ABC and InHD have been inconsistent in how they present large aspect ratio movies. Uncropped large-aspect-ratio movies are almost non-existent on HBO. It would be very helpful to have a thread on this forum for reports of uncropped, large OAR movies on these three networks.

I'll start by reporting that InHD and InHD2 appear to be showing the 1960 version of Ocean's Eleven in its OAR of 2.35:1.

Also, although only 1.37:1, House of Wax is being shown uncropped and unstretched on InHD. Unfortunately, I don't have 3-D glasses.

I haven't watched the movie itself yet (has it even been on?), but the other day INHD ran a 2.35:1 trailer for Year of the Dragon, that I assume was made from their HD master.

Year of the Dragon is in 2.35 on INHD (atleast the 2 minutes I watched of it).

HDnet Movies and InHD seem to share a fair number of titles.
HDnet Movies is also OAR basically all the time.
They probably get their films from the same sources.

Or care enough to show the movies the way they were ment to be seen. HBO IMHO is walking on thin ice as they continue crop their movies.

Originally posted by Thebarnman
Or care enough to show the movies the way they were ment to be seen. HBO IMHO is walking on thin ice as they continue crop their movies.

Saddly ... probably not ... once more and more Joe6Packs buy into HD, OAR may become an endangered species. Joe6Pack has historically wanted every inch of his TV screen filled and there's no reason to believe this will change in the future.

HDC

Oh yeah? The dominant wish of the entertainment leagues is to create high margin business. The quality people are usually the ones with the cash to afford the margins, and I bet most of the quality movie lovers are the ones who will reject HBO cropping as more of them discover the joys of HD.

Darius

Originally posted by shah8
Oh yeah? The dominant wish of the entertainment leagues is to create high margin business. The quality people are usually the ones with the cash to afford the margins, and I bet most of the quality movie lovers are the ones who will reject HBO cropping as more of them discover the joys of HD.

Darius You've got the right idea, but the wrong demographic. J6Ps drive the cable TV margins, not movie lovers. Movie lovers will buy their movies, in OAR and the best possible quality (DVD, D-VHS, HD-DVD etc.).

I watch HBO-HD last nigh at a friend's on D*. The compression and oversaturation of the color (I have calibrated this set) was horrendous. HBO is definitely NOT a movie lover's channel.

I know it's a bad day for movie lovers when I walked into the local Walmart to pick up the new Matrix release and they had a HUGE display set up at the front of the store with every one of them Full screened P&S. And in the video area, it was no better with dozens more P&S. I finally found but a handfull of widescreen discs after searching a good 15 minutes.

I've also seen a fare number of individuals specifically asking for the Full screen version in CC, not wanting to make the mistake again of getting "ripped-off" with a dinky widescreen version. They don'y really care if they're chopped amd maimed, especially if they can't see it on their 20-27" ntsc set.

Star Trek V is on HBO this month in 2.35:1. Yeh, I know it's not a good movie.

Didn't say nottin' about general J6P. Said that media companies don't really *want* J6P. They want movie lovers, and while HBO is for the full screeners...(you know, it's amazing, I was rooting for widescreen ever since I was like 15 years old...I got the point then, with teeny tvs, how come so few others do?) if they wanna do HD DVD, and make these expensive players and expensive disks/tapes, for extra quality that J6P prolly does not care about...

I don't think so. They wanna charge a high price, they gotta steepen that demand curve, and the only way to do that, is to appeal to wealthy movie nuts.

Darius

They create markets with early adopters, then they go for Joe Six-pack.

Within a few years of their introduction, HD-DVD players will be under $100 and the discs under $20, same as DVDs are now.

What I was saying, was that the media companies, and some of the electronic companies wants to *avoid* this event happening, and gatekeeping via expensive patents and regulations like DRM requirements are some of the means of doing this. Part of this general feeling of exclusiveness, aside from price, is the "eliteness" of having OAR for People who have the "big" screens. J6P dirt can have the abomination of full screen.

Darius

"Big" News .:cool:

InHD and InHD2 are showing the movie Big Wednesday in 2.35:1 OAR this month.

HBO is showing Dead Presidents in 2.35:1 OAR this month.

I'm checking 2.35:1 movies on HBO and Cinemax that are older than 1999 to see if they are telecast in OAR. Others that I'll check later this month are The Client and Alaska.

Originally posted by HDTVChallenged
Saddly ... probably not ... once more and more Joe6Packs buy into HD, OAR may become an endangered species. Joe6Pack has historically wanted every inch of his TV screen filled and there's no reason to believe this will change in the future.

HDC

The problem is in order for us to get more HD programming, more HD sets need to be sold. I think you can see where this is going. ANd with 47-50" HD RPTV available at say 1500 bucks, Joe6Packs walking into Best buy for a new 36" flat tube and stand notices he can get 47 inches of HD for not much more money. Which is in effect what we need to grow. Ask ESPN, ask your local network affiliates what it will take to get more HD programming. They will tell you... more HD sets.

SO lets not knock joe just yet, maybe once he gets that 50 incher in the house he might just like OAR. But without him buying that set we are not going to grow in HD programming.

Originally posted by HDTVChallenged
Saddly ... probably not ... once more and more Joe6Packs buy into HD, OAR may become an endangered species. Joe6Pack has historically wanted every inch of his TV screen filled and there's no reason to believe this will change in the future.

HDC

I dont know if I'm what you call Joe6Pack but I do know I like to see my TV filled up. I'm so sick and tired of hearing "the way the director wants you to watch it" I dont give a damn about some idiot director or how he wants me to watch something. There's nothing of any importance going on in that 10% (diff. between 16:9 and 2.35:1) of the screen on the right/left. If what was happening on the very edge of the screen was that important then it would be in the center of the screen, who cares if they crop off some extra who made 50 bucks to stand there?

Originally posted by D-rock0030
I dont know if I'm what you call Joe6Pack but I do know I like to see my TV filled up. I'm so sick and tired of hearing "the way the director wants you to watch it" I dont give a damn about some idiot director or how he wants me to watch something.

If you dislike the director so much, why are you watching his crap movie in the first place?

Why do you have a large TV at all (assuming you do)?

Originally posted by Josh Z
If you dislike the director so much, why are you watching his crap movie in the first place?

Why do you have a large TV at all (assuming you do)?

I have a large TV because I wanted on. If a TV is 16:9 then I want the material on it to be 16:9 so it fills up the screen and uses all the area available that it has. Who wants to have a 50" TV and only be able to use 42" (arbitrarily) with black bars on the rest of it?? Fill the damn screen up.

Wow .... It rises from the grave ;)

HDC

Originally posted by D-rock0030
Fill the damn screen up.

Hit the zoom button.

Originally posted by D-rock0030
I dont know if I'm what you call Joe6Pack but I do know I like to see my TV filled up. I'm so sick and tired of hearing "the way the director wants you to watch it" I dont give a damn about some idiot director or how he wants me to watch something. There's nothing of any importance going on in that 10% (diff. between 16:9 and 2.35:1) of the screen on the right/left. If what was happening on the very edge of the screen was that important then it would be in the center of the screen, who cares if they crop off some extra who made 50 bucks to stand there?

First of all, the difference between 1.85 and 2.35 is about 25%, not 10%. If you're going to try to present an argument, be accurate in your numbers.

As to the last statement, well, nothing really needs to be said. It speaks for itself and begs the questions of why do you even watch a movie and do you even know what a movie really is?

I've said this before in other threads, but I'll repeat it again here.

