Yep, 16x9 'remasters' of shows shot for TV lop the top and bottom off, sometimes sensitively, sometimes not.
I didn't get that impression with Columbo - in fact it looked, as was previously said, more like it was shot 16:9, but 4:3 safe. Could well be wrong though - 1992 does seem a bit early, particular for a US show. Buffy was shot that way from around 1998, though Joss Whedon wasn't happy about it - you can spot the odd blatantly obvious crewmember outside the 4:3 frame on the DVDs.
Is it possible that some 4:3 stuff in the 1990's may have been shot so it's 16:9 safe, anticipating that in the future the top/bottom may be cut off?
I agree though shows should be shown in the ratio they were intended to be, with viewer then having the option of how they view that image - so with the black bars, cropped or, if they must, stretched.
Yep, 16x9 'remasters' of shows shot for TV lop the top and bottom off, sometimes sensitively, sometimes not.
I didn't get that impression with Columbo - in fact it looked, as was previously said, more like it was shot 16:9, but 4:3 safe. Could well be wrong though - 1992 does seem a bit early, particular for a US show. Buffy was shot that way from around 1998, though Joss Whedon wasn't happy about it - you can spot the odd blatantly obvious crewmember outside the 4:3 frame on the DVDs.
David
Weirdly enough I'm watching the Buffy DVDs as we speak, and they're a revelation in Widescreen. They were filmed in 16:9, but from Season 4 onwards (I.e. 1999-2000 onwards). They were shown however in 4:3 in the USA, but in 16:9 on Sky (and later BBC). Joss Whedon, as you said, stated that they were never meant to be seen in 16:9.
Seem to be a few problems today - flashing between bumpers and title cards into the break, idents and promos pausing...
Not just today, but for quite a few days now. It's as if there is some fault switching between the upscaled SD and native HD presentation for the channel.
AIUI Buffy was shot Super 16 (which is 15:9) and cropped to 4:3 or 16:9 either vertically or horizontally.
Suspect Columbo in 1992 was shot on 35mm film in Academy ratio (?) (nearer 4:3) and cropped to 16:9 for the transfer - but with some intelligent cropping and zooming?
Because most US shows in the 60s, 70s and some in the 80s were both shot AND edited on 35mm film
they are worth re-transferring in HD - and many US series have been. (Knight Rider is another example)
It'd be good to see a remastered 16:9 HD version of the original 1980's episodes of Knight Rider. Up until, the only
episodes of KR available in HD are the new series (a continuation not a remake) ... and look what happened there!
Other than a remastered HD version of the season 1 opening titles, I haven't seen anything else of the original KR
series in HD. Have the remastered original series episodes been broadcast anywhere, or released on Blu-Ray?
Finally nice to see the Granada version of ITV1 HD arrive on Virgin, can't say whether it's the same on Sky and Freeview, but this must be very recent as the London version was only on there the other day.
Granada programmes are listed on the Freeview ITV1 HD EPG for tomorrow, so it looks like we do have the regions running on terrestrial too here. I wonder if all the HD service is coming from London now, or if they have indeed upgraded kit at Leeds for it (as whichever option has been taken now is probably a good indication on what the future plans for ITV playout in the North are).
As nice as it is to have Granada News in Upscaled format, they still have that annoying caption at the bottom of the screen saying 'Your Regional programming is available on ITV1', according to someone on the DS Forums they're seeing Granada HD in Yorkshire.
