about 52% of the image.
You lose the least in 1.78:1 or 1.85:1, but a lot of times 1.78:1 movies are matted, so you actually get more in P&S (although the matted version is still the way the filmmakers intended it to be seen).
But you're right, it's definitely better to go widescreen.
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Originally posted by: Luke Skywalker
you guys think they'll ever do away with pan and scan?
or think it will always have a market?
I don't know, but if it does fade out it won't be for a while, because there are still lots of dumb, uneducated people who think that a full TV screen means a full image and refuse to accept the change. Or they just don't care about how the filmmakers intended the movies to be seen and just want a full screen rather than having "annoying black bars" or whatever.
But one thing's for sure, widescreen's not going to go away now that it's popular. In fact, in a lot of cases it's even more popular than the pan-and-scan version. Widescreen copies of movies usually sell way more than pan-and-scan copies. Just look at the DVD boxset. The widescreen version is number one on amazon.com's sales ranking and the P&S version is number fifty-two.