MovieChat Forums > The Forsyte Saga (1969) Discussion > US v. UK DVD's: Pan-and-Scan?

US v. UK DVD's: Pan-and-Scan?

posted 18 years ago by PVarjak
6 replies | jump to latest

I posted this in the Forsyte DVD thread, but I thought it might be worth posting a new topic.

Does anyone know if the UK version of the DVD's are in letterbox-type format as opposed to pan-and-scan full-screen? I'd obviously prefer the former if possible, and I know that sometimes the US versions of European TV are cropped, while the original source material is not. Also, any other possible differences would be helpful. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[–] motekmotek 18 years ago

I don't think television shows, especially of this period, were ever shot in letter box format. I don't think that what your seeings is pan and scan because I believe it was shot in that shape to begin with.

[–] PVarjak 18 years ago

Based on the descriptions on Amazon for the US and USA DVD's, there seems to be some distinction; but I thought as you did about the initial shooting format. Still, I've read that there are still differences when something is converted from the PAL format (UK and Europe) to NTSC (North America).

[–] grambax 17 years ago

Hi,

I know your post was ages ago so you've probably resolved this, but I just wanted to add to what others have said - there won't be any pan & scanning on this. Both NTSC and PAL version will be full screen. The difference beteen the formats is to do with the number of "lines" of dots which make up the picture. Its true that converting from one to the other can reduce the picture quality, but if you import, you'll still be playing them on a TV designed for the opposite system.

So the short answer is that you are almost certainly better sticking to your own format - you aren't loosing any picture, as can be the case with some widescreen/pan & scan titles.

Its nice to see someone concerned about getting the best set, technically, hat they can.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] PVarjak 17 years ago

I wondered if the reference to Pan-and-Scan in the techinical specs section referred to the PAL-to-NTSC conversion. As a matter of fact, my DVD player will play PAL discs and convert (I have a region free player so I can play DVD's of UK things I can't get here); but it probably ends with the same result as the NTSC version. I do know that PAL offers almost 100 lines more of resolution (576 v. 480) than old standard definition TV.

Since you seem knowledgeable, do you know if the new HD sets differ between the UK, Europe, and North America? Since they now describe them (at least here) with references to raw resolution (i.e. 720x1280 or 1080x1920), I wonder if the resulting presentations are now standardized?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/576i

By the way, thanks for your response, since I do check back periodically. It is not uncommon for there to be useful 'late' responses, and I don't refrain from providing (I hope) useful info, even if the post I'm responding to is old. I haven't purchased the 1967 FS yet, but I may just go ahead.

Do you remember what the deleted post to your post said?

[–] grambax 17 years ago

Hi,

I'm afraid that I'm not that knowledgeable about HD for the simple reason that it will probably be a while before I can afford to go down the route of buying a Blue-Ray player so I haven't really investigated it. It is though my understanding that you are correct and that the systems will indeed be more standardized.

You've probably looked there already, but there is more info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_television. It doesn't specifically state that, but that seems to be the implication, and concurs with what I've read elsewhere.

As to The Forsyte Saga, I've never seen PAL to NTSC transfers as being described as Pan & Scan. As you know, they are completely different things. I think its been a simple error on someones part. You can't trust all the info available on the net, and DVD specs are notoriously unreliable.

I'm afraid that I can't remember what the deleted post was though, sorry. But I don't think it was anything particularly illuminating; I'd have remembered that I think.

BTW. I take it you do know that you can sign up to receive email notifications of replies to your posts, but unfortunately only directly to YOUR post, not to the entire thread (that would be helpful) - which is what I assume you would have meant you were checking back for.