Standardizing A Term
Dear Gary: In a response in the May 2000 Issue 38 letters page, Research Editor Michael Coate makes a defense of the term “anamorphic widescreen,” applied to DVDs, calling it a “clear, concise and accurate form of labeling.” It is NONE of these! Were it clear, so many would not be confused as to whether it refers to the disc’s format (as it does) or the film’s production format (as with a ’Scope anamorphic feature). It is certainly not accurate, as there is no anamorphic process at all involved in the production of a 16:9 format DVD (other than that necessary to transfer a ‘Scope film)! And in what way is “anamorphic widescreen” more concise than “16:9?” It is INACCURATE and misleading to apply this term, and I hope you re-evaluate your advocacy of it. I suggest you promote the standardization of the term “16:9,” instead. I think it much more closely embodies all of the qualities you have deemed beneficial.
Schuyler Dunn
Video Technical Editorial Director Joe Kane Comments:
Video Technical Editorial Director Joe Kane Comments: This confusion with the terminology is enough of a problem that I’m now calling DVD Anamorphic “1.78 edge-to-edge video.” This means that the active video area is defined as a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. In reality, that’s what we’ve done; redefined the active video area of the 480i signal as 1.78:1. The same holds true for 720p, 1080i and 1080p. Their active video area is defined as 1.78:1 edge to edge. Thus, the video frame is defined as a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. It’s not a definition that requires any more than a short paragraph. An example follows. Ordinary 480i video is defined as a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. In that area, you can put letterboxed or window boxed information. “Anamorphic video” or “anamorphic widescreen” is defined as a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. In it, you can put letterboxed material of a wider aspect ratio or window boxed material of a narrower aspect ratio. As long as there is an understanding that anamorphic video is independent of the use of the term anamorphic in film, then the terminology does a good job of describing what is happening in the video. Editor Gary Reber Comments: Since “1.78:1 edge-to-edge video” arrived on the DVD format, we have referred to it as an electronic representation of anamorphic processing and labeled it “Anamorphic Widescreen.” In film production, physical lenses do the anamorphic processing. In DVD, the anamorphic processing to create 1.78 edge to edge video is done electronically. I do not think it serves the industry to refer to this electronic anamorphic process as an aspect ratio, namely “16:9,” which clearly is the shape of the screen aspect ratio associated with “HDTV.” Thus, we have always been opposed to using terms such as “Enhanced For 16:9 TVs” and preferred the term “Anamorphic Widescreen.”
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