A TV is just a box. Its purpose is to hold a movie picture. Sometimes movie pictures aren't the exact same shape as the box and require matting along the edges to fill the excess space. If the box is more important to you than the picture it is supposed to hold, your priorities are backwards. It's like getting a package in the mail, throwing out the contents and keeping the cardboard USPS mailer.

Originally posted by Jerry G
First of all, the difference between 1.85 and 2.35 is about 25%, not 10%. If you're going to try to present an argument, be accurate in your numbers.

As to the last statement, well, nothing really needs to be said. It speaks for itself and begs the questions of why do you even watch a movie and do you even know what a movie really is?

First of all duhhhhh, thats why I said left and right and secondly I think I said about 10%. So about 10% on the left and about 10% on the right is about 20% which is close and good enough for me doing the division of 1.78/2.35 in my head.

Do I know what a movie is? WTF kind of smartazz question is that, people like you are just a waste of blood.

Maybe Directors will start shooting in 16:9 so then you so called art afficianodos can "see it the way the director wants you to see it" and everybody else with common sense will have the screen filled.

Maybe Directors will start shooting in 16:9 so then you so called art afficianodos can "see it the way the director wants you to see it" and everybody else with common sense will have the screen filled.

Sucks to be you, but OAR acceptance is on the rise. You better get used to more and more black bars. :)

Originally posted by D-rock0030
I have a large TV because I wanted on. If a TV is 16:9 then I want the material on it to be 16:9 so it fills up the screen and uses all the area available that it has. Who wants to have a 50" TV and only be able to use 42" (arbitrarily) with black bars on the rest of it?? Fill the damn screen up.

I have a 2.35:1 screen because I wanted one. Fill the damn screen up. :D

Originally posted by D-rock0030
First of all duhhhhh, thats why I said left and right and secondly I think I said about 10%. So about 10% on the left and about 10% on the right is about 20% which is close and good enough for me doing the division of 1.78/2.35 in my head.


Nice try, but it didn't work.


Do I know what a movie is? WTF kind of smartazz question is that, people like you are just a waste of blood.


I repeat the question. Do you know what a movie is? Obviously you don't have a clue.

Here (http://www.widescreen.org/examples/starwars/index.shtml) are some examples of how Pan & Scan can destroy a movie.

These are with 1.33 cropping, and 1.77 cropping is almost as bad.

Originally posted by D-rock0030

Maybe Directors will start shooting in 16:9 so then you so called art afficianodos can "see it the way the director wants you to see it" and everybody else with common sense will have the screen filled.
And another thing. If I had the Mona Lisa everything but the face would have to be chopped off to fit the space I've got for it. :eek:

Unbreakable is not OAR on ABC tonight.

This question is for those who are against OAR and want their screen's filled up; when you buy a particular DVD w/an OAR of 2.35:1, do you buy the widescreen or the pan and scan one?

Originally posted by Largo
This question is for those who are against OAR and want their screen's filled up; when you buy a particular DVD w/an OAR of 2.35:1, do you buy the widescreen or the pan and scan one?

I've asked this question to the screen filling black bar haters on numerous occasions, but have yet to receive an intelligent reply. Remember that if they have a 16x9 set, they will still get side bars on their P&S DVD viewing. So there really is no way out for the screen fillers when it comes to 2.35 DVDs. To avoid hypocrisy, they can only respond that they don't watch 2.35 DVDs. Any other response invalidates their reasons for hating 2.35 HD content.

Originally posted by Largo
This question is for those who are against OAR and want their screen's filled up; when you buy a particular DVD w/an OAR of 2.35:1, do you buy the widescreen or the pan and scan one?

I'd image that they buy WS and ZOOM it

Hey, "Just" mode looks really good. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by alpha21
I'd image that they buy WS and ZOOM it

Or buy "Full-Frame" and stretch it.

Originally posted by Josh Z
Or buy "Full-Frame" and stretch it.

that's the funny part...

they don't mind chopping off the sides (25% of the picture)
but lord knows they absolutly will not STRETCH (distort) the picture .1%

King David (1985, Richard Gere) was OAR on InHD today. I think there are a couple of more showings over the next few days.

I thought 16X9 tv's where actually 1:77 but a 1:85 Movie would play without any blackbars

Thank God the Mona Lisa happened to fit right into the frame Leonardo had :)

Originally posted by CPanther95
Thank God the Mona Lisa happened to fit right into the frame Leonardo had :)


Screenfillers don't care about the art of a film. It's just entertainment to them. That's why they dismiss "the way the director intended" so easily!

But this and Josh Z's analogy is dead on

Little Darlings (1980, Tatum O'Neal, Kristy McNichol) was in OAR last night on INHD2.

Originally posted by Neumann
I thought 16X9 tv's where actually 1:77 but a 1:85 Movie would play without any blackbars

This is almost but not quite true. A 16:9 picture is 1.78:1 but most program providers trim 1.85:1 movies to fit the 16:9 format because less than 3.5% of the horizontal aspect of the original image is lost that way. Although I would prefer 1.85:1 movies to be shown OAR, too, I can live with the loss of 3.5% of the horizontal aspect of the picture if it makes the anti-black bar crowd happy. The problem, though, is that most program providers also trim 2.35:1 films to fit the 16:9 format, thereby eliminating nearly 25% of the horizontal aspect of such films. For this there can be no excuse, it seems to me.

HDTV is 1.7777777777777777777777777777~

=)

1.85 movies on HDTV will probably fill the screen even if not intentionally stretched to do so, simply due to overscan.

Originally posted by walk
HDTV is 1.7777777777777777777777777777~

=)

1.85 movies on HDTV will probably fill the screen even if not intentionally stretched to do so, simply due to overscan.

The driver in DVD sales at the Wal-Mart level is still NTSC (not HD) for the simple reason that Wal-Mart sells very few HDTVs (the situation at Sam's Club, is, unfortunately even worse). Decisions are made there based on price (in terms of hardware) and the selection of widescreen titles at Wal-Mart has been, from my own observations, *abysmal*.

For this reason, I've been buying my DVDs (practially all widescreen) at Best Buy (or, if BB is out of stock, Border's). I have no 16:9 TVs (yet), but I do most of my DVD watching at my PC (where all is progressive-scan by design/default) so I can deal easily with 16:9.

Also, when I *do* get a 16:9 bedroom set (and I am looking seriously at the 30" Sceptre available via Costco.com) I'll be ready.

HBO telecast John Grisham's The Rainmaker in OAR this afternoon. It will be telecast four more times this month.

Originally posted by dneily
HBO telecast John Grisham's The Rainmaker in OAR this afternoon. It will be telecast four more times this month. I'm watching it now and it looks like one of the best HD transfers I've seen in a long time. Admittedly, I haven't watched a lot of movies recently, but this is far better than some of the stuff I've watched on HBO-HD in the past.

HBO telecast Annie in OAR this morning. It will be telecast once more, two weeks from now.

Originally posted by DoubleDAZ
I'm watching it now and it looks like one of the best HD transfers I've seen in a long time. Admittedly, I haven't watched a lot of movies recently, but this is far better than some of the stuff I've watched on HBO-HD in the past.

Dave -- I agree I thought the long shots of the actors in the courtroom during the trial scenes were dazzling. Without BOTH HD and the 2.35:1 OAR the effect would have been lost.

See the thread I started about this issue this morning:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=453886

I saw Cabin Fever on HBOHD this weekend - it was 2.35:1 and it looked great. The movie is from 2002 - maybe this was before they decided to crop everything.

I thought I read somewhere that movie studios were actually releasing multiple versions of movies these days with different aspect ratios, but I don't remember where I read that.

