Are movies really 1080p?

[jackm1120]

So I was watching the movie Rush yesterday on my 34" lg 21:9 panel and noticed how perfectly the movie fit the screen. There were no bars on the side or on top as 21:9 is the aspect ratio for almost all modern movies. This got me thinking, if a movie advertised as 1080p, but it has to fill a 21:9 surface area, wouldn't it have to be a different resolution? Let me know what u guys think/know cuz as much as a like movies I'm not a huge movie buff.

thanks

[PlayStation 2]

Rush (and many other movies) are probably filmed at a higher resolution than 1080p. Chances are, the actual file is at a native res at 1920x800 because it's filmed at ~2:40:1, which is pretty much 21:9.

[IsaacDaGrazin]

its shot in 8k

[Mortis Angelus]

7 minutes ago, jackm1120 said:

So I was watching the movie Rush yesterday on my 34" lg 21:9 panel and noticed how perfectly the movie fit the screen. There were no bars on the side or on top as 21:9 is the aspect ratio for almost all modern movies. This got me thinking, if a movie advertised as 1080p, but it has to fill a 21:9 surface area, wouldn't it have to be a different resolution? Let me know what u guys think/know cuz as much as a like movies I'm not a huge movie buff.

thanks

It's a marketing thing, because people know FullHD = 1080p. And the movies are then sold with the WIDTH of the FullHD: 1920 pxls. However, as Castallaneta said, because they film most movies in the anamorphic 2:40:1 aspect ratio the vertical resolution will be 800 pxls. But if they would market the movies as 800p, no one would understand that they are FullHD-movies.

 

A few movies are however produced in 16:9 aspect ratio. E.g. Cameron's "Avatar" is a 16:9-movie, so that one fills up a normal monitor.

[jackm1120]

1 minute ago, huilun02 said:

Many old shows are shot in resolution higher than what was aired. And then years later people watch the source quality and notice new things.

I mean a 1080p movie is referring to 1920x1080, but if the aspect ratio is really 21:9, how can it be 1080p?

 

[David_K]

Simply because its still feels a 1920 with of the screen, as 1080p is 16:9, 1920X1080, if you will market it as 800p while its a 21:9 video people would think its 720p, and thats false, as a 720p 21:9 video is less in high by a huge margin.

[LAwLz]

The bluray standard only defined 1920x1080, 1440x1080, 1280x720 (and the two SD formats nobody cares about).

Since movies are (for whatever reason) quite often 21:9 those videos are converted to ~1920x800, and then they add about ~300 lines of black bars to fit the standard.

 

So no, the 21:9 movies you watch are not 1080p. If you want to use the ####p way of typing then they are ~800p. But that kind of highlights why saying "1080p", "720p", "4K" is kind of stupid. Horizontal resolution is just as important as vertical.

[AlTech]

7 hours ago, jackm1120 said:

So I was watching the movie Rush yesterday on my 34" lg 21:9 panel and noticed how perfectly the movie fit the screen. There were no bars on the side or on top as 21:9 is the aspect ratio for almost all modern movies. This got me thinking, if a movie advertised as 1080p, but it has to fill a 21:9 surface area, wouldn't it have to be a different resolution? Let me know what u guys think/know cuz as much as a like movies I'm not a huge movie buff.

thanks

DVDs are 576i.

Blu-rays are 1080pi

HD DVDs are 1080i

HD Movies are 1080p.

SD movies are 480p.

 

 

What I'm guessing is that it fill the screen by stretching the image.

[AlTech]

7 hours ago, jackm1120 said:

I mean a 1080p movie is referring to 1920x1080, but if the aspect ratio is really 21:9, how can it be 1080p?

 

21:9 1080p = 2560x1080

[dalekphalm]

1 hour ago, AluminiumTech said:

DVDs are 576i.

Blu-rays are 1080pi

HD DVDs are 1080i

HD Movies are 1080p.

SD movies are 480p.

 

 

What I'm guessing is that it fill the screen by stretching the image.

You are correct, but not for the reason you think you are. The movie is stretched, yes. But not from 1920x1080. Almost all movies are shot in anamorphic surround or similar. 2.4:1, 2.35:1, etc. When encoded for bluray, the resolution would match the 1920 horizontal resolution, which gets you 1920x800 or similar.

 

Also there is no such thing as 1080pi. Unless you meant 1080p/1080i. The p stands for progressive scan, and i stands for interlaced. They are mutually exclusive. The bluray player and spec itself can support either, but Amy self respecting movie will be encoded as 1080p, with the player having the ability to software render it at 1080i if needed.

 

1 hour ago, AluminiumTech said:

21:9 1080p = 2560x1080

 

While true from a marketing point, that is not technically correct for the "1080p HD specification, such specifically refers to 1920x1080 progressive scan.

