[h=2]Why Is Netflix Secretly Cropping Movies?[/h] By Jason Bailey on Jul 17, 2013 2:00pm Flavorwire Excerpt:
Like a lot of film writers, I spent a good deal of my life working in video stores. Some of that occurred in the time frame (2000-2002, roughly) when DVDs began to replace VHS, and as a result, I was on the receiving end of much anger and confusion over widescreen formatting letterboxing, as we called it, which began on LaserDisc, appeared on a few VHS tapes, and became the standard on DVD (luckily, since widescreen televisions were also becoming ubiquitous). Im not seein the whole picture! customers would complain. Its got these lines on the top and bottom! And I would patiently explain that getting a widescreen movie frame into a television was a case of putting a rectangular peg into a square hole, and the black bars actually showed you more of the picture, and preserved the original image. And customers would nod and smile and understand completely just kidding. They stared at me blankly before saying the exact same nonsense about what a rip-off it is to have only part of the TV being used and it was a terrible job, the end. But we won, ultimately! In the pan-and-scan vs. widescreen battle, widescreen came out on top. So why, in 2013, is Netflix cropping their movies?
Cinephiles have been murmuring about this since the service began streaming, noting that, too often, films original aspect ratios were jettisoned for reasons unclear. The worst offenders were the now-absent Starz Play titles (that contract ran out early last year it was the original Streamageddon), which were the digital equivalent of VHS tapes or pan-and-scan DVDs: widescreen images chopped off into a square, 4:3 picture, which often results in losing up to half of the original image.
End Excerpt
A better question, IMHO, is why, when all my TVs are the NEW *BETTER* Widescreen format are many DVDs still presented in letter box format? WTF do I have the GD black lines top and bottom? If the shape of the old style 4:3 TV Screen was the reason for the GD Letterbox, why is my 16:9 TV afflicted?
Like a lot of film writers, I spent a good deal of my life working in video stores. Some of that occurred in the time frame (2000-2002, roughly) when DVDs began to replace VHS, and as a result, I was on the receiving end of much anger and confusion over widescreen formatting letterboxing, as we called it, which began on LaserDisc, appeared on a few VHS tapes, and became the standard on DVD (luckily, since widescreen televisions were also becoming ubiquitous). Im not seein the whole picture! customers would complain. Its got these lines on the top and bottom! And I would patiently explain that getting a widescreen movie frame into a television was a case of putting a rectangular peg into a square hole, and the black bars actually showed you more of the picture, and preserved the original image. And customers would nod and smile and understand completely just kidding. They stared at me blankly before saying the exact same nonsense about what a rip-off it is to have only part of the TV being used and it was a terrible job, the end. But we won, ultimately! In the pan-and-scan vs. widescreen battle, widescreen came out on top. So why, in 2013, is Netflix cropping their movies?
Cinephiles have been murmuring about this since the service began streaming, noting that, too often, films original aspect ratios were jettisoned for reasons unclear. The worst offenders were the now-absent Starz Play titles (that contract ran out early last year it was the original Streamageddon), which were the digital equivalent of VHS tapes or pan-and-scan DVDs: widescreen images chopped off into a square, 4:3 picture, which often results in losing up to half of the original image.
End Excerpt
A better question, IMHO, is why, when all my TVs are the NEW *BETTER* Widescreen format are many DVDs still presented in letter box format? WTF do I have the GD black lines top and bottom? If the shape of the old style 4:3 TV Screen was the reason for the GD Letterbox, why is my 16:9 TV afflicted?
. Cheaper than a 65" tv anymore. You can get a good projector set up for under $1000. A great one can be had for about $2500. 
