Cinemax cropping HD movies?

[Russell Jorgensen]

I have noticed on all 3 of Cinemax's HD channels that some of the movies that they show are cropped so that they fill an entire 16X9 screen instead of showing black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. I have compared what they are showing to the same movies on DVD and the DVD has bars top and bottom and shows more of the movie on the left and right sides than the HD version Cinemax is showing. At first I thought that I might have bumped the format button on the remote by mistake, but that was not the case. It was set to the proper ratio for HD viewing. Why would Cinemax do something like that? I would rather watch the whole movie on DVD rather than watch a cropped HD version on Cimemax.







































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[tempVAdish]

I think it depends on what the studios have sent them... I was watching the original "Odd Couple" this morning & it was 2.35...

 

[KAB]

I've observed that movies that are generally considered classics or epics or blockbusters get presented in OAR. Otherwise, they are provided by the studios in 16x9...probably to appease the general audience who wants their screen filled. It's been the same with SD DVD releases.

 

[nsps]

If Cinemax wanted the widescreen versions, they could get them—since the studios made OAR versions for the DVDs and Blu-rays/HD DVDs. They showed Braveheart correctly, but most of the other stuff I've seen has been wrong on it and its parent company, HBO (HBOSG is showing Ferris Bueller's Day Off correctly right now, though.

I agree—I refuse to watch them. A DVD in the correct aspect ratio is much better.

I've observed that movies that are generally considered classics or epics or blockbusters get presented in OAR. Otherwise, they are provided by the studios in 16x9...probably to appease the general audience who wants their screen filled. It's been the same with SD DVD releases.

Some films are shot in 1.85:1, others in 2.35:1 (not mentioning Europe's standard 1.66, pre-1950s films in 1.37 and a few late 20s early 30s fims in 1.19). So sometimes you are seeing the movie in more or less its correct aspect ratio. IMDB is a great resource if you feel like you're looking at a cropped picture and want to check. I generally do so before watching any show on HBO or MAX, so I know if I'm seeing the movie correctly or not.

 

[ehren]

O hate when the credits are in OAR and the movie is cropped. Just watched Blood Diamond.

 

[nathan_h]

Showtime is the only premium service that has an OAR policy. (Well, okay, if you call HDNET Movies a premium service, which I suppose it is, with the new packages, they appear to have a similar policy, too.) Voom did, as well, which was one of the nice things about them.

 

[whatchel1]

Library

If Cinemax wanted the widescreen versions, they could get them—since the studios made OAR versions for the DVDs and Blu-rays/HD DVDs. They showed Braveheart correctly, but most of the other stuff I've seen has been wrong on it and its parent company, HBO (HBOSG is showing Ferris Bueller's Day Off correctly right now, though..

I think this has to do with what they have in their library. Not really sure that they have that much stored away in OAR.

 

[Chinatown]

Just one more reason to bring back VOOM