The "Incorrect Aspect Ratio" Thread

[mjmbond]

Re: The "Incorrect Aspect Ratio" Thread

I can fully appreciate the situation. I guess I'd like to see more openness about the subject, though. Does VUDU have an official position where they are "committed" to providing OAR and "fighting" for it? I'd like to see something like that stated somewhere on the official website.

One of the movies I tested the other day was the first Spider-Man (directed by Sam Raimi). I believe this is a 1.85:1 film that has been cropped to 16:9 (1.78:1). That sort of thing doesn't bother me *too* much, but I did go out of my way to set up my front projection setup with a 2.35:1 screen, so it means that I'm actually filling *less* of my screen for that cropped version. Again, that sort of mild cropping doesn't bother me too much, and I can appreciate that many people (even movie enthusiasts and videophiles) who own 16:9 screens might be willing to accept that amount of cropping in exchange for filling their 16:9 screens completely. But even here, I'd like to know what VUDU (and UV's) "official stance" on the subject is. If what you're saying is true and VUDU has little control over any of this, maybe what I'm looking for is the official position of UV, or even the official positions of each individual movie studio.

Or maybe none of them *have* an official stance on this topic? If so, that's sad and inexcusable, IMO, seeing as Blu-ray discs are nearly always presented in the OAR, so they seem to know that that's an expectation when creating Blu-ray transfers. Perhaps UV or the studios' official stance is that UV is a downgraded "for the masses" format and their studies have shown that this group of customers largely doesn't care about OAR and cares more about filling their 16:9 screens. That would be disappointing and a deal-killer for me, but I'd like to know it now before I invest too much effort and money into building a UV collection.

But this is where I place a bit more blame on VUDU again...why don't their movie listings indicate the aspect ratio? Surely they're already doing some minimal testing of a movie file that is sent to them from UV. It would take minimal effort for them to determine the aspect ratio of the transfer and include that information on the movie details page, so that interested customers like us can take an extra minute to cross check that info against IMDB and then make a determination as to whether it's been severely cropped. Instead, it feels far too much like a crapshoot to me. The original post of this thread is great, but I'm sure it's not a complete list. I imagine there's a good chance that I might happen upon an older movie with the wrong AR that is not listed in this thread. And what about brand new movies that come out? If any of those are wrong, I might have bought it before anyone else had added it to this thread. Let's face it...no one should have to monitor this thread to know what the AR is for a movie being offered on VUDU.

A couple points. First, to this day, there is still a lot of push-back from the unwashed masses who can't stand the horrific "black bars" on their screens. Viewing migration to small, portable devices is perpetuating this "problem" for a lot of viewers. Enthusiasts like us will always want the OAR, but we're still a minority. I'd guess that a lot of the encodes provided by the studios to the streaming services were originally made for cable networks like HBO, Showtime, etc., where the 16:9 AR is still used regularly. I don't know the impetus for the studios to re-encode, but I'd guess at this time it's not very strong. Retailers like Vudu can push for OARs which could help our cause, but again, given the viewing demographic, I doubt the studios are champing at the bit to spend the money to do so.

Second, I agree completely that Vudu should state the AR in the info. section. (That said, Vudu does already provide way more information than their competitors.) FYI, the 2 min. preview option may give you a clue to the AR, but ridiculously, the previews are the first 2 mins. of the film, which is often just credits, etc., which is useless for any purpose Further, there are cases where the film's intro in the preview shows the correct OAR, but then switches to an incorrect AR!

[CT-Scott]

Re: The "Incorrect Aspect Ratio" Thread

Actually, CT-Scott, some of the VUDU staff here on the forums are movie enthusiasts, and take things like OAR as seriously as any of us. I think part of the issue is that when a studio gives VUDU a movie that's been cropped, they have two choices: they can pull the movie and not let anyone watch it until it's available in its OAR, or they can request a new master from the studio and let people watch the cropped one while we wait (and wait, and wait....). I think we can all see, for both business and customer support reasons, why they'd want to go with the second option, as not every customer cares as much as we do.

I can fully appreciate the situation. I guess I'd like to see more openness about the subject, though. Does VUDU have an official position where they are "committed" to providing OAR and "fighting" for it? I'd like to see something like that stated somewhere on the official website.

