Should PPV Letterbox switch to Anamorphic?

[iKramerica]

The letterbox PPV channel has been around a long while, but in that time, the vast majority of people who would want to watch (or care) in LB format now have 16:9 TVs, or at least 4:3 TVs with 16:9 "squish" features.
Thus, wouldn't it be a nice move for Dish to switch the channel to provide anamorphic content?
Anyone with Dish contacts willing to suggest this to them?

 

[HokieEngineer]

The letterbox PPV channel has been around a long while, but in that time, the vast majority of people who would want to watch (or care) in LB format now have 16:9 TVs, or at least 4:3 TVs with 16:9 "squish" features.
Thus, wouldn't it be a nice move for Dish to switch the channel to provide anamorphic content?
Anyone with Dish contacts willing to suggest this to them?

This would be a great feature, however probably not high up on their priority list at the moment. I find that you can use the zoom features (if your 16:9 tv has them) to get letterboxed SD content to display fullscreen. Of course, the resolution is still the same, but to me it looks better without black on all 4 sides.

 

[iKramerica]

The whole point of anamorphic is that the resolution is far superior than zooming in a letterboxed channel. We are talking 33% more picture information between 16:9 anamorphic and 16:9 LBX (4:3). That is not trivial. Of course 480p is 33% better than that, but you need an HD/DTV receiver and TV to get 480p, but just any 16:9 television with a "full" setting or a 4:3 tv with an "enhanced" feature to use anamorphic.

The bandwidth needed to supply it is higher, (black bars don't use much space).

But if it wasn't a concern at all, they wouldn't provide the LBX channel.

And I'm not asking people to worry about how much Dish has on their plate. That's not our concern.

Our concern is getting good programming, and this is a simple step for them to take.

 

[JohnH]

Of course, you are suggesting that the channel, which is aimed at NTSC sets, be changed to a channel which is aimed at digital TVs. What would be the effect of your change be on a standard NTSC TV Picture?

 

[iKramerica]

A. there are PLENTY of ANALOG televisions with a built in anamorphic feature. My cousins 5 year old Sony 4:3 has it, my mom's 3 year old JVC, etc.. DVDs have been anamorphic for a while, and these TVs were designed to use that information better by only scanning the center of the screen, "compressing" the picture but still using the full information. On their analog CRT 4:3 TVs, Sony calls it "16:9 Enhanced: provides enhanced picture resolution for wide-screen sources such as DVD." Other companies have (or had) similar features to this.

In addition, the LBX channel again was offered to cater to the "savvy" viewer, and it is my guess that the vast majority of viewers who have that mindset have since purchases either some form of DTV or an analog set that can take advantage of Anamorphic signals.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Anamorphic WITH enough bandwidth to render a sharp picture on a 16:9 DTV would be nice. The picture isn't bad as it is, but if I could purchase true near-DVD PPV, then I would.

I used to purchase the occasional PPV, always in LBX. As a point of principle, I never once purchased a non-LBX PPV. But now with a HDTV set, I find myself never purchasing PPV movies. The quality of the $3.99 movies don't meet my requirements and I haven't brought myself to pay $5.99 for a HD PPV.

 

[LookIPosted]

I think it needs to be pointed out that Dish does not have the rights to do this. It really isn't just a matter of doing it, and my guess would be that the movie studios would not allow it; they do not wan't anything to happen that would give consumers a reason not to purchase the DVD of the movie. Also, the studios send the pictures on Digibeta, which does not support anamorphic video. I believe you would like to see the movie stretched, which I would also not support, as I can stretch the video on my HDTV, and if I ordered a PPV, I would want to be able to watch the movie on any of my TVs.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just my 2 cents, although my ideas are worth at least $1.50

 

[toto]

I've asked. They said they would look into it. That was 2 years ago. I don't watch the PPVs.

 

[iKramerica]

Hey LOOK,

So you know that not only do they not have the rights, that they couldn't get the rights? That's a pretty defeatest attitude.

They already need a special contract to show the LBX format anyway, why can't they amend the contract for Anamorphic? Considering they only show maybe 20 movies a year this way, can't see it being too hard.

They usually show movies that will benefit from the widescreen, like action films or epics. Right not it's Mr. and Mrs. Smith