[Andrew Sabin]

It's very inaccurate that Showtime lists on its website that certain upconverts like 'The Green Mile' are in OAR. During this movie, switching back and forth between regular SHO and SHO HD clearly revealed that the top and bottom were cropped off on the HD channel. Consequently, you actually see less picture on SHO HD because no picture information is gained on the sides.


It appears the SHO HD pans and scans upconverts more than HBO HD does on true HD transfers. When I swithch between HBO and HBO HD, I usually see about 15% more picture on the sides. So far this isn't the case on SHO HD upconverts that fill the whole screen. We should contact SHO about their inaccurate OAR description of upconverts. This deception is the most disappointing fact about SHO HD IMHO. True OAR would be nice even on upconverts (atleast on par with DVDs).


Andrew

 

[Andrew Sabin]

OK, now 'Essex Boys' is on and definitely in OAR. The picture quality is much better than 'The Green Mile' and superior to any 480p DVD I've seen. Now, I understand why Dishnetwork members have said certain SHO HD OAR upconverts rival certain HBO HD panned and scanned HD transfers. This upconvert looks close to a HD transfer and the real OAR is nice. Is there a reliable source that list true OAR upconverts on SHO? Clearly, SHO's definition of OAR differs from ours on their website.



Andrew

 

[eetrojan]

Quote:

It's very inaccurate that Showtime lists on its website that certain upconverts like 'The Green Mile' are in OAR. During this movie, switching back and forth between regular SHO and SHO HD clearly revealed that the top and bottom were cropped off on the HD channel. Consequently, you actually see less picture on SHO HD because no picture information is gained on the sides.

Andrew,


It's my understanding that the AR of the original film frame is often different than the OAR, if by OAR you mean intended composition. In particular, the film frame is often taller in the vertical dimension relative to the masked image that will be projected at the theater.


Maybe the regular SHO version was broadcast in 4:3 by including the "extra" imagery that was captured on the film, but was outside the OAR of the director's intended composition.


In other words, the picture information that was "lost" in the HD version was never supposed to be seen. See the Rainman stuff below.


Just a thought...


Joe.

http://home1.gte.net/web22vq6/Rainman.jpg

 

[feldon23]

In other words Open Matte.


Andrew has decided to open a duplicate thread on this since he wasn't getting enough attention here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=137628


Anyway, if the AR of Green Mile was 1.85:1 Open Matte (like Terminator 2, Air Force One, etc. etc.), then Showtime is doing the right thing. If the actual OAR of Green Mile was 2.35:1, then you're right. They're just cropping the 4:3 version.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/video-format8.htm