Aspect Ratio: a world-wide gripe

Aspect ratio! See: all the way across to Australia there are grumbles about this. Still, out of politeness I haven't cluttered Casyn's comments box with my ranting, and have instead brought the topic over to Rullsenberg.

Casyn gives a good impression of a growling beastie complaining about the DVD release of films, but especially television programmes, that do not present the product using the aspect-ratio in which the product was filmed. Now I have always been keen on seeing the correct ratio, though with some pleasure in widescreen formatting (hey, I actually LIKE the black borders at the top and bottom... if they are there for a purpose!): especially with films, since most are filmed in widescreen.

Anyway, my obsession with aspect-ratios hit a peak when our pal George moved in with us in autumn 2003 with a gloriously huge widescreen TV that could adapt its display to suit the ratio of the broadcast/DVD/tape. And when inducting him into the ways of Buffy: well, that was when things got alarming.

Let us take Buffy DVDs. Seasons 1-3 are fine. Filmed in 4:3 and released in 4:3. Seasons 4-6, filmed in 4:3...

...released in the UK in anamorphic widescreen. Cropped to create black bands at the top and bottom AND revealing info at the sides that was never intended to be seen! ARGH!!!!

Whedon intended Buffy to be 4:3. Except for Once More, With Feeling (which on the urgh widescreen crop is still wrong: just check out the title screen. URGH!) Only when we got to Season 7 - which was filmed in widescreen - did we get a widescreen release that actually was intended to be that!

Hilariously, on the UK VHS videos, seasons 4-6 were released on 4:3, with Once More, With Feeling in the appropriate widescreen format.

When George left, Cloud and I initially tried to replace the departing widescreen TV with another (albeit smaller). What did we get? Some sucky stupid widescreen TV that made 4:3 filmed works into 'fit-the-widescreen-TV' display! I wanted to see the 4:3 image in the centre of the widescreen with the appropriate black borders at the sides! Needless to say, especially since the sound was also rubbish, that beastie went back to the shop and we settled for a much less snazzy standard TV that at least showed stuff at the aspect-ratio of the product. Sigh.

Okay. Rant over.

It's Freeview, but not as you know it...

So, long-term readers here will know that I have frequently growled about Freeview after some disastrous experiments with it and complaints from neighbours that they too struggled to get it to work. If you visit MediumRob with any regularity, you'll have heard me moan in the comments boxes there possibly even MORE often.

Anyway, last week decided to give it another try.

We set up the box and with some trepidation scanned for the channels (bear in mind please that the tests you are advised to do via teletext ALL came up blooming fine).

What did we find?

Channels whose sound/picture synchonisation made the dubbing of spaghetti westerns (e.g. Django*) look like they had been made with on-site sound by the actual performing actors, that made one weep in desperation for the children's TV classics of our youth such as Heidi and The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, that made Anime material seem perfectly aligned with (US) English phrasing...

In short, it was enough to make me want to pull my eyes out. With the sight of Stuart Maconie's mouth moving a couple of seconds out of sync with his words, this wasn't a slight slippage: this was a full blown Duelling Cavalier moment - "yes, yes, yes!" "no, no, no!"

Like poor quality sound recordings [something causing me especial grief with the Rullsenberg construction of home compilations] and the wrong aspect ratio on film/tv broadcasts and DVDs, out of sync sound makes me feel like someone is drilling my teeth whilst dragging nails down a blackboard.

It wasn't a good night.

Last night we tried again. This time the sound was largely okay - so we can now watch BBC4 and More4. Great.

Except I discovered in searching the channels the chance to see Last of the Time Lords again on BBC3 (call me crazy for wanting to watch it but, you know, its Who!).

... what did we find?

Out of sync sound?

NO, much 'better' than that.

This time it was full-on pixelating picture, crackling sound (I think I heard two halves of two sentences of dialogue from the whole ep) and frequent complete breakdown in image.

Five US is the same.

Pants: the two channels I may occasionally want to watch for indulgence (Who on BBC3 and all those Five imports I love on FiveUS) and neither work AT ALL.

Sigh.

We're going to get a new TV aeriel it is now decided for sure.

In the meantime we have Freeview, but not as most people would know it.


* I am tempted to defend Django for being such rollicking OTT bonkersness despite it's truly awful tone...