I can understand folks with sub-36" TVs preferring PS movies, but I don't fall in that category. I have a 25" set in the bedroom and still prefer WS versions.

Unfortunately, I also understand HBO's position on wanting to fill the 16:9 screen. Even among HDTV owners, there seems to be a difference of opinon on this issue. I think some of this goes back to the days before HD tuners could zoom HD channels. But now that they can, why not present everything OAR and let the user zoom as desired? Also, does anypne know just how much money, time, and effort are involved in transferring a film to HD? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems StarZ used to (and maybe still does) show both PS and WS versions of the same movie at different times/days.

Originally posted by DoubleDAZ

I think some of this goes back to the days before HD tuners could zoom HD channels. But now that they can, why not present everything OAR and let the user zoom as desired?


Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner. This is the obvious solution. Movies should always be presented in their OAR and the black-bar haters can zoom it if they wish. What's so difficult about that? Your basic win-win situation; why can't HBO and the other offenders understand this? And to those very few who still don't yet have the ability to do this, time to upgrade to a set/STB that will. You'll be glad you did. We'll be glad you did.

And don't forget the other half of the Faustian bargain resulting from P&S crop jobs - a softer picture due to the zooming. This is an equally egregious sin for anyone who loves HDTV and should never be forgotten in any of the half-dozen concurrent threads that re-hash this issue nearly every day here in the hallowed cyber-halls of AVS.

A couple of people have reported here that new movies from the Lions Gate studio are shown OAR on HBO.

Here is a list of OAR > 1.85 movies from Lions Gate:

Cabin Fever
The Cooler
Deathwatch
Demonlover
Dogville
Hard Word
Nest
No Vacancy
Red Siren

The only one that looks interesting to me is "The Cooler." It stars William H. Macy and Alec Baldwin (for which he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor AA).

You forgot I believe Monster's Ball...

The Cooler is umm... interseting. Extremely violent and without really much purpose. It was good, but the violence really detracted from the movie. And I love violence, but when it is there without much purpose it definitely hurts the storytelling..

Originally posted by DoubleDAZ
I thought I read somewhere that movie studios were actually releasing multiple versions of movies these days with different aspect ratios, but I don't remember where I read that.

Releasing to theaters in multiple aspect ratios? No, never happens.

Releasing to DVD in both "Widescreen" and "Full Screen" editions? Yes, many studios do this. The Full Screen edition is 4:3. No studios are releasing 2.35:1 movies formatted for 16:9.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by borghe
[B]You forgot I believe Monster's Ball...

You are correct. I also forgot the following (all 2.35:1):

Irreversible
Million Dollar Hotel
Shot at Glory (been on both Showtime and HBO, I think)
Space Truckers

I enjoyed A Shot at Glory. I suspect the other three are Grade B (or worse).

Originally posted by dneily
[QUOTE]Originally posted by borghe
[B]You forgot I believe Monster's Ball...

You are correct. I also forgot the following (all 2.35:1):

Irreversible
Million Dollar Hotel
Shot at Glory (been on both Showtime and HBO, I think)
Space Truckers

I enjoyed A Shot at Glory. I suspect the other three are Grade B (or worse).

and

Confidence

The Internet Movie Database shows Lions Gate as one of several distributors of the follow 2.35:1 movies:

Flashback: The Past is Killer
Gods and Monsters (Ian McKellen)
Lantana (Barbara Hershey, Geoffrey Rush)
Shadow of the Vampire (Willem Dafoe)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=456207

Looks like TitanTV needs to add another indicator, HD-OAR. :)

Murphy's War in 2.35:1 OAR on InHD today !!

Color is somewhat muted but picture is sharp.

...and Girl with a Pearl Earring on HBO-HD right now.

Adam,

Thanks for the find. I checked with imdb.com and confirmed that Girl with a Pearl Earring is distributed by Lions Gate. I bet it looks great in OAR HD ... like a "painting by a Dutch master" according to imdb.com. 3-1/2 stars out of 4 in Maltin's guide.

I will catch it when it airs again on Feb. 13th at 11:15 am ET.

Girl with a Pearl Earring is lovely--I recorded it, though I'd seen it on rented DVD not that long ago. The transfer is not particularly sharp, but the colors are amazing. I think that it's intended to resemble a Vermeer. Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation, another visual-treat flick) is perfectly cast as "Girl". Here's a very good example of a film that would be criminal to chop anything out of any frame.

As I recall, the DVD had a cool music video on it featuring Scarlett--coming to life, walking out of a painting, of course. I don't recall who the song was by or what it was called. (I looked it up--it was called, appropriately, "Girl With A Pearl" by some unknown singer-songwriter billed as simply "Truman". You can see some caps from the video here (http://www.scarlettjohansson.org/multimedia/categories.php?cat_id=236)).

Just a few days back I commented in this (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=5087055#post5087055) post that many people bought their widescreen sets partly in an effort to eliminate the black bars. So sad.

The Devil's Own (1997) on HBO this morning in 2.20:1 OAR, starring Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford.

Originally posted by shah8
The quality people are usually the ones with the cash to afford the margins, and I bet most of the quality movie lovers are the ones who will reject HBO cropping as more of them discover the joys of HD.

Problem is most people doesn't know if movies on HBOHD or other HD movie channels are OAR or not. Ask them their fave top10 movies and their OAR. Even I don't remember the OAR of my top10 movies. Is there somewhere one can look up OAR of movies? I checked IMDB without success.

The "technical specifications" section on IMDB usually has it.

HBO telecast Incognito (1997) yesterday morning in 2.35:1 OAR. The city of Paris, the Rembrandt paintings, and the lead actress looked great in 1080i and OAR.

Both Netflix.com and imdb.com say that the aspect ratio for the DVD is 1.85.

dneily
Great job keeping the list up but may i have a suggestion?

Edit then Add the list on very first post instead of scattered all over the place.

Originally posted by zeroendless
dneily
Great job keeping the list up but may i have a suggestion?

Edit then Add the list on very first post instead of scattered all over the place.

Sure. Do you think I should also ask the Moderator to make this a "stickie" (i.e., "Note: ...")?

You can add Patriot Games to the "OAR on HBO" list. PQ seems indifferent at a glance, but's it a favorite so I'll watch.

You should rewrite the base post and give a list of each of the movies sighted, so people would have scan through the entire thread to find out what OAR transfers have been seen on these channels (if you're still tracking all three).

I'd like a moderator to make this thread a stickie, because sometimes these OAR sightings are far between. I then need to search for the thread and bump the thread to the beginning.

MODERATORS - Please make this a Note thread.

Forest Gump was "OAR on ABC".

Sorry folks. My request to make this a stickie thread was turned down.

I still think this thread is highly desirable. Feedback from forum members is the only source that I know of to learn when large OAR movies are telecast in OAR. I, for one, would like an easy-to-find topic to report and find such information.

Originally posted by dneily
I still think this thread is highly desirable. Feedback from forum members is the only source that I know of to learn when large OAR movies are telecast in OAR. I, for one, would like an easy-to-find topic to report and find such information. Agreed. Isn't that what this topic is all about?

If we add a unique qualifier to the title, then it would be easy to find. Will that help?

It would also be nice if there was some way to know when movies on HBO are open matte as opposed to cropped. The ones that are OAR or open matte, I archive (assuming I like the movie, of course). The crop jobs I don't even bother watching.

