Very Wide Films
Many films are made with aspect ratios even wider than 1.85:1, such as 2.35:1. Even on a widescreen (1.78:1) video display these films would be distorted if they were simply allowed to fill the screen. Instead thin black bars are added to the top and bottom of the image on the disc itself when the transfer from film to video is made.
On a widescreen display these will properly be shown as thin black bars. This is perfectly normal and there is no distortion of the image. On a standard display, additional black bars will be added by the DVD player (or much less commonly by the display itself). The end result will be thick black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Again this is perfectly normal.
Pan and Scan Discs
Sometimes when a widescreen film is transferred to DVD, only the center portion is scanned. This process is called “pan and scan” and changes the aspect ratio to 1.33:1, allowing for viewing on standard displays without the use of black bars. However this not only changes the film director’s original visual composition, but can even lead to critical elements being left out of the picture entirely.
These discs are often euphemistically called “fullscreen”. Most film enthusiasts prefer to watch the film’s original aspect ratio and therefore avoid these discs. As far as compatibility with either
37
