From another perspective
May 20 '01 (Updated May 26 '01)
The Bottom Line If you absolutely love movies shown in their original format, DVD is the way to go. Otherwise...
For the vast bulk of this review, I’m going to largely ignore all other comparisons between VHS and DVD and focus on one thing. The picture. Humans are mostly visual based creatures and what we see has a great deal of impact on how we feel. This opinion is going to focus on the comparison between the quality and the quantity of video between VHS and DVD. I’ve touched on this subject in several other opinions but it’s such a heated topic that I feel it deserves it’s own complete review. I’m sure this will be seen by some as a rant. I suppose in many ways it is. But then, consumers have a right to rant and complain when manufacturers ignore their wishes.
Now the debate isn’t that evident here on Epinions. Elsewhere however, there is a great deal of controversy over widescreen DVDs. First of all, for the video purists and videophiles out there, I’d like to make it clear that I enjoy widescreen DVDs. I recognize it as a benefit and now wouldn’t watch my movies any other way.
Having said that, there are a significant number of people out there who don’t enjoy widescreen, don’t care what it’s benefits are and feel that their voices aren’t being heard. Imagine for a moment that you’ve just bought your first DVD player. You get it home, eagerly tear open the box and let out a joyful cry as you see it. You hook it up, pop in the disc and push play. “Wait a second!” You cry. “What’s wrong with the picture?” This scenario is no doubt repeated over and over countless times.
I’m talking of course about people who have been watching movies on VHS for many years. They’ve likely never seen a widescreen movie. They go to the store, are wowed by the salesman who helpfully demonstrates DVD’s superior features using (what else?) one of the few available fullscreen DVDs. They eagerly plop down their hard earned dollars for this wondrous new device only to get it home and be slapped across the face with the realization that they can’t find the movies they enjoy in the fullscreen format.
As I said, I enjoy widescreen but I do understand their dismay. Next time you’re in a store that sells DVDs, take a look at them. Read the fine print on the back of the case. How many of them include both a widescreen and standard (or fullscreen) version of the movie? Very few, I can assure you. Now many videophiles don’t see this as a problem. Of course they wouldn’t because the vast majority of them prefer widescreen. They were the early adopters of the DVD format.
More and more people are now making the transition from VHS to DVD. Many of them aren’t thrilled with the prospect of watching all of their movies in widescreen. For them, there is little recourse. They can either return the player and stick to VHS or deal with widescreen in exchange for better features, video and audio quality. Does it have to be this way? Of course not. In my not so humble opinion, every movie released should be available in both versions.
At the present time, the vast majority of American households have a standard 4:3 television. If you don’t know what that means, 4:3 is the screen ratio. 4 units wide by 3 units high. Newer widescreen sets with a ratio of 16:9 are now available but most are still quite expensive for the average consumer. The 16:9 ratio is much more suitable for DVD since the aspect ratio of most DVDs comes very close to filling the entire screen of a 16:9 display. Most Americans will be watching their 4:3 sets until at least 2006 and probably beyond.
So, it stands to reason that given this fact, many people are going to want material that is more suitable to the type of display they are currently watching. Releasing both widescreen and fullscreen versions of every movie isn’t an impossibility. The studios can do it be either putting one version on each side of a double sided disc or by placing the two separate versions on two separate discs. Placing them both on the same disc is far preferable though since this would save them money and would pretty much satisfy everyone. Also, when you do buy a widescreen set in the future, you don’t have to buy a new widescreen version of the movie.
The purpose of widescreen is relatively simple. When a movie is shown on the big screen in a theater, the screen is much wider than the screen of the 4:3 television. Normally, in order to make the picture fit a TV screen, on a VHS movie, a technician uses a process known as Pan And Scan. Basically what this does is to reframe the movie, cropping out information that isn’t critical to understanding what is going on in the movie. Sometimes, the technician will pan the scanning camera in order to show something like a conversation between two or more people. If the people are standing far apart, it’s impossible to get them all in the screen. So, the action must be followed by the camera. This process isn’t perfect and sometimes results in things being cut out of the picture that should play an important role. When a widescreen only transfer is made, the picture is usually basically shrunk down in size so that the entire width of the frame will fit the TV screen. This results in the entire movie image being displayed with black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.
Directors and film makers don't usually like Pan And Scan for obvious reasons. This is the major reason why most movie buffs hate fullscreen. The way they see it, the director’s film isn’t being seen the way he envisioned it. They refer to it as butchery. While I prefer widescreen, I can look at the issue objectively. I can see the argument that each side is making.
So, if you are trying to decide for or against DVD, you must ask yourself one thing. Do you like widescreen? Regardless of all of it’s other features and enhancements, this is the one thing that could sway someone for or against the DVD format.
The differences between DVD and VHS don’t end there though. There are many other things to consider. The video and audio quality on VHS are very inferior to DVD. DVD is a digital format. The discs themselves don’t wear out because nothing actually comes into contact with the surface of the disc. A DVD disc that is well cared for and doesn’t get scratched could in theory last a lifetime. VHS tapes tend to become virtually unwatchable over time. Sometimes in less than ten years.
If you do decide to go for DVD, keep your VCR. You’ll need it if you want to record anything. If recording capability is more important to you and you rarely watch movies, consider sticking with VHS for the time being
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Epinions.com ID:
Ahab1973
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 - Top 500 |
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Member: Brian
Location: USA
Reviews written: 132
Trusted by: 65 members
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