Stretch-O-Vision

So the other night I’m flipping through the channels and see that one of my favorite movies is going to appear on TNT HD. Unfortunately, the idiots at TNT are unaware that older movies weren’t filmed in 16:9 aspect ratio. So what should look like this :


oz1.jpg

Looks like this :

oz2.jpg

In the HD version of The Wizard of Oz, everyone’s a munchkin.


posted by greg on November 15, 2007 @ 4:20 pm

6 comments »

  1. Ugh, one of the downsides of HD. Better than cropping the top and bottom, though, which is, unfortunately, what some of the HD networks do.

    Comment by bikerdude9891 — November 15, 2007 @ 10:44 pm

  2. I wouldn’t be so sure - there’s a fair chance it was broadcast as full-frame 4:3 and you had your TV screen ratio set to ‘widescreen’. I constantly find myself having to change screen ratio when BBC4 shows classic documentaries from the seventies and eighties.

    Comment by Joe — November 16, 2007 @ 5:08 am

  3. Joe, he says it was on TNT HD, which I would assume broadcasts all its content in 16:9. (But I don’t have cable, so whaddu I know.) So they really ought to have compensated for the aspect ratio of the picture in their broadcast, placing vertical bars on either side of the image, instead of expecting the viewer to make the adjustment.

    Comment by Cris — November 16, 2007 @ 7:16 pm

  4. Late entry, but TNT HD does this to all of their content, and it’s infuriating. Sometimes they’ll show 14:9 programs stretched to 16:9 with black bars on top and bottom, which is truly mind-boggling.

    Comment by briantologist — December 1, 2007 @ 4:09 pm

  5. I often see widescreen TVs in the public space (sorts bars, display windows) showing 4:3 programming stretched to 16:9. When I point out that it distorts the picture, people are either nonplussed (which indicates that they have something wrong with their eyes) or will say that they want to use all of the screen, which is absurd as always playing your stereo on max volume.

    Comment by JET — December 13, 2007 @ 4:39 am

  6. Technology of HDTV is like a diamond in a goats ass! Who needs HD content of “157 ch. and nothin is on”

    Comment by Doctor Who — December 18, 2007 @ 8:12 am

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