One of the movies I tested the other day was the first Spider-Man (directed by Sam Raimi). I believe this is a 1.85:1 film that has been cropped to 16:9 (1.78:1). That sort of thing doesn't bother me *too* much, but I did go out of my way to set up my front projection setup with a 2.35:1 screen, so it means that I'm actually filling *less* of my screen for that cropped version. Again, that sort of mild cropping doesn't bother me too much, and I can appreciate that many people (even movie enthusiasts and videophiles) who own 16:9 screens might be willing to accept that amount of cropping in exchange for filling their 16:9 screens completely. But even here, I'd like to know what VUDU (and UV's) "official stance" on the subject is. If what you're saying is true and VUDU has little control over any of this, maybe what I'm looking for is the official position of UV, or even the official positions of each individual movie studio.

Or maybe none of them *have* an official stance on this topic? If so, that's sad and inexcusable, IMO, seeing as Blu-ray discs are nearly always presented in the OAR, so they seem to know that that's an expectation when creating Blu-ray transfers. Perhaps UV or the studios' official stance is that UV is a downgraded "for the masses" format and their studies have shown that this group of customers largely doesn't care about OAR and cares more about filling their 16:9 screens. That would be disappointing and a deal-killer for me, but I'd like to know it now before I invest too much effort and money into building a UV collection.

But this is where I place a bit more blame on VUDU again...why don't their movie listings indicate the aspect ratio? Surely they're already doing some minimal testing of a movie file that is sent to them from UV. It would take minimal effort for them to determine the aspect ratio of the transfer and include that information on the movie details page, so that interested customers like us can take an extra minute to cross check that info against IMDB and then make a determination as to whether it's been severely cropped. Instead, it feels far too much like a crapshoot to me. The original post of this thread is great, but I'm sure it's not a complete list. I imagine there's a good chance that I might happen upon an older movie with the wrong AR that is not listed in this thread. And what about brand new movies that come out? If any of those are wrong, I might have bought it before anyone else had added it to this thread. Let's face it...no one should have to monitor this thread to know what the AR is for a movie being offered on VUDU.

[MaxH]

Re: The "Incorrect Aspect Ratio" Thread

Actually, CT-Scott, some of the VUDU staff here on the forums are movie enthusiasts, and take things like OAR as seriously as any of us. I think part of the issue is that when a studio gives VUDU a movie that's been cropped, they have two choices: they can pull the movie and not let anyone watch it until it's available in its OAR, or they can request a new master from the studio and let people watch the cropped one while we wait (and wait, and wait....). I think we can all see, for both business and customer support reasons, why they'd want to go with the second option, as not every customer cares as much as we do.

[mjmbond]

Re: The "Incorrect Aspect Ratio" Thread

AFAIK, Walmart/Vudu have no axe to grind either way when it comes to aspect ratios. They are simply selling the encodes provided to them by the studios. Problems getting the OAR are not confined to just Vudu; Flixter, CinemaNow etc. have the same type issues, though sometimes the encode each retailer sells may vary. That said, there are a lot of encodes without the original OAR.

One thing to wonder about is that Walmart/Vudu's D2D conversion prices are way cheaper than other retailers, especially with the in home 50% off offer. The deals they cut with the studios that allow them to price this way may have some bearing on the encodes available for D2D, though again, other more costly retailers have the same problem. That said, if an encode is updated for OAR, etc. (The Fifth Element comes to mind as an example), Vudu will replace the earlier HDX one you purchased.

[CT-Scott]

Re: The "Incorrect Aspect Ratio" Thread

Hi guys, new VUDU user here (actually, I'm sort of still in the "dipping my toes in the water" mode now). I just started up a new post with part of my life story and a specific question (not Aspect Ratio related) here, in case anyone wants to take a look:
https://forum.vudu.com/showthread.php?946298

I then spotted this thread and thought, "oh darn, maybe VUDU/UV isn't going to work for me after all". Short version: I care about PQ and widescreen movies, but can live without HD audio. I have an Epson 8350 front projector and a really large 2.35:1 screen (I manually zoom the projector as needed when switching between 16:9 and scope movies). If VUDU/UV crops scope movies, I'd be heartbroken. I skimmed through the list in the OP and was relieved a bit to see that the list wasn't as extensive as I feared it would be. I also saw an early post by a VUDU rep that seemed to suggest that they actually did care about the OAR.

