Page 1 of LOTR Two Towers Question

Help! I think i just accidently bought the widescreen version of the theatrical version by mistake :( It never said widescreen on the front cover and since they only had one copy left on the shelf i just kind of grabbed it wihtout reading the back. Thing is i don`t want the widescreen version and my friend said that all the theatrical versions are widescreen and if i want non - widescreen i`ll have to buy the extended DVD.

Firstly, all R2 versions of Lord of the Rings are presented only in widescreen. Even if you have a 4:3 (fullscreen) TV, a widescreen DVD will still play fine. The R1 theatrical version is available in fullscreen, but really you want to avoid fullscreen DVDs at all costs.

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Fullscreen DVDs should be avoided like the plague. When I had a 4:3 TV I pondered buying region 1 fullscreens and now that I am all widescreened up I am so glad I didn`t.


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[list=a] [*] Why don`t you want widescreen? See it the way it`s supposed to be seen. Buy a new telly just for this... ;-)
[*] The extended version doesn`t have a 4:3 version on it. It has about an extra 40 odd minutes of the same aspect ratio that you don`t seem to like.... [/list=a]EDIT: Bloody hell boys, didn`t hang about there did we? If only the phone hadn`t rung while typing....

Ste

This item was edited on Tuesday, 30th December 2003, 20:03

I don`t want widescreen because it looks awful on my TV! My screen isn`t that big and with two black bars taking up half the screen it`s worse. Are all R2 DVDs like this? (i only just got a DVD player for Xmas).

Yes - 90% of DVDs, unless there is a fullscreen edition (only R1), are encoded purely in widescreen. DVD is a pursit`s format, therefore does not want nor require a fullscreen - botched - version of a film.

If it really bothers you, buy widescreen discs but go into Setup on your DVD player`s menu, and change the video type from letterbox to 4:3 PS.

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There is a simple solution: If you do not like widescreen then stick to VHS.

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So how come whenever i`ve bought a DVD of a music single it`s always been fullscreen and the picture has been pretty good looking?

Probably because it was filmed in a 4:3 aspect ratio.

The majority of movies relased on DVD are within an aspect ratio of between 1:1.77 and 1:2.40, wiht most of the titles I have at 1:2.35. This means the image is 2.35 times as wide as it is high. Even on widescreen TVs you will get some "unused space" or black bars as you put it at ratios greater than true widescreen.

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"There are things known and there are things unknown, and inbetween are the doors."

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This item was edited on Tuesday, 30th December 2003, 21:07

When you are watching a "fullscreen" film, you are losing big chunks of the picture, especially on a film with the aspect ratio of 2.35:1, such as Lord Of The Rings. So with DVD you are getting everything in the frame.

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