Originally posted by fcsmith
It would also be nice if there was some way to know when movies on HBO are open matte as opposed to cropped. The ones that are OAR or open matte, I archive (assuming I like the movie, of course). The crop jobs I don't even bother watching. I do the same. If I see something I want to archive, I record it to my 6412 and then watch it to determine if it is OAR or open matte. But I have been fooled before by films presented on HBO such as High Crimes and Transporter. They begin 2:35 OAR throughout the credits then switch to cropped.

Originally posted by fcsmith
It would also be nice if there was some way to know when movies on HBO are open matte as opposed to cropped. The ones that are OAR or open matte, I archive (assuming I like the movie, of course). The crop jobs I don't even bother watching.

I could be mistaken, but I recall a thread not too long ago where one of the posters had screen grabs of a good number of so-called HBO chop jobs that turned out to be open-matte when compared to the OAR dvd. Personally I prefer OAR but I don't have a problem with open-matte for >1.85 x'fers.

Can anyone recall this thread or show whether HBO movies are actually cropped or open-matte?

Originally posted by Alvis
Problem is most people doesn't know if movies on HBOHD or other HD movie channels are OAR or not. Ask them their fave top10 movies and their OAR. Even I don't remember the OAR of my top10 movies. Is there somewhere one can look up OAR of movies? I checked IMDB without success.

Here's how to check out the OAR of most movies. First, go to the movie's listing on IMDb. Then, click on Amazon.com's DVD icon in the upper right hand corner of the page. Click on the illustration for the movie at Amazon.com, which will take you to a page for that particular DVD only. Next, click on "See more product details." Product details usually reveal whether the movie is 2.35:1 or 1.85:1. Unfortunately, though, a few simply say "widescreen," from which you can't discern what the OAR was.

I remember it too - can't find it, though.

Originally posted by gwsat
Here's how to check out the OAR of most movies. First, go to the movie's listing on IMDb. Then, click on Amazon.com's DVD icon in the upper right hand corner of the page. Click on the illustration for the movie at Amazon.com, which will take you to a page for that particular DVD only. Next, click on "See more product details." Product details usually reveal whether the movie is 2.35:1 or 1.85:1. Unfortunately, though, a few simply say "widescreen," from which you can't discern what the OAR was. Or, you could just find the film's page at IMDb and click the "technical specs" link on the left, under "Other Info". You'll also find a link for "DVD Details" under the same heading, which will give you minute information on all DVD editions of the movie that have been published.

You can find aspect ratio details here (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0379270/technical).

Click on the letter starting the title, and then look for the title itself.

If the details specify that the movie was shot in Super 35, there is a possibility the transfer will be open matte.

Edit: Mike beat me on that reply!

If it is shot on Super 35, does that mean it will definitely be open matte vs. cropped? I am guessing not. Is there any way to tell for sure if a movie is open matted or cropped, short of a direct a/b comparison?

Originally posted by ripit
If it is shot on Super 35, does that mean it will definitely be open matte vs. cropped? I am guessing not. Is there any way to tell for sure if a movie is open matted or cropped, short of a direct a/b comparison?
No, you can never be sure.

Originally posted by michaeltscott
Or, you could just find the film's page at IMDb and click the "technical specs" link on the left, under "Other Info". You'll also find a link for "DVD Details" under the same heading, which will give you minute information on all DVD editions of the movie that have been published.

Michael -- This is a good tip, better than my old method of finding OAR, I think. Thanks.

Originally posted by robena

If the details specify that the movie was shot in Super 35, there is a possibility the transfer will be open matte.

Does that imply that if the movie wasn't shot in Super 35 that it will definitely NOT be open matte? If so, I'll go ahead and be disappointed in advance about Man on Fire on HBO Saturday night.

Originally posted by ripit
I could be mistaken, but I recall a thread not too long ago where one of the posters had screen grabs of a good number of so-called HBO chop jobs that turned out to be open-matte when compared to the OAR dvd. Personally I prefer OAR but I don't have a problem with open-matte for >1.85 x'fers.

Can anyone recall this thread or show whether HBO movies are actually cropped or open-matte?
Carlos_Salcedo was the one who posted those screen shots on his web site. However, all the posts that referenced his site have been removed.

Originally posted by gwsat
Michael -- This is a good tip, better than my old method of finding OAR, I think. Thanks. Well, the technical specs are not always there on IMDb for every film--then you can resort to searching out the DVD info at Amazon or some other e-tailer.

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by gwsat
Michael -- This is a good tip, better than my old method of finding OAR, I think. Thanks.
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Originally posted by michaeltscott
Well, the technical specs are not always there on IMDb for every film--then you can resort to searching out the DVD info at Amazon or some other e-tailer.

I suspect that is what got me on to the link to Amazon.com in the first place. I LOVE IMDb and checked out all of its resources years ago. I look something up there nearly every day. I can't believe that I had not looked at the technical details link or the DVD link before I read your earlier post. Nevertheless, until I did read it I had forgotten that IMDb provided those neat links.

Add "The Firm" to the list. It was shown OAR last night, and is scheduled for a couple more showings this month.

It was OAR for you? I thought I remember it being 1.85:1 on HBO last night. That may be the OAR, but this thread is about movies wider than 1.85:1.

Originally posted by cyberbri
It was OAR for you? I thought I remember it being 1.85:1 on HBO last night. That may be the OAR, but this thread is about movies wider than 1.85:1.

1.85:1, which is why I started another thread for it and didn't post here.:D

Originally posted by cyberbri
It was OAR for you? I thought I remember it being 1.85:1 on HBO last night. That may be the OAR, but this thread is about movies wider than 1.85:1.
OAR is 1.85:1. It was shown earlier as a 4:3 upconvert, so that's why I thought it was notable. But you're right, it's OT for this thread. :o

Well, I'm glad you mentioned it anyway. People see 1.85:1 and assume it's been cropped or open matte reformatted, failing to realize that there are a lot of movies shot in 1.85:1.

Originally posted by cyberbri
Well, I'm glad you mentioned it anyway. People see 1.85:1 and assume it's been cropped or open matte reformatted, failing to realize that there are a lot of movies shot in 1.85:1.

I agree. "The Firm" is a perfect example. Because it was a big budget Hollywood action film I assumed that its OAR was 2.35:1. When I checked IMDb, though, before I started to watch the film, I learned that its OAR is 1.85:1, which is how HBO showed it.

HBO just finished a 2.35:1 OAR telecast of The Devil's Advocate (1997) , with Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino and Charlize Theron.

Two more airings this month, on March 12th and 29th.

Originally posted by dneily
HBO just finished a 2.35:1 OAR telecast of The Devil's Advocate (1997) , with Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino and Charlize Theron.

Two more airings this month, on March 12th and 29th. 5.1 or 2.0 audio?

Originally posted by Marc Alexander
5.1 or 2.0 audio?

2.0 audio on HBO, even though the theatrical movie was 5.1.

So this thread is only "HBO, ABC and InHD"? No NBC, CBS, Showtime, etc.?

Have there been any Large OAR sightings on HBO that include 5.1 audio (other than Monster Balls)?

Monster Balls? lol...

Originally posted by Marc Alexander
Have there been any Large OAR sightings on HBO that include 5.1 audio?

I haven't been keeping close track, but my sense is that the 1998 and prior OAR telecasts are mostly if not all 2.0.

Some of the new Lions Gate telecasts may be 5.1; e.g., Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Originally posted by Marc Alexander
Have there been any Large OAR sightings on HBO that include 5.1 audio (other than Monster Balls)?
Girl with a Pearl Earring and Patriot Games to name a couple. But many times the reason the movie is OAR on HBO is because it's an older transfer, from before they made the decision to start cropping movies to fill the screen. Many of these older transfers are also from before the time that HBO supported 5.1 audio.

