How The West Was Won DVD smilebox cropped?

[Cinerama]

Check out the comparison between the letterboxed and the smilebox
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/sd-dvd-film-documentary/275960-htf-dvd-review-how-west-won-ultimate-collectors-edition.html
. Less information on both sides of the smilebox compared to the
letterbox.

[C***@gmail.com]

Check out the comparison between the letterboxed and the smileboxhttp://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/sd-dvd-film-documentary/275960-ht...
. Less information on both sides of the smilebox compared to the
letterbox.

I was about to say that the "curving"of the image would result in less
apparent wideness, but, yes, I do see from the screen caps pictures
there, that the smilebox image has actually removed information from
the sides. it also retains a good deal of the join lines, so I would
say that publicizing them as having been "erased" is a big mistake.
Maybe they should have said "minimized." I'm also surprised that the
smilebox shots from the documentary don't seem to have been given the
same effort to match the panels and minimize the join lines. I had
imagined that WB would have fixed those few sequences as well, and
they would have replaced those shots in the doc.

You can also see SOME of the LBX images show the optical distortion of
being shot on a curve and shown flattened out, while others appear to
have been straightened. From what I see in those shots, the LBX
version looks better to me.

[Martin Hart]

This post might be inappropriate. Click to display it.

[Cinerama]

Post by Martin Hart
In article <5add7f63-363f-4856-94f3-962ce91982b9
@a1g2000hsb.googlegroups.com>, ***@po.state.ct.us says...

Post by Cinerama
Check out the comparison between the letterboxed and the smilebox
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/sd-dvd-film-documentary/275960-ht...
. Less information on both sides of the smilebox compared to the
letterbox.

I guess I know as much about Smilebox as the average guy in these here
parts and frankly there's no justification for the Smilebox version to
encompass a lesser width than the flat version.  If you examine the
examples with identical frames you will see that there is a
substantially greater amount of useable image area.  Compare the
"closeup" of Debbie Reynolds. She's larger in the middle panel and
there's a lot less wasted black areas in the frame. So I'm willing to
lose that minimal amount of image in order to be able to see more
resolution in the rest of the picture.
What bothers me is that the flat version supposedly has an aspect ratio
of 2.89:1 which is just ridiculous. That means that there's a bit of
image cropped from the top, bottom or both. The max useable image area
for Cinerama is 2.59:1, not 2.89:1. That's not a huge difference but it
can sure stir up the aspect ratio anal retentives.
Marty
(an aspect ratio anal retentive)
--
The American WideScreen Museumhttp://www.widescreenmuseum.com/

I don't know where I saw it but, WB did the 2.89:1 to cover up some
problems with the three panels matching up on the top and/or bottom. I
guess there was some shrinkage or something was wrong and the 2.89.1
covered them up.

[Cinerama]

Post by Martin Hart
In article <5add7f63-363f-4856-94f3-962ce91982b9
@a1g2000hsb.googlegroups.com>, ***@po.state.ct.us says...

Post by Cinerama
Check out the comparison between the letterboxed and the smilebox
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/sd-dvd-film-documentary/275960-ht...
. Less information on both sides of the smilebox compared to the
letterbox.

I guess I know as much about Smilebox as the average guy in these here
parts and frankly there's no justification for the Smilebox version to
encompass a lesser width than the flat version.  If you examine the
examples with identical frames you will see that there is a
substantially greater amount of useable image area.  Compare the
"closeup" of Debbie Reynolds. She's larger in the middle panel and
there's a lot less wasted black areas in the frame. So I'm willing to
lose that minimal amount of image in order to be able to see more
resolution in the rest of the picture.
What bothers me is that the flat version supposedly has an aspect ratio
of 2.89:1 which is just ridiculous. That means that there's a bit of
image cropped from the top, bottom or both. The max useable image area
for Cinerama is 2.59:1, not 2.89:1. That's not a huge difference but it
can sure stir up the aspect ratio anal retentives.
Marty
(an aspect ratio anal retentive)
--
The American WideScreen Museumhttp://www.widescreenmuseum.com/

Found below on the 2.89:1 aspect ratio from this page -
http://www.in70mm.com/news/2008/west_digital/index.htm

MPI used digital technology to get a better geometric match between
the center and side panels, resulting in the kind of fish-eye effect
that would have been achieved if the film had been shot on a single
105mm strand of film with a 27mm lens. While all the horizontal
information was captured, this created a problem with the top and
bottom of the frame. As it happened, Cinerama films were composed with
extra headroom to allow for theaters whose prosceniums were lacking in
height. Since the amount of perspective varied depending on the point
of focus of the shot, resulting in variations in framelines, MPI
decided to letterbox the image to a ratio that covered all situations,
resulting in the 2.89:1 AR announced in initial publicity, the
ultimate "letterbox".

[Steve Kraus]

Just to clarify, what do you get with the Blu-ray version? The letterboxed
version and the Smilebox version? What about Cinerama Adventure and other
documentaries or extras? Are those included?

[Jeffry L. Johnson]

Post by Steve Kraus
Just to clarify, what do you get with the Blu-ray version? The letterboxed
version and the Smilebox version? What about Cinerama Adventure and other
documentaries or extras? Are those included?

Based on the press release:
Letterbox: yes.
Smilebox: yes.
Cinerama Adventure: yes.

[quote]

the Blu-ray release offers an exclusive in the form of the ³SmileBox² version
of the film which presents the image with a unique curvature that virtually
recreates the true Cinerama® experience in a home theater. This Blu-ray
Edition comes with a special Digi-book packaging featuring 32-pages of rare
press materials and behind-the-scenes photos.


How the West Was Won Special Features:

* Film Historian Commentary
* Dave Strohmaier¹s critically-acclaimed, feature-length documentary
Cinerama® Adventure
* The Making of How the West Was Won (Archival featurette)
* Original Theatrical trailer

[/quote]

Haven't received it yet.

[Mutley]

Post by Jeffry L. Johnson

Post by Steve Kraus
Just to clarify, what do you get with the Blu-ray version? The letterboxed
version and the Smilebox version? What about Cinerama Adventure and other
documentaries or extras? Are those included?

Letterbox: yes.
Smilebox: yes.
Cinerama Adventure: yes.
[quote]
the Blu-ray release offers an exclusive in the form of the ³SmileBox² version
of the film which presents the image with a unique curvature that virtually
recreates the true Cinerama® experience in a home theater. This Blu-ray
Edition comes with a special Digi-book packaging featuring 32-pages of rare
press materials and behind-the-scenes photos.
* Film Historian Commentary
* Dave Strohmaier¹s critically-acclaimed, feature-length documentary
Cinerama® Adventure
* The Making of How the West Was Won (Archival featurette)
* Original Theatrical trailer
[/quote]
Haven't received it yet.

As OPPO is about to release their new Blu-ray player this may be the
movie that pushed me to Hidef..

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1063625

If it's anything like their upscaling DVD players it should be good
value for money..