What Is “Pillarboxed?”
Dear Gary: On some recent DVD reviews, such as Cinema Paradiso (reviewed in Issue 71, April 2003), you state that the film is “anamorphically enhanced, windowboxed/pillarboxed 1.66:1.” Pillarboxed is not in your list of definitions on your Web site, and I wonder if I am correct in assuming that it means that the film may also have slight “black bars” on the sides in order to accommodate the 1.66:1 frame within the 1.78:1 aspect ratio of widescreen televisions. If the above is true, and my Sony XBR700 40-inch direct-view HDTV-ready set does not show the black bars on the side, does this mean that the “overscan” on the set is hiding the black sidebars? I have always felt that most films on DVD that claim to be “anamorphic 1.66:1” are actually 1.78:1, just as many films on DVD that claim to be 1.85:1 are actually 1.78:1. And what about films that are nonanamorphic 1.66:1? Will they necessarily be “windowboxed/pillarboxed?”
Phil Smoot, Asheboro, NC
Staff Writer & Research Editor Michael Coate Comments:
We use the term “pillarboxed” since, technically, anamorphic/16:9 enhanced program material in 1.66:1 and 1.78:1 ratios do not have any matting above and below the image in the 16:9 master; the mattes are added during a downconversion when played on standard 4:3 (1.33:1) displays. “Windowboxed” implies matting on all four sides, or within another image. When viewing in 16:9 the display sees the DVD image “as is” and the mattes on 1.66:1 material exist only on the left and right sides, and, since those mattes are thought of as being in the vertical plane they are likened with the look and function of a pillar. As for not being able to see any side mattes on your Sony XBR700, this would suggest that your set’s overscan is greater than the size of the side mattes (a.k.a. the “pillarbox” bars). As for suspecting that 1.66:1 discs are 1.78:1...That is a keen observation. On displays that have some overscan, anamorphic 1.66:1 pillarboxed program material will likely look geometrically equal to anamorphic 1.78:1 material since the viewer will not be able to tell that the 1.66:1 program’s imagery does not extend completely to the left and right edges of the master image. About half or so of the available 1.85:1 productions—titles composed for and intended for 1.85:1 theatrical presentation—are actually mastered in a 1.78:1 ratio, including most titles from Paramount, Warner Bros., and DreamWorks. Are non-anamorphic 1.66:1 films pillarboxed? No. Non-anamorphic 1.66:1 material typically will have imagery across the full width of the 1.33:1 (4:3) video frame with matting only on the top and bottom. This method of presentation can be frustrating for informed owners of 16:9 displays since one cannot present a non-anamorphic 1.66:1 DVD in a fashion that takes advantage of what the DVD format or their display is capable of.
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