Anyone check out Godfather III last night on HBO HD? Its on my PVR I can't wait to get home and see for myself. Good luck with the Paramount films like Patriot Games which looked good and solid sound mix. I would love to see great OAR transfers of GF 1& 2 in HD.

Originally posted by adash66
I would love to see great OAR transfers of GF 1& 2 in HD. Going from memory, but all three movies were Academy flat, right? OAR shouldn't be an issue at all, and this thread is for movies with wider aspect ratios than that.

Correct Adam all three are Aspect ratio 1.85 : 1
GFIII was shot super 35 as well. My Bad.

Right now, Cinemax HD is showing Les Miserables (1998) in 2.35:1 OAR. PQ is very nice.

The Replacement Killers looked > 2.35:1 on Sunday.

Cinemax HD had a mega 2.35:1 marathon this afternoon. However, in the middle of the saga, "A Time to Kill" showed up cropped in 1.78:1.

Just curious-- has anyone seen this in its proper 2.35:1 ratio on an HD channel?

Originally posted by Nathan_R
Cinemax HD had a mega 2.35:1 marathon this afternoon. However, in the middle of the saga, "A Time to Kill" showed up cropped in 1.78:1.

Just curious-- has anyone seen this in its proper 2.35:1 ratio on an HD channel?

I believe CBS carried this movie OAR a year ago on a sunday night..looked very good.

Originally posted by Nathan_R
Cinemax HD had a mega 2.35:1 marathon this afternoon. However, in the middle of the saga, "A Time to Kill" showed up cropped in 1.78:1.

Just curious-- has anyone seen this in its proper 2.35:1 ratio on an HD channel?
The Japanese BS/HI airing was OAR, like 99% of Japanese ones.

I Know What You Did Last Summer on Cinemax last night...shown 2.35:1 OAR.

Early this morning, Cinemax telecast Top Gun in 2.35:1 OAR and DD 5.1. Nice.

D-Rock, this topic has been fought time and again in many forums. I'm happy for you that little matters like framing and composition are of no value to you, as long as your screen is full. Please understand that there are also people who see films as art, and appreciate the framing and composition of a shot as an integral part of the experience.

I'm who wants to have a 50" TV and only be able to use the original aspect ratio of the film, that's who. Please open your mind a little and realize we're not all the same, and anyone who disagrees with you is stupid.

I've been proposing that HBO divide their showings into full screen and uncropped presentations. As they show a given movie many times in a month, why not at least a few uncropped showings for us purists? That way everybody's happy.

chroma601: I think you're replying to the wrong thread. Who is "D-Rock?"

I am crossing my fingers that Baraka is OAR on INHD tomorrow. Please. please....

Originally posted by dneily
chroma601: I think you're replying to the wrong thread. Who is "D-Rock?"

I popped into the thread a little late. D-Rock is on page 1!

Originally posted by chroma601
I've been proposing that HBO divide their showings into full screen and uncropped presentations. As they show a given movie many times in a month, why not at least a few uncropped showings for us purists? That way everybody's happy.

I've answered this before, but it keeps coming up so....

....because then they'd have to pay for more than one transfer. And, since they only grossed a billion dollars last year, that might break 'em.

This morning, Cinemax showed The Edge in 2.35:1 OAR, including great panoramic scenes in the Alaskan wilderness. The movie stars Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins.

Today, Cinemax telecast a Lions Gate release, Jesus' Son , but this one was cropped to 16:9 (OAR is 2.35:1 according to IMDB and Netflix).

This morning, Cinemax HD telecast Dangerous Beauty in 2.35:1 OAR.

Gorgeous scenes in Venice and other spots in Italy.

P.S. Wow. The last three posts are all mine. I hope others of you still care about 2.35 OAR movies.

P.S. Wow. The last three posts are all mine. I hope others of you still care about 2.35 OAR movies.
I never watch cropped movies, so knowing which ones were not is extremely useful for me to decide which movies to get.

Please do continue to post!

Thanks,

As mentioned in another thread, last night Cinemax HD telecast The Untouchables in 2.35 OAR.

I Know What You Did Last Summer was OAR (2.35:1) on HBO Friday night, 2 channel sound.

Cinemax HD is currently telecasting The People vs. Larry Flynt in 2.35:1 OAR. Repeat telecasts are on June 15, 21 and 27.

dneily,
please keep up the good work, your efforts are much appreciated.
Oliver

Releasing to theaters in multiple aspect ratios? No, never happens.

Releasing to DVD in both "Widescreen" and "Full Screen" editions? Yes, many studios do this. The Full Screen edition is 4:3. No studios are releasing 2.35:1 movies formatted for 16:9.

The only one I've seen is Brother Bear from Disney, which gives you a choice of 2.35:1 or 1.78:1.

I know the title does not include Cinemax, but the Australian gritty crime caper movie, The Hard Word (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280490/), starring 6Ft Under's Rachel Griffiths (http://www.hbo.com/sixfeetunder/cast/characters/brenda_chenowith.shtml), was presented in a wide Cinemascope-type aspect ratio last night.

Most movies on Cinemax usually end up on HBO at some point, so those with HBO may wish to keep their eyes open for this one.

Kurt

I know the title does not include Cinemax, but the Australian gritty crime caper movie, The Hard Word (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280490/), starring 6Ft Under's Rachel Griffiths (http://www.hbo.com/sixfeetunder/cast/characters/brenda_chenowith.shtml), was presented in a wide Cinemascope-type aspect ratio last night.

Most movies on Cinemax usually end up on HBO at some point, so those with HBO may wish to keep their eyes open for this one.

Kurt

Kurt: Thanks. Lions Gate comes through again.

Cinemax seems to be showing more 2.35:1 OAR movies than anyone except Showtime.

I would suggest to add open matte non cropped movies too.

It's easy to restore OAR when the movie is open matte, so it would be most useful to know when it's the case.

I would suggest to add open matte non cropped movies too.

It's easy to restore OAR when the movie is open matte, so it would be most useful to know when it's the case.How do you tell if something is Open Matte? Is it Open Matte when a 2:35 is shown 1:85 and it is Super 35mm?

Spider-man 2 on Cinemax was open matte.

How do you tell if something is Open Matte? Is it Open Matte when a 2:35 is shown 1:85 and it is Super 35mm?
Super 35mm is a good indication that it can be open matte, but it's never a certainty.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was hideously cropped for example.

The only way to be sure is to compare frames between the DVD and the HD version.

Too bad for the macroblocking though. HBO and Cinemax are killing me on this. I watched Bad Boys 2 yesterday and some scenes were attrocious. Seems like a lot of motion causes the issue. I saw the same thing with Spidey 2.

By the way, this month Les Miserables is in 2.35:1 OAR on HBO-HD.

It's easy to restore OAR when the movie is open matte, so it would be most useful to know when it's the case.

Easy? My TV seems to be missing the feature where the mattes come up from the bottom and down from the top to mask the appropriate portion of the picture.

Easy? My TV seems to be missing the feature where the mattes come up from the bottom and down from the top to mask the appropriate portion of the picture.
You're right, I should have said possible.

Unfortunately, not all displays can blank part of the picture.

But still, some can, so it's useful information.

Super 35mm is a good indication that it can be open matte, but it's never a certainty.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was hideously cropped for example.

The only way to be sure is to compare frames between the DVD and the HD version.

Also, just because some parts of a movie are open matte is no certainty that the entire movie will be. Some shots may still be cropped.

