Forum - View topicAnime video format standards
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Mr.Diction
 Posts: 29 |
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This has always been a question I've asked myself, because i own a widescreen HDTV monitor for my computer, which is what i watch all my anime dvds and such on. I notice that it differs with each show, but i find myself being highly curious whether an anime i look forward to will be aired as a widescreen show 16:9 or standard format 4:3 (fact?). So the question is, is anime, like movies, filmed in 16:9 then fixed into 4:3, or do they just go with one or the other? If the case is that they cut it down to 4:3, why do they not release widescreen versions of all their shows, as films and some television shows do?
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one3rd
 Posts: 1819 Location: アメリカ |
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I can only assume that most TV anime is aired in the standard 4:3 aspect ratio because that's the most common ratio for televisions in general. I've seen some fansubs that appear to be in widescreen, but whenever there's some onscreen text at the top or bottom, it's apparent that it was originally in the standard aspect ration but was cut off at the top and bottom. Anime movies, on the other hand, are produced for theaters and will be widescreen just like any other movies. I can't recall any specific examples, but OVAs could probably go either way.
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dewlwieldthedarpachief
 Posts: 751 Location: Canada |
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Anything that is made for the theatre is presented in some widescreen format, be it 16:9, 2:35:1, or otherwise. OAVs and TV shows are all over the place, however. Up until recently, we all had 4:3 tvs, so it only made sense to provide 4:3 content. More and more TV shows are being made in widescreen, but there are still quite a few made for fullscreen. Sometimes they are cropped for whatever reason on TV, just like movies are. Even more bizarre, sometimes fullscreen movies are cropped to fit widescreen TVs! Cropping is a bad thing, as it throws off the compostion and such. Best to stick with the OAR (original aspect ratio). EDIT: my bad one3rd, I took so long writing you posted before me, lol.
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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If I understand the question the answer is I believe almost all films retain their original 1.85:1 aspect ratio when converted to DVD. There were a few titles that suffered from pan and scan during the VHS days, but this is not common practice anymore. Studios seem to be in charge of a tv shows aspect ratio. All of the Sunrise and Bones titles that come to mind are released on DVD in their original 4:3 ratio as far as I know, and I would be surprised if any were originally 16:9. Other studios like Gonzo have consistently released 16:9 titles (since around Last Exile) on DVD, but I don't know if they were pan and scanned during their original broadcast. I often wonder why Bones and Sunrise aren't being technologically progressive and continue to use the older aspect ratio.
I just made a topic about odd aspect ratios and 2.35 not long ago animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=30249 I really don't think that they are more than a handful of 2.35 anime titles made within the last 50 years. I was very surprised that The Little Norse Prince was scoped since I'm not used to seeing anime in this ratio. I also found the underscan on Cagliostro rather odd. There are a number of rather disappointing transfers that are letterboxed instead of anamorphic widescreen. The shows that come to mind are Saikano, New Hokuto no Ken, and Betterman. Not only do we suffer from bars on the left and right, but we also have bars on the top and bottom! Although my Oppo does a decent job scaling the small image to fit all four corners the resolution is noticeably worse. As time goes on we will see a higher percentage of 16:9 programming since there are very few (or none) tv sets that are being built for the 4:3 ratio. |
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Mr.Diction
Posts: 29 |
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Thanks for the great responses, you can imagine what it feels like to watch my old FMA dvds, or bleach, it's very annoying to look to each side and see black spaces i paid for, remaining unused.
part of this topic was made awhile after noticing that new DBZ release, where they seem to have it in widescreen, but after looking closer, it seems thats no more than cropping the top and bottom to fit widescreen. |
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Swordfish_II
 Posts: 617 |
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From the looks of things, all the actiony shounen series are 4:3, while the bubbly comedies are 16:9.
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Mr.Diction
Posts: 29 |
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I guess i better get used to liking bubbly shows then
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daxomni
 Posts: 2650 Location: Somewhere else. |
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Even films that fill up a 16:9 display are sometimes cropped because 16:9 still isn't wide enough to fit the whole image without bars on the top and bottom.
Don't ask me why, but there are still sets being sold with 4:3 ratios. Also, many so-called widescreen displays are not actually 16:9 but are often more like 15:9 and are thus slightly stretching movies that were cropped to 16:9. The part I don't get is why anime is still presented in interlaced format. Can anybody explain why they don't use progressive? |
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Steventheeunuch
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Because it's cheaper or something like that. Some production companies are still stuck, technology wise, a few years back and haven't caught up yet. It should probably all be sorted out when HDTV is a standard. Also, another thing about aspet ratios are old Toei (and even new I think) movies such as DB/Z, Saint Seiya, Fist of the North Star and the like. basically, they were animated at 4:3, but framed in such a way that cropping them to 16:9, the print later used in cinemas, laser disc and DVD releases in Japan, wouldn't lose any vital or important information. However, more often than not, home video and foreign releases ended up with a 4:3 version. |
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Zoe
 Posts: 898 Location: Austin |
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Actually, One Piece is 16:9. I don't know of any others though.
Hey, I like my 4:3 TV 
HD broadcasts are still in the minority, so when presented with the choice between a 32" 4:3 versus a 26" 16:9 (I believe that's what it's equal to), of course we picked the 32". |
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Randall Miyashiro
Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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This is true, but 16:9 is very close to 1.85:1 to the point where most people actually lose more of the image from overscan than vertical cropping. Currently I resize my 1080p image down to 1824 x 1028 which means that I would lose almost 5% of the image to overscan without a video processor. This is very typical for all tv sets, so most people viewing DVDs on a television are not getting the full picture since a good video processor will cost at least $1200. I'm currently debating between buying DVDO's new VP50 or to wait for something that works with HDMI 1.3.
There is conversely a good number of computer monitors that are 16:10 as well. I've noticed that the slightly off ratio setss tend to be SD televisions and cheaper models in general. I don't think this is an issue if you buy a newer 1080 set. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18587 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Was in a panel discussion at a 'con yesterday with a FUNimation rep. He said that virtually every new series they're now getting from Japan is in anamorphic wide screen format since that's how they're broadcast in Japan. Older ones might still be in 4:3, but unless they have been reformatted for American TV broadcast it sounds like you shouldn't expect that on newer ones.
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dewlwieldthedarpachief
Posts: 751 Location: Canada |
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daxomni, there are a few anime titles available on the new HDDVD and Bluray formats in 1080p. Brave Story, Innocence, the RahXephon movie, and Air come to mind.
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11506 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Busou Renkin, D.Gray-man, and Death Note are all 16:9. Well, if you consider DN to be "actiony, " but it's shounen, nonetheless. |
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Randall Miyashiro
Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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I just watched Dirty Pair Project Eden last night and noticed this is another odd title that isn't quite 16:9. Does anyone know if this film is slightly cropped for the DVD release, or was it released in a non-standard aspect ratio? Does anyone know what he story is behind Sunrise's 1999 series Betterman? it is 16:9 and predates most widescreen shows by a good 3 years. After it's release Sunrise decided to produce titles fullscreen. Have Sunrise or Bones finally converted to 16:9 in Japan?
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