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‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes

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Re: ‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes

#11

Post by spiffage »

iso1210 wrote: post #3

This was the case with Simpsons when it came onto Disney Plus - they took the 4:3 and didn't just blow it to 14:9, but 16:9 -- throwing away a quarter of the original image. There's now an option to show the original aspect ratio, I didn't discover it for a long time though. Amazon prime on my phone blows up 16:9 material too, chopping off the top and bottom to fit the wider aspect ratio, unless you're careful to 'zo…

Thanks for telling us about the option to use the original aspect ratio! I'd basically given up and might never have found out.

Re: ‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes

#13

Post by foob »

There's a great blog post by David Simon on the conversion of The Wire from 4:3 to 16:9 [1]. It goes into a lot of depth about some of the trade-offs and considerations as well as the lack of communication from HBO. Unfortunately, the video examples don't seem to work anymore. I can't help but wonder if HBO sent YouTube a DMCA takedown for David Simon's clips from the post (or they got taken down automatically). It's pretty sad if the creator of a show can't even post short clips from it to illustrate some of the design decisions behind them.

[1] - http://davidsimon.com/the-wire-hd-with-videos/

Re: ‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes

#14

Post by Andrex »

mhb wrote: post #6
iso1210 wrote: post #3

This was the case with Simpsons when it came onto Disney Plus - they took the 4:3 and didn't just blow it to 14:9, but 16:9 -- throwing away a quarter of the original image. There's now an option to show the original aspect ratio, I didn't discover it for a long time though. Amazon prime on my phone blows up 16:9 material too, chopping off the top and bottom to fit the wider aspect ratio, unless you're careful to 'zo…

Similar issues with Buffy: https://www.avclub.com/fox-is-making-buffy-widescreen-and-jo...

There are way more issues with Buffy on top of that too, and my Disney ire will forever be stoked until they rectify the situation (as the current owners of 20th Century Television.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F28XcxHxH6k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZWNGq70Oyo

Re: ‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes

#15

Post by weird-eye-issue »

vadfa wrote: post #10
I-M-S wrote: post #7

I was under the impression the series will be digitally remastered and resolution upscaled, which doesn't seem to be the case?

The series was filmed in... film. There is no need for upscaling. They digitalised it from the film and it looks as if it was recorded yesterday.

It's pretty amazing the digital-equivalent resolution that actual film has (depends on the film size obviously but if you were to compare average film size to a average 10+ year digital camera it's a huge difference)

Re: ‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes

#17

Post by d3nj4l »

iso1210 wrote: post #3

This was the case with Simpsons when it came onto Disney Plus - they took the 4:3 and didn't just blow it to 14:9, but 16:9 -- throwing away a quarter of the original image. There's now an option to show the original aspect ratio, I didn't discover it for a long time though. Amazon prime on my phone blows up 16:9 material too, chopping off the top and bottom to fit the wider aspect ratio, unless you're careful to 'zo…

It's still not "fixed" because Indian Disney+, which is run by a Disney subsidiary, still doesn't allow you to watch the Simpsons in 4:3.

Re: ‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes

#18

Post by jefftk »

tofukid wrote: post #12

Almost all TVs have an option to zoom to fit 4:3, so there’s no need to stream a cropped version. At least they should provide an option to view the original.

Done well, aspect ratio conversion involves editorial decisions: what part of the frame is most important to preserve? This isn't something TVs can automate.

(Not advocating for cropping, though)

Re: ‘Seinfeld’ fans upset that Netflix’s aspect ratio cuts out jokes

#19

Post by lrem »

vadfa wrote: post #10
I-M-S wrote: post #7

I was under the impression the series will be digitally remastered and resolution upscaled, which doesn't seem to be the case?

The series was filmed in... film. There is no need for upscaling. They digitalised it from the film and it looks as if it was recorded yesterday.

Scanning with a better scanner can be confused with "digital remastering".
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