Face/OFF was 2.35:1 on MAX 2 days ago , i think there will be a reairing

Wild Things was OAR 2.35:1 on Cinemax HD the other night and it is re-airing a few times this month.

I would suggest to add open matte non cropped movies too.

It's easy to restore OAR when the movie is open matte, so it would be most useful to know when it's the case. I would disagree, the matte is not always the same for each movie. The matted portion is not equal top and bottom. I've seen plenty open matte where just the top is opened up.

I would disagree, the matte is not always the same for each movie. The matted portion is not equal top and bottom. I've seen plenty open matte where just the top is opened up.
Which is why it's necessary to compare between the DVD and the HD presentation, and post captures as I did.

If somebody does that comparison and posts the results, it will be useful for people who have display with blanking capacity and want to get the closest to OAR as possible.

I have plenty of open matte movies that are totally watchable this way, it would have been a shame to miss them just because it requires some extra work to make them palatable!

I second that,
the first two Harry Potter movies and Gladiator were shown open matte for example.

Which is why it's necessary to compare between the DVD and the HD presentation, and post captures as I did.

If somebody does that comparison and posts the results, it will be useful for people who have display with blanking capacity and want to get the closest to OAR as possible.

I have plenty of open matte movies that are totally watchable this way, it would have been a shame to miss them just because it requires some extra work to make them palatable!Good point

Torque appears to be open matte too.

HBO:

http://monsite.wanadoo.fr/robsite/images/1-picture2.gif


DVD:

http://monsite.wanadoo.fr/robsite/images/1-picture1.gif

As reported in another thread http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=545170 , Cinemax HD showed Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in 2.35:1 OAR this morning.

The next 2.35:1 telecast possibility on Cinemax is The Deer Hunter. Stay tuned.

open matte is quite annoying .... the new pan/scan for widescreen mass-market.

The next 2.35:1 telecast possibility on Cinemax is The Deer Hunter. Stay tuned.


Don't count on it!

I checked this out the last time it was on Cinemax and despite their website advertising it as in HD, it was a4:3 upconvert.

As around a 3 hour running time it would have been fairly expensive to archive to D-VHS anyhow.

Kurt

Deer Hunter was definitely not OAR, except for the very end where they sing God Bless America as they roll into the credits. (Amazingly enough, that was the best PQ of the entire film since we didn't get to see all the artifacts up close and personal). PQ was ok, not great. I have a bunch of 180 minute tapes lying around so put one to use; will compare it with the DVD when I have a chance.

Les Miserables was OAR on HBO this morning

no repeat showing though

Please Make This a Sticky!!

Thanks very much for your reporting guys, I cannot stand to set a recording and find out it is Non-OAR trash

-Gary

Moderators: Please change the thread title to : "Uncropped, Large OAR (> 1.85) Sightings on HBO, Cinemax, ABC, InHD and Others"

Topic title changed.

The following movies scheduled in July were 2.35:1 OAR when last shown on HBO or Cinemax:

The Edge (HBO July 13, 30)

Gattaca (HBO July 2, 15, 20)

Girl With A Pearl Earring (HBO July 3, 7, 11, 16, 20)

The following pre-1998 movies scheduled in July have an original aspect ratio of 2.35, and may possibly be OAR on HBO or Cinemax:

Carlito's Way (MAX first showing July 5)

Chinatown (MAX only showing July 8) ... I seem to remember this was last shown non-OAR

Contact (MAX first showing July 5)

Dave (MAX first showing July 10)

Kiss the Girls (MAX first showing July 1)

The Road Warrior (MAX first showing July 2) ... I seem to remember this was last shown non-OAR

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (MAX only showing July 24) ... I seem to remember this was last shown OAR

********* :rolleyes: Caution: Going off topic :rolleyes: *********

Finally the following movies, though 1.85 or less OAR, are on my very short list of all-time favorites ... therefore, I highly recommend:

Into The Arms of Strangers (HBO only showing July 27)

Prince of Tides (MAX only showing July 14)

Scent of A Woman (MAX July 6 first showing)

Looks OAR on CBS via D*.

Yes, CBS showed Changing Lanes in its original 2.35:1. This is the first time I've ever seen something 2.35 or above shown unaltered on a major network. I was amazed! Thank you CBS!

Re: Changing Lanes... I'm assuming this must have been in HiDef?

The reason I ask is because the guide at HDTV Magazine indicated it was SD, so I skipped it.

- Tim

Re: Changing Lanes... I'm assuming this must have been in HiDef?

The reason I ask is because the guide at HDTV Magazine indicated it was SD, so I skipped it.

- Tim

Although I did not watch the entire movie, I did see a few minutes ...
- it was HDTV
- it was OAR
- it was DD5.1

Where I live Changing Lanes was HDTV and OAR but not DD5.1. This was OTA from KPIX in San Francisco.

Roxanne was OAR 2.35:1 on Cinemax this morning

Sorry if this was posted, and it appears not to be running right now---but on Starz-HD I recorded Around The World in 80 Days, the Jackie Chan version. It sure looked OAR to me...

80 Days was prolly OAR but it most likely was an up-convert as Starz-HD is now infamous for upconverting Disney movies, though in OAR.

WOW!! max has some great movies, I wish I could get it on E* :mad:

-Gary

80 Days was prolly OAR but it most likely was an up-convert as Starz-HD is now infamous for upconverting Disney movies, though in OAR.

Largo---you might be right on the upconvert. I almost remarked that it looked pretty washed out...

Kiss the Girls 2.35:1 OAR on Cinemax tonight.

Crimson Tide on Showtime ending right now.

Troy on HBO appears to be open matte with very mild cropping:

http://void02.xs.to/pics/05271/troy.gif

Proper blanking will make it very close to OAR.

The Peacemaker on Max is OAR!!!!

The Peacemaker on Max is OAR!!!!

AND DD5.1 to boot.

It must have fallen into that very small window between the time that HBO/Cinemax started encoding in 5.1 and before they made the decision to present all movies in a 16:9 aspect ratio.

It's on again tonight at 10 EST. So set those DVRs folks.

Actually it's really not my sort of movie, but a scope ratio and 5.1 probably is enough for me to dedicate a D-VHS tape to it.

Kurt

RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE on Max is open matte:

http://xs36.xs.to/pics/05272/resident.gif

RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE on Max is open matte:

http://xs36.xs.to/pics/05272/resident.gifOpen matte is not OAR.

Open matte is not OAR.
We already have been over that point sooner in this thread.

People whose projector allow blanking can matte the movie properly, with the help of the posted pictures, and get an OAR presentation. It's very helpful to know which movies are open matte.

We already have been over that point sooner in this thread.

People whose projector allow blanking can matte the movie properly, with the help of the posted pictures, and get an OAR presentation. It's very helpful to know which movies are open matte.It might have been, but just because the live action shots are open matte doesn't mean the FX shots aren't cropped. Since most action movies these days like Spider-Man2 are laden with CG/FX it sort of makes the point moot. There are a few cases (like Terminator 3) where the open matte version is preferable, but very few.

OAR is OAR.

How about starting a new thread listing Open Matte showings, and noting how much of the FX is maintained?

It might have been, but just because the live action shots are open matte doesn't mean the FX shots aren't cropped. Since most action movies these days like Spider-Man2 are laden with CG/FX it sort of makes the point moot. There are a few cases (like Terminator 3) where the open matte version is preferable, but very few.

That's the point of posting frames. Spidey 2 FX scenes are not cropped for example:

http://void02.xs.to/pics/05272/spiderHD.gif

http://void02.xs.to/pics/05272/SpiderDVD.gif

I just checked an FX scene on Resident Evil, no cropping either.

