widescreen TV, DVD is there to bridge the
processing of the video before encoding.
tions. The DVD-Video specification states
Instead of matching the width and blacking
T A YLOR
unchanged on a standard 1.33:1 TV, but
ber one target for the slings and arrows of
9
and VCRs don't know how to reformat the video
convincing movie studios to release more
that a large portion of the picture area is
that the largest size an MPEG-2 encoded
existing 1.33:1 displays.1
has been around for decades but has been
The Robe, in 1953. Today, most 2.4:1
720
medium, has brought anamorphic video into
the digital age. As we slowly switch from
Anamorphic Widescreen
célèbre, with a growing campaign aimed at
bottom. The problem with this approach is
By now, any true videophile is familiar with
out the gap, anamorphic deformation match-
picture is letterboxed before being digitized
720
panoramic projection system at the Palace
when it's projected in the theatre.
applied to film by Zeiss Optical in Germany
for NTSC, 1152x576 for PAL) and a 2.21:1
epic,
a variation of pixel shape, with extra-fat pix-
An important underlying fact is that DVD
you might be thinking "Wait a minute...the
the image during filming, then unsqueeze it
tion designed to hold video shaped for a
phic (Panavision) lenses that optically squeeze
lens for tank periscopes in World War I, then
video. And with the demise of Divx (Digital
in 1898. Two French inventors, Ernst Abbe
widescreen features are filmed with anamor-
WSRnewsletter28.qxp:#88 Reber HD Wars v3GRTL
1.33:1 rectangle, the trick is to fit a 1.78:1
when expanded to fit a 1.78:1 widescreen
The Hypergonar lens was used for a huge
shapes equal in the horizontal dimension,
anyone attempting to fit a movie-shaped peg
pixels are tall and skinny." It's true that they
Page 9
revitalized with digital technology. The word
9/15/08
rectangle, given the not-quite-square pixels
it was later adopted for the CinemaScope
Figure 1
widescreen has become the new cause
lent solution to this problem is anamorphic
terms such as aspect ratio, letterbox, wide-
in other words, to stretch or squeeze an
later patented it under the name Hypergonar.
Video Express), which had been the num-
lenses in the early 1900's. Chrétien used his
solution, apart from hacking off parts of the
display format, but neither of these is allowed
60 (72)
is specially designed to support 1.78:1 wide-
wasted on black (see Figure 1). An excel-
Digital Anamorphic
lem, of course, has been faced for years by
ment, since unlike DVD players, LaserDisc players
Discs and even VHS tapes, but the problem is that
DVD and its built-in support for widescreen
In a sense, the anamorphic format is just
are active out of 345,600; the remaining
in this case. Anamorphosis was possibly first
86,400 pixels--25 percent of the total--are
+ morph- (shape) + -ic (characterized by),
es the height and squeezes horizontally to
TV there's a loss of resolution. When a 1.78:1
of Light in the Paris Exposition of 1937, and
screen displays while being compatible with
360 (432)
480 vertical pixels (for NTSC video; PAL video
look tall in an anamorphically compressed
can be used to store active picture.
for simpler and cheaper implementation.
they only work when shown on widescreen equip-
form, but when expanded out to their proper
work, and why is it such a big deal?
then matte over the gap left at the top and
But how exactly does anamorphic widescreen
picture, is to letterbox, That is, make the two
with a common subset of MPEG-2 makes
image in mostly one direction--horizontally,
wasted in storing nothing but black. This
J IM
discs in the anamorphic widescreen format.
beginning with 20th Century Fox's biblical
Since DVD is limited to a 720x480 resolu-
picture can be is 720 horizontal pixels by
to dissimilar degrees along different axes. Or,
ally defines a 16:9 storage format (1144x572
of NTSC video. The MPEG-2 standard actu-
by the DVD-Video specification. Sticking
480 (576)
els. If you've seen"raw" anamorphic video,
480 (576)
5:17 PM
and refers to magnifying or reducing images
The Archives
is formed from Greek roots: ana- (up, back)
widescreen theatrical projection process,
original (1.78)
doesn't matter when the picture is displayed
gap. The anamorphic video feature of DVD
into a TV-shaped hole. The most common
the available space, 33 percent more pixels
anamorphic (1.78)
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' DVDs
WIDESCREEN REVIEW NEWSLETTER 28
also fit the width. Because the picture fills
letterbox (1.78)
for MPEG-2 encoding, only 259,200 pixels
We'll focus on anamorphic, a concept that
has a restricted set of digital picture resolu-
and Henri Chrétien, pioneered anamorphic
is encoded at 720x576). This is a 1.33:1
ratios, see Richard Travis' article in Issue 31.
outrageous DVD Web sites, anamorphic
for a standard TV.
rectangle into the same space. This prob-
screen, etc. For an excellent primer on aspect
1.33:1 (4:3) standard TV to 1.78:1 (16:9)
60 (72)
DVD, the ultimate digital convergence
Anamorphic Widescreen
This article assumes an understanding of
FROM
1. Anamorphic video has been used on Laser
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