Looking at the movies that show up on the VUDU website, though, I'm disappointed to see that the AR isn't listed.

So, I apologize if the question has already been asked and answered (the thread is long, but I will do some more reading), but my question is: What is VUDU/UV's current position on this topic, and is this issue trending more or less in the right direction? Because VUDU is owned by Walmart I fear that there might intentionally decide to "dumb down" the AR of scope movies to 16:9 in order to serve the "typical Walmart customer" who has no appreciation for OAR and instead might complain about why their widescreen TV is showing black bars when they watch a scope movie.

[prkprkprk]

Re: The "Incorrect Aspect Ratio" Thread

"High Art" (1998)

Something seems very wrong when viewing the streaming VUDU version of this movie I purchased with full cross-platformed UV digital copy privileges.

This movie ONLY HAS AN "SD" STREAM OPTION, however: when vied through VUDU, the screen looks likea 4:3 old TV ratio, when in actuality, according to the technical specs of the original film, it was filmed and should be shown as: 1.85:1

This is frustrating because, since the film is UV cross-platformable, I tested streaming it through Verizon FiOS and it displayed it perfectly, but it's a small rectangle in the black rectangle of my flatscreen.

VUDU's UV copy would be perfect IF they just stretched the horizontal out so that the people don't look like anorexic aliens...

Any solutions or "work arounds" in order to view this correctly through VUDU? Or am I stuck with a poor compressed stream from VUDU until they fix and reupload it to their servers for us paid owners (and potential renters)?

Thank you in advance.

I added it for you.

[JKraley]

Re: The "Incorrect Aspect Ratio" Thread

"High Art" (1998)

Something seems very wrong when viewing the streaming VUDU version of this movie I purchased with full cross-platformed UV digital copy privileges.

This movie ONLY HAS AN "SD" STREAM OPTION, however: when vied through VUDU, the screen looks likea 4:3 old TV ratio, when in actuality, according to the technical specs of the original film, it was filmed and should be shown as: 1.85:1

This is frustrating because, since the film is UV cross-platformable, I tested streaming it through Verizon FiOS and it displayed it perfectly, but it's a small rectangle in the black rectangle of my flatscreen.

VUDU's UV copy would be perfect IF they just stretched the horizontal out so that the people don't look like anorexic aliens...

Any solutions or "work arounds" in order to view this correctly through VUDU? Or am I stuck with a poor compressed stream from VUDU until they fix and reupload it to their servers for us paid owners (and potential renters)?

Thank you in advance.

[prkprkprk]

Re: The "Incorrect Aspect Ratio" Thread

Just updated the list. Sorry for taking so long!

[Tim000]

Re: The "Incorrect Aspect Ratio" Thread

PLANET OF THE APES (2001) is in the OAR for the opening title sequence, switches to 1.78 for the remainder.

[tbdave]

Re: The "Incorrect Aspect Ratio" Thread

I was going to buy Capote since it's on sale for the Academy Awards. But I passed after checking the preview. OAR is 2.35:1, and Vudu is 1.85:1.

[Jacob305]

Re: The "Incorrect Aspect Ratio" Thread

I sent you their e-mail address. Check your private messages.

thanks.

Jacob

[Capt-Cupcake]

Re: The "Incorrect Aspect Ratio" Thread

what is the email for fox digital movies?

Jacob

I sent you their e-mail address. Check your private messages.

[prkprkprk]

Re: The "Incorrect Aspect Ratio" Thread

Birds Of Prey: Season 1

It's 4:3 letterboxed with black bars on all 4 sides (aka Windowboxed). Too bad. If it was 16x9, I'd probably buy it.

Added it!

This thread is now two years old and hardly anything has been fixed.

[tbdave]

Re: The "Incorrect Aspect Ratio" Thread

Birds Of Prey: Season 1

It's 4:3 letterboxed with black bars on all 4 sides (aka Windowboxed). Too bad. If it was 16x9, I'd probably buy it.

[Jacob305]

Re: The "Incorrect Aspect Ratio" Thread

what is the email for fox digital movies?

Jacob