How about starting a new thread listing Open Matte showings, and noting how much of the FX is maintained?

That's not a bad idea, but on the other hand, this thread is monitored by people who want to be able to see OAR movies.

The truly open matte movies (which are the only ones I post about) can be seen OAR, so I think it's useful to post about them here.

Thanks for pointing that out with Spidey2. I guess I'll have to tape it next time it comes on HBO.:)

Interestingly, in both the Res Evil and the Spidey Clips you posted, the image on the OAR shots look better in ways that have little to do with OAR.

Colors seem more saturated and contrast level is higher, despite the two true OAR captures coming from a NTSC DVD (I assume) vs a HDTV source for the open mattes.

Anyone have any ideas why this would be the case?

Robert did you "touch up" the DVD captures?

Kurt

People whose projector allow blanking can matte the movie properly, with the help of the posted pictures, and get an OAR presentation. It's very helpful to know which movies are open matte.


But how about the vast majority of sets that aren't projectors? No, I won't be making masks of fabrics or cardboard to anything else to cover part of the plasma's screen. As DaveFi said, OAR is OAR. If it's open matte, it's not OAR. The viewer shouldn't have to manipulate his display to create an OAR presentation.

I much prefer OAR to open matte, but HD open matte is better than DVD if you can blank, so this information is useful to some people, that's all.

Cropped or open matte movies should be banned, I agree, but you do with what you have...

But how about the vast majority of sets that aren't projectors? No, I won't be making masks of fabrics or cardboard to anything else to cover part of the plasma's screen. As DaveFi said, OAR is OAR. If it's open matte, it's not OAR. The viewer shouldn't have to manipulate his display to create an OAR presentation.

Actually I would advise you to do just that.

Prior to setting up a front PJ in a dedicated home-theater room I did my serious movie watching on a 53 in Sony CRT Rear-projector. It was a 4:3 aspect ratio screen with a 16:9 mode (the scan lines were compressed closer together in that mode).

I made mattes that corresponded to both the 16:9 aspect ratio and a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. They resulted in an improved image.

You would be able to use them both on open-matted movies and scope ratio movies presented in OAR. Plasma sets have a shiny glasss screen and relatively high black levels. The mattes would create a true black area free from all reflections (internal or external).

Kurt

Contact on MAX is OAR!!!!! beautiful Colors too

Contact on MAX is OAR!!!!! beautiful Colors too

Very good PQ as well. Bummer its only Dolby 2.0, but something I've wanted to see in OAR for a while...let's hope Boogie Nights is as well.

Very good PQ as well. Bummer its only Dolby 2.0, but something I've wanted to see in OAR for a while...let's hope Boogie Nights is as well.

Boogie Nights is OAR for sure

I have it recorded on DVHS

Yep, it is! Woot, even if DD 2.0.

its 5AM PDT and "the devil's own" is OAR on HBO-HD !!!!!

Fri 7/8 05:05 AM HBO High Definition - WEST
Thu 7/14 03:00 AM HBO High Definition - WEST
Wed 7/20 12:00 AM HBO High Definition - WEST

MAX HD is now showing the classic film Chinatown in 2.35 OAR.

MAX HD is now showing the classic film Chinatown in 2.35 OAR.Sweet. How's the transfer?

So so. Not nearly as bad as Untouchables OAR but still not a great print.

Still, glad I have MAXHD. Whole lot of great old movies that are being taped the last couple months. :)

I,ROBOT Screen Shots (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5865489&&#post5865489)

I,Robot was Open matte on Max Last night.

Cinemax-HD is currently showing Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 2.35:1 OAR HD.

Boogie Nights is OAR for sure

I have it recorded on DVHS

yes,and it looked fantastic. :)

Cinemax-HD is currently showing Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 2.35:1 OAR HD.

And MAX started it 5 minutes late = 1 minute short of credits. Argh.

And MAX started it 5 minutes late = 1 minute short of credits. Argh.

On my DVR, I always add 5 to 10 minutes before and after the scheduled start/stop times for recording movies on the premium channels.

For NASCAR, football and baseball, I add up to an hour at the end.

yeah, Chinatown looked much better than Untouchables, but was very very blurry in some shots, and the whole thing looked like it had edge enhancement.

some shots looked like they were from workprints.

in fact, Star Trek the Motion Picture also looked blurry. What's up with these Paramount catalog titles in HD?

Patriot Games in both OAR and DD 5.1. Nice PQ as well.

Patriot Games in both OAR and DD 5.1. Nice PQ as well.

Old64mb,

Next time, please mention the network. In the case above, it was Cinemax HD I presume.

Sorry, forgot about that requirement when my jaw dropped since it was in 5.1 and OAR...no need for Blu-ray on this one. MAX it was.

Yeah, Star Trek was really washed out- a sub-par transfer if not an upconvert. The opening credits for Chinatown were all scratchy but cleared up nicely for the rest of the movie.

"Mad City" on HBO is OAR!!

I like this movie and had not set to record it, luckily it shows a few more times

-Gary

Dead Calm was OAR on HBO this morning, though PQ was so-so.

EDIT: My mistake, this was a crop job, not OAR.

Fallen is showing in OAR and HD on StarzHD. 2.0 sound but sounds 5.1 when decoded through DPL II. I'll definitely be archiving this one.

I thought Dead Calm was Panavision, which means it wasnt OAR

One of my all-time favorites, L.A. Confidential, is in 2.35:1 OAR at this hour on Cinemax HD.

I still have the LD of Dead Calm and it certainly is in a very wise scope-type aspct ratio (about 2.35:1). The version that I recorded of my DVR was in the 1.78 to 1.85 range.

Kurt

One of my all-time favorites, L.A. Confidential, is in 2.35:1 OAR at this hour on Cinemax HD.

yep It looked Awesome! thank god for DVRs!

One of my all-time favorites, L.A. Confidential, is in 2.35:1 OAR at this hour on Cinemax HD.

PQ was great, even if DD 2.0. Will be on a few more times.

I still have the LD of Dead Calm and it certainly is in a very wise scope-type aspct ratio (about 2.35:1). The version that I recorded of my DVR was in the 1.78 to 1.85 range.

Kurt
Sorry folks, I checked my recording and you're absolutely right, it wasn't OAR. I don't know what I was watching yesterday morning.

Fallen is showing in OAR and HD on StarzHD. 2.0 sound but sounds 5.1 when decoded through DPL II. I'll definitely be archiving this one.
My 6412 got stuck in PCM mode...this is true 5.1!

L.A. CONFIDENTIAL on last nite on Max-HD in HD-OAR (do not know if 5.1 yet, saved it on the 6412 but only watch a few min. of it thru the TV sound to see if OAR).

L.A. CONFIDENTIAL on last nite on Max-HD in HD-OAR (do not know if 5.1 yet, saved it on the 6412 but only watch a few min. of it thru the TV sound to see if OAR).No 5.1 on my DVR :( I'll still archive to DVHS though because it is a great movie and it is OAR.

I recorded this last night an am looking forward to watching it for the first time --- was it originally shown in theaters in 5.1?

Jon: there are others on this forum that are more knowledgeable about why studios release films to TV stations without 5.1 audio. It seems like it is hit or miss rather than some firm policy or it could be an oversight caused by lethargy.

i am pretty sure it was at least DD 5.1 in theaters, in 1997 most studio releases were.

