The Wide-Screen Debate

The power of a truly wide screen

Since the onset of DVDs, a debate which was once the realm of those few who owned Laser Disc machines, has come to the forefront. The debate of Letterbox versus Pan and Scan. It is a debate which brings out emotions in Movie Fans as strong as advocates of Pro-Choice/Pro-Life.

To me it is a simple choice. Plant me firmly in the Pro-Widescreen/Letterbox camp. When I watch a movie, I don’t want to see only part of the movie. I want to see all of it, exactly as I saw it on the big screen. I don’t want to see one portion at a time and I don’t want to see a jittery, computer generated pan.

Some mis-informed people seem to assume that those black bars at the top and bottom of your tv screen are actually blocking things out from the movie. This is incorrect. You are actually seeing MORE when you watch a movie that is letterboxed. This is because of the difference in ratio between the size of a movie screen and the size of your television screen. A theatrical movie has a 2.65:1 to 3.00:1 aspect ratio. Your television screen however, only has a a 2.35:1 ratio.

The smaller box represents the image you will see on your television if you watch a movie in 'Pan and Scan'. As you can see, a whole hell of a lot of is left to be chopped off from the original version. And while some people might think that portion isn't important, it is amazing what is often chopped in these versions.

In the classic Lawrence of Arabia for example. When Omar Shariff and Peter O'Toole meet for the first time at the well, they each stand on either side of the screen when speaking. In the 'Pan and Scan' version you are left with a shot of a well and the desert behind it while two disembodied figures speak their lines. You can't see either character. In the Letterbox format you see both of them in the way the scene was intended to be seen. Why would anyone want to see it any other way?

Many great examples of how much you lose in the transition from version to version can be found at the this very informative website http://www.widescreen.org/index.shtml, along with a host of other great information.

A sign of ignorance and the other side of the argument can be found at this address http://members.aol.com/Savetele/, along with the ludicrous claim that letterboxing is actually censorship.

If you are not a fan of letterbox, try these tricks to help yourself get adjusted. Watch the movie on as large a television as you can find. Watch the movie in the dark, this way the black bars will blend in with the background. After not so long a time, you will get so used to them, you will no longer even notice them and you'll be wondering the next time you watch a 'Pan and Scan', just what the hell you aren't seeing.