iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Windowbox (film)

Enlarge picture
A windowboxed image (16:9 to 4:3 to 16:9)
Windowboxing is when the aspect ratio of a film is such that the letterbox effect and pillarbox effect occur simultaneously[1][2][3]. Sometimes, by accident or design, a standard ratio image is presented in the central portion of a letterbox picture, resulting in a black border all around. It is generally disliked because it wastes a lot of screen space and reduces the resolution of the original image. It can occur when a 16:9 film is set to 4:3 (letterbox), but then shown on a 16:9 TV or other output device. It can also occur in the opposite direction (4:3 to 16:9 to 4:3). Few films have been released with this aspect ratio -- one example is , which had numerous scenes of widescreen pillar boxing. Some have suggested that selecting different aspect options by "zooming" could correct the windowbox problem[4].

On rare occasion, a picture will be windowboxed on purpose. During the opening, documentary-style sequence of Rent, the picture is letterboxed to suggest an older camera meant to present at a 4:3 aspect ratio; as the movie transitions from that segment, it then grows from windowboxed to full widescreen (or letterboxed on a 4:3 display).

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ [4]
The aspect ratio of a two-dimensional shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It is also applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, especially for the longest and shortest 'axes' or for symmetrical objects (e.g.
..... Click the link for more information.
Letterboxing is the practice of transferring widescreen films to video formats while preserving the original aspect ratio. Since the video display is most often a more square aspect ratio than the original film, the resulting video must include masked-off areas above and below the
..... Click the link for more information.
pillar box effect occurs in widescreen video displays when black bars (mattes or masking) are placed on the sides of the image.

It becomes necessary when film or video that was not originally designed for widescreen is shown on a widescreen display, or a narrower widescreen
..... Click the link for more information.
IMDb profile
Rent is a 2005 film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name. It details the struggles of a group of young friends in the East Village area of New York City in the late-1980s, early-1990s.
..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter