Wide screen vs Full screen

I have had this discussion too. I think some movies it doesn't matter but some it does. When Ever After first came out on DVD it was wide screen only. I hated it. There was one scene in the movie that I noticed it cut something out that I found took away from the movie. It was the part when the bareness was being introduced to her new home, step-daughter, and servants. The father said she wasn't use to getting her hands dirty and she did something with her hands that was funny like she wouldn't be getting them dirty. Well in the wide screen addition in cut her hands out! But for Christmas we bought a wide screen TV so we are only getting wide screen DVD's now. The TV makes them better because you don't usually have to worry about the bars :)

Well your brother is correct really. When you view a movie in widescreen you are seeing the picture as it was shot on film and displayed in theaters. When you view the same movie in fullscreen, the picture is reformatted to fit into a square. You do lose some of the picture at the sides and often from the top also. Personally I prefer fullscreen because I've haven't gone out and gotten HD tv that displays things in widescreen by default. When I do (and I will soon) I'm sure I will rather watch the picture in widescreen as well. So really it depends on the movie, and the tv you are watching it on.

The TV that I have is wide screen so it doesn't have that weird black below and above the picture. I don't know much about it - I bought it... my ex picked it out... And I only buy the widescreen version of the movies. I don't know why... I was just told it's better with my tv and I just always buy/rent the widescreen.

when it has the black on top and bottom, it is just annoying. I wonder to myself, who'd wanna watch TV that way? and it is annoying when that is the only way the movie comes, too!

I have had this wide screen full screen debate a time or two myself. I love widescreen but I do not limit myself to just that. You do lose something when watching the fullscreen over the widescreen, though modern movie makers seem to have a less noticable views with this. Try watching both versions of such classics as Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, or any of the great musicals from that era, or big films from that time frame, Gone With the Wind, Oklahoma, Ben Hur. These movies are more noticible as to what is lost from the screen, films took into account the Panoramic views during that period of the film industry. Since the popularity of renting and buying films many film makers seem to take into account this, and so the nuances and details of the film are not as much an issue. So I can agree with him to some degree, and I know there were a few dvd's that even when they first came out, offered the full or wide screen option on one dvd. I wish they would do that again. But they found out they can make more money but selling it separately. So I don't mind either version for the most part especially for the newer films. For older classics I do prefer the widescreen as these films do offer so much more in the widescreen view.

My hubby is the same way, although he will watch full screen movies, he will not buy them full screen. I really don't care myself. I think that if you have a wide screen tv then it's best to watch the movie on wide screen format because really, you will see the whole picture that way. Or if you have a big tv, wide screen may be the best format. But if you have a small full screen tv, the picture may be too small to be appreciated.

I think it depends on the TV you are watching. We now have a 61 inch screen and wide sceen seems better because our TV is a little more rectangle then square. But to be honest on that size either full or wide looks pretty good. I have also watched a few movie in both wide then full and do agree there isn't much you are missing on the sides.

Like you I prefer the Full Screen At the moment I have a full Screen but it is hard to get them now so I hope my TV last a long time lol I am not keen on the Wide screens at all

You know, my partner and I have debated about this also. ha ha He also uses the same excuse that you loose some of the picture with full screen. But really, we have been loosing those couple of inches for a very long time now and no one stopped and complained before. No movie was held back from getting an Oscar just because there were a couple extra inches that were left unseen. We get the main picture and the movie story line. That is all that is needed. and I have tried to watch movies with that black line on the top and bottom. And honestly, that line at the top and bottom just irritate me to the point that I am missing more than what I lost because now I am thinking about how annoying the lines are and not paying attention to the movie! LOL So, my partner and I have come to the agreement. We will purchase the movies for full screen...and the day that he gets a TV for the wide screen format, we will worry about which to buy then. ha ha

I'm with you on this one emerald! I have seen movies in both formats, have not noticed any real difference (then again I didn't sit and frame by frame compare) and to be honest, the presence of white space around my picture drives me nuts! I want my entire screen filled... I bought this size because I wanted that size picture! LOL If I have my druthers... I'd go for full screen any day too.

I like full screen better myself. The wide screen seems to cut out some of the picture to me.

I prefer full screen. The black at the top and bottom of the screen with wide screen drives me crazy! I like for the entire screen to be what I am watching. My husband hates a wide screen picture and will complain if I have to get a video that is wide screen.

Oops...I'm a widescreen watcher...I just prefer it that way...the advantage of it too, is that with that black space on top and bottom in particular is that often like to switch the subtitle option to a foreign language like French and you can see it better and doesn't interfere with the picture itself--

If I'm buying, which isn't often, I buy wide-screen. Full screen sometimes throws off perspective and you lose the impact of the scene. If I didn't buy it and am watching it I don't care what it is. Also as someone else mentioned if you are watching something with subtitles it is much easier to see it in wide-screen.

Well, my mom loves wide screen but most of my friends prefer full screen so I've gotten used to both. I like full screen more but wide screen isn't that bad.

full screen thats my vote for....i always love it that ways...it give that effects which is almost live..

If I have a choice, I will choose wide screen. My husband has drilled it in to my head that it is better somehow. I am not sure how. If there is no choice of format, it doesn't matter. I mean, when you watch tv it is full screen, right? Actually, I just looked at my tv after I typed that and noticed that my husband has somehow set MY tv to wide screen. The cheeky bugger.

i prefer full screen-i really don't like the black box-but there was one movie that did clip parts off if you didn't watch it widescreen.i was kind of annoyed by that. the 2nd "pirates" movie is the one,now that i think of it. i suppose if i had one of those huge tv's i'd switch to widescreen more often.

i think full screen is the better then wide screen because in full screen we see every thing clearly.

It depends, some movies are shot in full screen instead of wide screen, so when they make it into wide screen they chop off the top. However, most wide screen movies are shown in wide screen and shot that way, so you are actually seeing more of the movie.