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Help Please: Cinemax Aspect Ratio Issue

post #1 of 19
3/22/13 at 10:18am
Thread Starter 
Hey everybody, I just got a new Sharp Aquos 60" LED and I pretty much love it (I'd like to hear thoughts on it if anyone has one or has experience with one). It was a massive upgrade from my old Philips 46" LCD and the picture difference is incredible. I have however had just a few small problems. One of them is this. Below is an image of 'Tombstone' playing on Cinemax HD, as you can see the picture is clearly cut off on the left and right sides. My question is, is this a Cinemax issue? A DirecTV issue? I do not believe it is a problem with my TV but I could be wrong. Thanks in advanced.

Julian

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post #2 of 19
3/22/13 at 1:26pm
Looks like you have a zoom or crop feature enabled either on your tv or in your directv box.
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post #3 of 19
3/22/13 at 2:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovinthehd View Post

Looks like you have a zoom or crop feature enabled either on your tv or in your directv box.

Wouldnt that be a problem on all the channels then & not just skinemax ?
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post #4 of 19
3/22/13 at 2:53pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah I checked other movies I had DVR'd and some were perfect, shown in 16:9. I'm thinking it's just Cinemax for whatever reason, kind of crappy to see some movies in fullscreen like that.
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post #5 of 19
3/22/13 at 3:28pm
Cinemax doesn't do OAR - Tombstone is 2:35, so I'm guessing that's the result.
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post #6 of 19
3/22/13 at 3:32pm
City of Ombston - population, unknown due to cropping...
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post #7 of 19
3/22/13 at 3:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dcowboy7 View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by lovinthehd View Post

Looks like you have a zoom or crop feature enabled either on your tv or in your directv box.

Wouldnt that be a problem on all the channels then & not just skinemax ?

HD stuff, sure. I don't have Cinemax on my Directv unless it's a promo weekend; had one a few weeks ago and no issues. However,have seen some of the other channels like Turner or similar lowend commercial HD channel on occasion show a movie in a pre-cropped/zoomed format.
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post #8 of 19
3/22/13 at 5:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dcowboy7 View Post

Wouldnt that be a problem on all the channels then & not just skinemax ?

Channels like Cinemax, HBO, Sony Movie Channel, and Starz all crop widescreen movies. It is a terrible practice, but no one complains so they continue to do it. As do non-premium channels like AMC, FX, TNT, and so on. I NEVER watch a movie on those channels. The EPIX channel shows a few movies uncropped, but all Paramount movies are cropped. Only Showtime, The Movie Channel, and HDNet Movies show films uncropped in HD as policy...bless 'em.
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post #9 of 19
3/22/13 at 8:23pm
Thread Starter 
Ok well that makes sense, guess I'll just stick to blu-rays then, thanks folks
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post #10 of 19
3/23/13 at 7:17am
SW Ep III Revenge of the sith on blu is like WOW total eye candy. biggrin.gif
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post #11 of 19
3/23/13 at 3:56pm
Guess I don't realize how much many of even the movie channels crop to provide full 16:9 screen presentations. That first pic example though seems a bit much, how does that compare to the 2.35 version?
Edited by lovinthehd - 3/23/13 at 5:00pm
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post #12 of 19
3/23/13 at 4:05pm
Joshua Zyber had a very good delineation of various widescreen processes and how cropping changes the filmmakers' intent...even when there's some extra picture info at the top and bottom (see the DARK CITY examples). Personally, I haven't watched a widescreen movie on HBO in years. Their original programming is good, but HBO is garbage for most feature films.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/764
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post #13 of 19
3/23/13 at 4:06pm
Quote:
Hey everybody, I just got a new Sharp Aquos 60" LED and I pretty much love it (I'd like to hear thoughts on it if anyone has one or has experience with one). It was a massive upgrade from my old Philips 46" LCD and the picture difference is incredible. I have however had just a few small problems. One of them is this. Below is an image of 'Tombstone' playing on Cinemax HD, as you can see the picture is clearly cut off on the left and right sides. My question is, is this a Cinemax issue? A DirecTV issue? I do not believe it is a problem with my TV but I could be wrong. Thanks in advanced.

I don't have this problem, and I have never heard of anyone else having this problem with their DIrecTV equipment. Something is definitely set incorrectly, but as you say, why only that one channel? It is also cut off on the top and bottom in the image you posted, not just right and left, so maybe some "zoom" function is set. Again, though why only on one channel? I'd start checking settings, and if you still have access to the 46 inch TV, reconnect it and see if it is happening with it, If not, it can ONLY be a setting in your new television.
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post #14 of 19
3/23/13 at 5:37pm
Sw was cropped on Spike but OAR on HBO (and Cinemax as well)
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post #15 of 19
3/23/13 at 5:54pm
There are a couple movies that are shown in OAR on HBO and Cinemax channels. All moves from the mid 2000's to now are all 16:9 full screen.
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post #16 of 19
3/23/13 at 6:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by icemannyr View Post

There are a couple movies that are shown in OAR on HBO and Cinemax channels. All moves from the mid 2000's to now are all 16:9 full screen.

yeah, but you can count 'em on one hand. Maybe a couple of old masters (STAR TREK II for example). And those aren't even 5.1. But otherwise, ALL wide movies are cropped. TOMBSTONE came out in the early 90s. So did FORREST GUMP, ROCKEETEER...heck even the 1970s SUPERMAN...all cropped. No movie decade is safe from HBO/MAX
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post #17 of 19
3/23/13 at 7:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Church AV Guy View Post

I'd start checking settings, and if you still have access to the 46 inch TV, reconnect it and see if it is happening with it, If not, it can ONLY be a setting in your new television.

Nothing wrong with his settings. Or Direct TV. It;s Cinemax, as usual. I scanned the Cinemax version, to the same scene. And it's appears the same in my domicile. The entire movie is severely cropped...as is the norm for HBO/MAX. In fact, once GAME OF THRONES is over...I'm cancelling those channels.
Edited by cinema13 - 3/24/13 at 12:03am
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post #18 of 19
3/24/13 at 7:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cinema13 View Post

Nothing wrong with his settings. Or Direct TV. It;s Cinemax, as usual. I scanned the Cinemax version, to the same scene. And it's appears the same in my domicile. The entire movie is severely cropped...as is the norm for HBO/MAX. In fact, once GAME OF THRONES is over...I'm cancelling those channels.

Funny, I don't remember seeing anything like that with Dish on Cinemax. I'll see how it looks on Max On-Demand today...
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post #19 of 19
3/24/13 at 10:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cinema13 View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by Church AV Guy View Post

I'd start checking settings, and if you still have access to the 46 inch TV, reconnect it and see if it is happening with it, If not, it can ONLY be a setting in your new television.

Nothing wrong with his settings. Or Direct TV. It;s Cinemax, as usual. I scanned the Cinemax version, to the same scene. And it's appears the same in my domicile. The entire movie is severely cropped...as is the norm for HBO/MAX. In fact, once GAME OF THRONES is over...I'm cancelling those channels.
Aftger reading your reply, I recorded it myself and that particular "scene" was exactly as his picture shows. I would be tempted to say that it's the way the film maker wanted, but since it was reported here that Tombstone was filmed in 2:35 aspect ratio, and it filled the whole screen (no black bars anywhere) I have to agree that Cinemax cropped the edges to fill the screen. Yeah, I know, OLD NEWS!

JulianPope, cinema13 is correct. There is nothing wrong with your television, nor is there anything wrong with your DirecTV box, the fault is with Cinemax.
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