New Carpenters show coming up in UK
- Thread starter Nicko
- Start date
- Status
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
Is this the pbs special?
Nicko
Well-Known Member
It might be , it would seem the right duration with adverts added.
I have that on DVD and it's called 'Remembering the Carpenters' which this listing doesn't mention
Chris Mills
That was funny....like the dark vomited up
Sky+ set to record next Tuesday @ 21:00 Sky Arts. Can't imagine Sky would commission a documentary about Richard & Karen as it just wouldn't attract a big enough audience to sell to advertisers. I think Sky will be showing the American PBS documentary, and it's being shown in HD widescreen. As far as I know, this is the first time that Sky has allocated airtime for Richard & Karen on one of Sky's in house channels, this is quite a development. Sky Arts tend to concentrate on music aimed at grown ups as opposed to teenagers, so very pleased that Sky has recognised that Richard & Karen deserve an airing on UK satellite TV.
Nicko
Well-Known Member
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
I watched this in the UK tonight on Sky Arts and it wasn't even in letterbox (16:9) format, but 4:3 aspect ratio. So it looked rubbish on a widescreen TV. Also, it was identical to the original DVD release, no differences.
This special was originally made before the adoption of widescreen standards in the US. Virtually all TVs here were 4:3 and virtually all TV stations broadcast in 4:3 when this show was made and broadcast. Any attempt at showing widescreen would result in either cropped images, or stretched people. Also, any videos from the older days would also be 4:3. No, 4:3 is the correct aspect ratio.
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
How come when I view the official DVD release it plays in 16:9 format on my TV no problem with no noticeable stretching or cropped image? Why couldn't that be reproduced on a Sky Arts TV airing for viewers in 2015, instead of that awful 4:3 block picture? I guess that was my question...not for you Harry, more for Sky Arts
Last edited:
To my knowledge that is not possible. If you have an image that's shaped at 4:3, then any attempt to fill a 16:9 screen will result in either stretching or cropping. There is no other possibility.
Here's a test. On the original DVD (here in the US, issued at 4:3), the opening of chapter 6, "We've Only Just Begun" begins with a still and grainy black & white image that's not moving or zooming, so we can use it as a test.
Here's the way it appears on a 4:3 television (or in the center of a 16:9 TV screen with bars on the side):
Notice that there's room above Richard's head and we can see below the keyboard.
If this image were presented on 16:9 television without stretching, then some of the top and bottom would have to be cropped off, resulting in:
Here, a bit of Richard's head is chopped off, and there's nothing visible below the keyboard. Now it's possible that if someone reframed the image for widescreen, they would tilt the image down a bit so that Richard's head would be in the picture entirely, but that would result in even less of the keyboard in the visible part of the frame.
Stephen, how does your DVD, which you claim looks normal and widescreen, handle this exact frame?
Harry
Nicko
Well-Known Member
How come when I view the official DVD release it plays in 16:9 format on my TV no problem with no noticeable stretching or cropped image? Why couldn't that be reproduced on a Sky Arts TV airing for viewers in 2015, instead of that awful 4:3 block picture? I guess that was my question...not for you Harry, more for Sky Arts
Depends if you were watching the HD or the Standard definition Sky channel, Standard can be stretched by your TV but the HD can't, HD only displays the original aspect ratio, same goes for your DVD as it will be standard definition and the TV can stretch it to fit your screen.
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
To my knowledge that is not possible. If you have an image that's shaped at 4:3, then any attempt to fill a 16:9 screen will result in either stretching or cropping. There is no other possibility.
Here's a test. On the original DVD (here in the US, issued at 4:3), the opening of chapter 6, "We've Only Just Begun" begins with a still and grainy black & white image that's not moving or zooming, so we can use it as a test.
Here's the way it appears on a 4:3 television (or in the center of a 16:9 TV screen with bars on the side):
Notice that there's room above Richard's head and we can see below the keyboard.
If this image were presented on 16:9 television without stretching, then some of the top and bottom would have to be cropped off, resulting in:
Here, a bit of Richard's head is chopped off, and there's nothing visible below the keyboard. Now it's possible that if someone reframed the image for widescreen, they would tilt the image down a bit so that Richard's head would be in the picture entirely, but that would result in even less of the keyboard in the visible part of the frame.
Stephen, how does your DVD, which you claim looks normal and widescreen, handle this exact frame?
Harry
Hi Harry
This special aired again on Sky and it reminded me of this thread. To answer your question above about the screen format on my DVD, it produces the picture above like this. You can see the headroom above them is still there, so I guess it's stretched
Yep. That's stretched and is not the way that the reality of that scene looked. There are several possibilities of what's doing that to your picture.
1. If it's a broadcast, then either your TV station or cable or satellite service is sending out a stretched picture, or your TV is set to something like "Full" or "Stretch".
2. If it's a DVD, then its possible that your player is set to stretch the picture to fill a 16:9 TV, or your TV is again set to something like "Full" or "Stretch".
3. It could also be a case that BOTH settings are causing the stretched picture and fixing just one might not solve the problem.
When adjusted to the proper aspect ratio, this picture should appear horizontally centered in the screen with black bars on both sides. If you have a plasma TV, then you may want to avoid watching the correct aspect ratio for too long as plasmas have a tendency to burn in those stationary black bars. LED's/LCD's don't generally have that issue.
Harry
1. If it's a broadcast, then either your TV station or cable or satellite service is sending out a stretched picture, or your TV is set to something like "Full" or "Stretch".
2. If it's a DVD, then its possible that your player is set to stretch the picture to fill a 16:9 TV, or your TV is again set to something like "Full" or "Stretch".
3. It could also be a case that BOTH settings are causing the stretched picture and fixing just one might not solve the problem.
When adjusted to the proper aspect ratio, this picture should appear horizontally centered in the screen with black bars on both sides. If you have a plasma TV, then you may want to avoid watching the correct aspect ratio for too long as plasmas have a tendency to burn in those stationary black bars. LED's/LCD's don't generally have that issue.
Harry
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
Thanks Harry, interestingly when I watched the special again today on Sky Arts channel to compare, they'd changed the aspect ratio since it was last broadcast and it now shows the same as my DVD copy (stretched as above). The first broadcast showed the black bars either side of the picture.
- Status
Similar discussions
