Goodfellas R4 not 16:9?

[Deckerr]

Hi All

I bought the Goodfellas DVD it is region 4 double sided. On the cover it says it is 16:9, which it is but not on a 16:9 tv. The black bars are too large at the top and bottom so the picture is squashed. With the tv in 4:3 mode it is fine.

It seems like someone made a mistake but is this possible? I have stuffed up before and encoded 16:9 video as 4:3 which gave me the same problems as above. I have noticed this in a few other movies as well.

What do you guys think?

[ammck55]

Goodfellas product information (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000286RKW/qid=1121908757/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-6638668-6081715?v=glance&s=dvd), as listed at Amazon, say the the disc was realeased in R1, only, and has a display aspect ratio of 1.85:1. My guess is that you got ahold of an "aftermarket" product which has been altered in some fashion, but as long as you can view it satisfactorily, at least you didn't waste your money.

ammck55

[unskinnyboy]

@Deckerr, Is your DVD a 'flipper' (means you have to manually change sides midway thru the movie)? Then your DVD is not 16x9 enhanced as analyzed and revealed here (http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Reviews/GoodFellas.asp). Also what does the cover say exactly? Does it say 16x9 (or 16:9) *enhanced*? If all it says is WS, it may be letterboxed to 4:3, not 16:9. Sad but true.

If you want, you may post a screenshot for us to peruse.

[smiller667]

@Deckerr, Is your DVD a 'flipper' (means you have to manually change sides midway thru the movie)?
I guess that's what he meant:
...it is region 4 double sided.

[manono]

On the cover it says it is 16:9, which it is but not on a 16:9 tv.

It either is or it isn't 16:9. There are no conditions. It's widescreen 4:3. If the case says it's 16:9, or Enhanced for 16:9 TV sets, or some such, it's wrong. If the case just says it's widescreen 1.85:1, and from that you deduced it's 16:9, then you're wrong:

http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Reviews/GoodFellasDean.asp

This transfer is presented at the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and it is not 16x9 enhanced. This disc is also a flipper...
There's also an R4 SE version which is 16:9. You should have gotten that one:

http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=5285

[unskinnyboy]

I guess that's what he meant:
Just trying to make sure that he had that particular edition of DVD..WS version on one side and FS version on the other side is also commonly referred to as 'double-sided' ..:)

[Deckerr]

Hi

It has the first half the film on one side and the second half on the other side.

The description says 1.85:1 widescreen.

It says other things about it is a 16:9 transfer and the black bars on top & bottom, but these have been on other DVD's and the display has been 16:9.

[manono]

1.85:1 and 16:9 aren't synonymous. It can be 1.85:1, 4:3 or 1.85:1, 16:9. Yours is 4:3. Maybe Doom9's article Aspect Ratios Explained (http://www.doom9.org/aspectratios.htm) can explain it better. Pay particular attention to the paragraph beginning, "There are also DVDs which have a DAR of 4:3 but contain widescreen picture." DAR is the Display Aspect Ratio. It just tells your player how to resize the picture, and has nothing to do with the OAR (Original Aspect Ratio) of the movie itself.

And there are plenty of 16:9 DVDs with black bars visible on widescreen TV sets. While 16:9 DVDs with a 1.85:1 OAR don't usually show black bars, 2.35:1 movies do show them because they are wider than your TV's AR.

[Deckerr]

I think I will try to get the Special Edition. Thanks all.