Aspect Ratio of The Hobbit

Q

QuackingTroll

Valinor
I'm not sure if anyone is really concerned about this, but it's not been talked about so I thought I'd give some input.

If you're not sure what "Aspect Ratio" is it's fairly simple, I'm talking about the shape of the image - those black bars at the top and bottom of your screen when you watch LotR on your TV. There are a few different aspect ratios out there but the ones of interest here are the standard cinema ratio (usually about 2.35:1), the IMAX ratio (around 1.78:1) and the 16:9 HDTV aspect ratio (1.77:1).

When James Cameron released Avatar, the aspect ratio was dependent on whether you were viewing in 3D or 2D http://www.firstshowing.net/...ame-size-everywhere/ 2D showings also varied in some cinemas and I'm pretty sure this will be the case with The Hobbit (it would explain their choice of shooting at 5K and projecting at 4K - the image simply has to be cropped to suit the ratio of the cinema). When Avatar came out on Blu-Ray it was in a 1.77:1 ratio, the same ratio as a HDTV and somewhere between the Imax and standard cinema ratios. I loved this choice, simply because it made the quality of the image really pop. But I wonder how it will effect the feel of The Hobbit. Part of me wants to see The Hobbit filling my screen in a crisp lossless image, but part of still wants that epic feel of the black bars, if only for continuity with the trilogy. It's not a huge concern, obviously, but I do wonder whether the DVD or Blu-Ray or 3D Blu-Ray or 4K Blu-ray ratios will differ at all. I also wonder whether the DVD will be in 24FPS.

Any thoughts? (sorry if there are typos, my spell-checker isn't working and I rely on that thing far more than I should [tongue])
 
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Seriously, though. the Blu-ray at least probably won't have those black bars. I called it first, so don't be surprised next year when everyone's complaining that they're not there [tongue]

I also hope I'm wrong, though. They're very annoying and they burn my screen but for some reason I'll miss them.
 
It's not technically "burn-in" it's image retention, but if I watch, say LotR then when I go back to normal TV the bars are still visible for a few hours afterwards [:(] same thing happens with game HUDs, which is annoying because I play a lot of games lol.
 
Are you saying that no version of the films on DVD will have the bars? I can't imagine that. There are simply too many people that prefer to watch their films in that aspect ratio. Particularly for epics.
 
you can usually decide if you want the bars to be there or that the TV zooms in, which case the sides of the film get cut off.
 
In for example #4 you can see the white cropmarks in the screens, they dont look like 9:16 to me (too bad) Only thing i give respect to Avatar for in addition for the beautiful graphics is 9:16 aspect ratio. LOTR was shot to film, so it was completely understandable they used anamorphic lenses but i don't see what this Hobbit thing is about.

IMO 9:16 fits better to huge mountains and character shots, but not so much to the amazing, vast landscapes of LOTR so widescreen worked better in it.
 
you can usually decide if you want the bars to be there or that the TV zooms in, which case the sides of the film get cut off.
Click to expand...

And then you totally ruin the quality...

Btw QuackingTroll what plasma do you have? I have plasma too and i think they are very underrated! Mine is Samsung PS59D555 (59 inch) and i have watched complete marathon of extended editions without burn-in! Maybe your screen is still new and hasn't reached it's final grayness level? Also, you should activate pixel moving (or whatever it is) that moves the material in y and/or x dirs from time to time

My plasma is sorta strange, on TV broadcast or movie, the black level is sorta crappy, but if you turn info screen on, it has darker black than the video you watching... And it doesn't seem to be any of the settings (HDMI-black, MotionLight(or something like that)) Also, when you turn it on in a dark room the screen suddenly illuminates just a bit, this stuff may have something to do with like preload current to the cells or whatever that will make motion more smooth, but i don't get it why you can't turn it off. But otherwise very good plasma, my parents are idiots and won't turn it off when not watching, so it has been on way more than it should, yet contrast is OK+, acceptable gradients, audio is pretty superb for built in speakers and it doesn't buzz anymore. Even tho hues are sorta off, watching LOTR from it is pure eyegasm.

