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