LA CONFIDENTIAL is one of my all-time favorote movies, and i loved seeing it in HD, even if it wasn't a great HD transfer (looked okay but i think it was an old transfer, which would explain why it wasn't 5.1 audio)....

oleus

L.A. CONFIDENTIAL on last nite on Max-HD in HD-OAR (do not know if 5.1 yet, saved it on the 6412 but only watch a few min. of it thru the TV sound to see if OAR).No, only 2.0, but OAR. Great movie, the one that launched Mr. Crowe....

Speed 2 Cruise Control is 2.35:1 OAR on Cinemax!!!!!! Sat. sep. 3rd

Who carries HD Cinemax.

My HD line up consists of Time Warner, Dish/Voom, Bel and Direct and none offer HD Cinemax as far as I know.
Im spending to much money on this hobby. Dont tell me I need yet another source to get HD Cinemax :(

I know Comcast does in many areas, you might check the lineup thread,

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=419472
HDTV Channel Lineups on DBS & Cable - AVS Forum

Man I wish I could get Cinemax on Dish, but eventually everything shows up on HBO as well :mad:

-Gary

Man I wish I could get Cinemax on Dish, but eventually everything shows up on HBO as well :mad:

-Gary

Only the newer movies, all the 'older' movies that Max-HD has been showing in OAR has been on Max only.

Boo I have never saw anything on Max that was older that didn't eventually make it to HBO, it may take 8 months and only get one showing at 1:00AM , like "The Edge" and "Goodfellas" and "The People VS Larry Flynt"

-Gary

Much Ado About Nothing on Showtime is on today and again on Wednesday -- DD 2.0, but it is listed as and seems to me to be in OAR (1.85).

What a lovely, lovely movie. Lots of familiar faces doing a wonderful adaptation, and a great demonstration that Shakespeare is meant to be performed and watched, not inflicted as a written text on poor high school students.

HBO-HD showed The Last Action Hero a couple of mornings ago, I caught the end and it looked to be 2.35:1.

Anyone Know what network showed The 6th Day? (it was 2.35:1)

I ran accross an old DVHS of it, but I can figure out what network it was on.

Along Came a Spider on CBS right now.

Final Destination 2 on the WB.
Out of Los Angeles - Comcast. Looking pretty good.
5.1 Channels lit up on my receiver.

Along Came a Spider on CBS right now.
Yeah, what a trip, has CBS done OAR before?

I see Titanic is on tomorrow. Anyone know if it's OAR?

Shane commented:
> Along Came a Spider on CBS right now. <

I decided to pass on this one when I noticed they were cramming a 1:44 film into a 2:00 run time. With the nominal times allotted for commercials, that meant anywhere from 15-25 minutes of the movie were hacked out to make room.

The commercial interruptions themselves are bad enough, but when they butcher the film (and frequently destroy continuity or omit vital scenes) just to fit in even more commercials, I opt out.

I've noticed a fair number of ~2 hr films recently, airing in 3 hr time slots. So at least they were complete. But you can see the "time tax" you have to pay (50%) to view them.

- Tim

removing the commericial I got about 90 mintues from Along Came a Spider.

I see Titanic is on tomorrow. Anyone know if it's OAR?


I think its gonna be OAR with 2.0

tkmedia2 wrote:
> removing the commericial I got about 90 mintues from Along Came a Spider. <

Thanks for sharing that info, Tony. That's better than I expected, with only 14 minutes edited out. Still... even that's really too much.

- Tim

Titanic is indeed in OAR!! Looks great!!

This afternoon, Cinemax HD telecast Flight of the Intruder in 2.35:1 OAR.

The Italian Job was on Showtime HD in 2.35:1 OAR.

Are all Showtime movies in OAR?

Spartan on HBO was open matte:

http://xs45.xs.to/pics/05365/spartan.gif

The Italian Job was on Showtime HD in 2.35:1 OAR.

Are all Showtime movies in OAR?

Yes, God bless 'em. Only Showtime and HDNet Movies care enough to do it right.

HBO must have carried the same version of Contact as Cinemax. A few mornings ago the OAR 2.0 sound version played. Looked good, just wish it had 5.1 sound.

Recorded today's HBO showing of Contact on my 40K. Excellent picture, blows the DVD away. DD 2.0 still sounds great. This is a keeper.

Dave

"Kiss the Girls" (1997) [Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd] is OAR on HBO right now at 2.35 (DD2.0).

- Tim

...grabbed Boogie nights in OAR on HBO this weekend. I think there might be some upcoming showings this month.

Gary commented:
> I have never saw anything on Max that was older that didn't eventually make it to HBO, it may take 8 months and only get one showing at 1:00AM <

I guess it depends on your definition of "eventually", but in the 15 months I've had HBO-HD, and been noticing the offerings on Cinemax-HD I can't get (their PDFs don't offer either listings alone), there have been boatloads of films on Cinemax that have never (in that interval) shown up on HBO. That doesn't mean they never will, or that they might not have already, nor that there isn't a lot of cross-over airing. But I have many times wished that Cinemax-HD was available to me as well.

- Tim

One of my favorite Burt Reynolds movies from the 70's, Gator, was shown on Sho in glorious OAR! I kept expecting it to blow out after the credits but it stayed wide for a change,.

...grabbed Boogie nights in OAR on HBO this weekend. I think there might be some upcoming showings this month.

how does it compare to the SHO version?

The Peacemaker on HBO in OAR 2.35 with DD5.1, as it was on Cinemax a month or two back.

- Tim

Face/Off in 2.35:1 OAR on HBO yesterday.

Damn r5000-hd screwed up and missed Face/Off :mad:

luckily it has one more showing this month

may have to do a little combining with my Japanese DTS DVD track :)

-Gary

how does it compare to the SHO version?
No clue -- I never saw the SHO version. Picture looks spectacular, though the sound seems to only be on DD2.0.

Since the request to sticky this in the Programming forum was declined, could we please sticky this in the HDTV Recorders section instead? Most of the interested parties are archivers and not casual network viewers.

This thread does not deserve to be pushed down below the myriad pages of D*, E*, and Comcast "OMG WHAT HAPPENED ON CH 12321-23 TONIGHT?!?!?!?" threads. :(

Thanks.

Although I originally started this thread for large OAR movies (i.e., greater than 1.85:1), it's also worth noting when small aspect ratio movies are shown in HD with their OAR preserved.

A couple of days ago, PBS broadcast the movie Life and Times of Frida Kahlo in its original 4:3 aspect ratio. Although the Internet Movie Database does not show this movie's aspect ratio, the DVD of the same movie is 4:3. The movie includes lots of historical (pre-1953) footage that makes the 4:3 format desirable.

PBS had the usual "the following program is presented in high definition" intro, and it looked like HD to me. Also, the WVPT program guide said it was HD.

Life and Times of Frida Kahlo is a documentary that was in theaters shortly after the release of Salma Hayek's AA-nominated movie Frida .

I know Sho is allways OAR but, A Few Good Men was on last night 2.35:1 and was a great looking transfer!

I know Sho is allways OAR but, A Few Good Men was on last night 2.35:1 and was a great looking transfer!

I'm confused by your "but". A Few Good Men's OAR is 2.35 and that's how it was presented last night. So what's the "but" for? Am I missing something?

I think he meant that it is a given that all Showtime movies are shown in OAR so it does not really qualify as news, but he still decided to bring it to our attention. I was actually wondering what the quality of that transfer was, so I guess I will have to buy some more D-VHS blank tapes, as I love this movie. Thanks!

I know Sho is allways OAR but, A Few Good Men was on last night 2.35:1 and was a great looking transfer!
It was a nice transfer. For some reason I had it in my mind that it was an upconvert, but decided to tape it anyway because I like the movie. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was actually HD.