It's like these plasmas have a mind of their own sometimes... :D
 
It's crazy to think that they can frame every shot to work in both ratios, but they've done it for a few movies and The Hobbit's 5K to 4K cropping kinda implies that they're doing it for this. I'm a huge fan of 16:9 too, I just think it's a better looking ratio, and it more accurately replicates the ratio of human vision. I also think it's awesome that The Hobbit will fill the IMAX screen, but I'm not sure if it's right for the Blu-ray or not... I'm torn between a bigger picture and a nostalgic "cinema" look, but with 48fps I think maybe 16:9 would be better?
 
because that's what they use to frame the shot with, the 'frame' of the frame is just to give the operators a clue of what are they capturing next and also for digital stabilization. Btw. LOTR would have needed some stabilization from time to time, but there's just no way beating the film-look on a video, digital stuff is just too 'jumpy'. Wouldn't it be awesome if Hobbit was filmed with IMAX 3D cameras? [crazy] oh man that would be awesome... and expensive...

And yeah, _16:9_ is more natural than widescreen, and it's just nicer to look 'around' the screen than to move your focus always sideways. 16:9 just feels more real.
 
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I have a Samsung too, it's a PS50C7000 I think in America it's PN50C8000 or something? It's 3D and I love it! I've had it 2 years and it's always had this IR problem, I think it's getting worse and I think it's a faulty panel [:(]it's such a shame because it lets down an otherwise perfect picture. I'm aware of all the anti burn-in stuff, but it's not much use cause I get IR within a few seconds of something being displayed. It's put me off plasma a bit, but I still trust Samsung, so might go for one of their LEDs in the future.

59 inches... and I thought mine was big **TV envy**
 
Ain't too big anymore [:P] and 32 feels like a computer display. [cool]

Mine has also 3D, and i have tried it on games (GT5, Batman: Arkham City) and it best worked on Batman (Actually really good!) I have a slight bleed problem, but it might be the glasses, they are cheapest model. But I can't judge it before i have watched 3D movies with new battery in the glasses. That 2D-3D conversion stuff works way better than it should, and i don't have any bleed when using it, so maybe it's from the game (i really need to test with a 3D movie)

Btw. don't bother buying dedicated bluray players, use PS3, that thing does better than highest-end players can do but more!

Btw. Btw. Buying cheapish plasmas is like lottery, sometimes they are pure crap, but sometimes they work really well! (My screen has only 2 dead subpixels (not even 1 full!)) Too bad the warranties are a rip off [:(]

Btw.Btw.Btw. should we create a thread on screens to OT?
 
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I'd like to say my TV was cheapish, but in reality I blew £1500 of my student loan on it, along with £500 for a surround-sound blu-ray player (HT-C5500). I do own PS3 and agree it's far superior to standard players, my PS3 just got the yellow light of death yesterday which has broken my heart as I just got War in the North in the mail this morning [:(]
 
I think the biggest clue so far is the trailer, isn't it? It's in 2.35:1 so I'd guess that the 2D screenings at least are going to be in that ratio (and that the subsequent DVDs are, too).

Obviously the IMAX screenings will be in the IMAX ratio (!) but whether the normal 3D screenings are going to retain the 2D's 2.35:1 or expand the image to 1.85:1 is anyone's guess.

Like a few posters here, I'm torn. I love the epic nature of 2.35:1 (and more - Ben Hur's 2.76:1 [I think] is beautiful) but really enjoy the fact that Cameron, for example, chose to use the larger 1.85:1 for the Avatar blu-ray: it looks absolutely gorgeous filling my full screen. And I wouldn't take continuity into account: the decision to film The Hobbit at 48fps at 5K in 3D as well as the appalling (in places) colour-grading on the FotR blu-ray (which shatters continuity with TT and RotK) suggest that a uniform look to the five films isn't at the forefront of Jackson's mind...

The 2D blu-rays at 2.35:1 and the 3D blu-rays at 1.85:1. That's my prediction, for what it's worth!

PS Hmm. Maybe I mean 1.77:1 rather than 1.85:1?
 
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