 

I'm sure you can see the limitations in such specs and naming schemes, but the industry wants to keep the named simple and easy to remember.

[Arty]

8 hours ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

Rush (and many other movies) are probably filmed at a higher resolution than 1080p. Chances are, the actual file is at a native res at 1920x800 because it's filmed at ~2:40:1, which is pretty much 21:9.

most movies are filmed at like 6k+ probbly 

[dalekphalm]

Just now, Arty said:

most movies are filmed at like 6k+ probbly 

Many are filmed in 4K still, but its becoming more popular and affordable to film in 6K, with more and more camera options available to choose from.

 

Some movies are still filmed in 2K (slightly higher than 1080p resolution). And if course many are still filmed with actual analog film, 35mm, 65mm, and 70mm being popular choices. Film has the advantage that you can scan it at upwards of 16K, depending on age of the film, quality of lenses, etc. Of course, in practice they are usually scanned at 4K or 6K - but film can hypothetically get as high as 16K.

[AlTech]

7 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

You are correct, but not for the reason you think you are. The movie is stretched, yes. But not from 1920x1080. Almost all movies are shot in anamorphic surround or similar. 2.4:1, 2.35:1, etc. When encoded for bluray, the resolution would match the 1920 horizontal resolution, which gets you 1920x800 or similar.

 

Also there is no such thing as 1080pi. Unless you meant 1080p/1080i. The p stands for progressive scan, and i stands for interlaced. They are mutually exclusive. The bluray player and spec itself can support either, but Amy self respecting movie will be encoded as 1080p, with the player having the ability to software render it at 1080i if needed.

 

 

While true from a marketing point, that is not technically correct for the "1080p HD specification, such specifically refers to 1920x1080 progressive scan.

 

I'm sure you can see the limitations in such specs and naming schemes, but the industry wants to keep the named simple and easy to remember.

My bad. I meant 1080i there.

 

Many TVs use 1080i.

[dalekphalm]

7 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

My bad. I meant 1080i there.

 

Many TVs use 1080i.

Older "HD Ready" and first generation HDTV's, certainly. I haven't seen a 1080i TV in-store in years though. You'd have to go out of your way to find a new one - if they are even still available.

[jackm1120]

so in conclusion, when were watching your watching a blueray movie on a 1080p monitor/tv its really 1920x800? and claiming movies that are shot in anamorphic surround are 1080p simply for marketing/keeping it easy

[dalekphalm]

3 minutes ago, jackm1120 said:

so in conclusion, when were watching your watching a blueray movie on a 1080p monitor/tv its really 1920x800?

Yes. Although 1920x800 is just one of several possible resolutions.

 

Eg:

Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.39:1 (Often rounded to 2.4:1) - 1920x800

Cinescope/Panavision - 2.35:1 - 1920x817

UK/US Cinema Widescreen Standard - 1.85:1 - 1920x1038

 

Most movies are filmed in Anamorphic Widescreen or Cinema Widescreen (2.39:1 or 1.85:1 respectively).

 

So most movies you watch on Blu-Ray are really 1920x800. The rest of the vertical resolution (the remaining 280 pixels) are just filled in with black bars by your Blu-Ray player.

[jackm1120]

heres another question, watching a TV show off a bluray completely fills the screen.  Would that be full 1080p?

[dalekphalm]

1 minute ago, jackm1120 said:

heres another question, watching a TV show off a bluray completely fills the screen.  Would that be full 1080p?

That's correct, 1920x1080. That's because TV shows are typically filmed in 16:9 aspect ratio (Also known as 1.77:1/1.78:1).

[BuckGup]

Almost all movies are filmed at 6K and 8K that are filmed digitally. Most are shot on film though which doesn't have a resolution 

[dalekphalm]

2 hours ago, SamStrecker said:

Almost all movies are filmed at 6K and 8K that are filmed digitally. Most are shot on film though which doesn't have a resolution 

6K I would agree with. While I know there are some 8K cameras available now, I don't think they're particularly common yet.

[AlTech]

7 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

That's correct, 1920x1080. That's because TV shows are typically filmed in 16:9 aspect ratio (Also known as 1.77:1/1.78:1).

Why isn't everything filmed at 16:9 1080p?

[BuckGup]

8 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

6K I would agree with. While I know there are some 8K cameras available now, I don't think they're particularly common yet.

Right. RED is coming out soon with the 8K sensor upgrade for their cameras

[dalekphalm]

2 hours ago, SamStrecker said:

Right. RED is coming out soon with the 8K sensor upgrade for their cameras

Which is going to be friggin' sweet, once that becomes mainstream for filmmakers.

 

However, 4K projectors at movie theatres aren't even totally widespread yet (Many theatres still using 2K projectors). I hope the Cinema industry starts upgrading to 6K projectors in the near future.

[LAwLz]

6 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

Why isn't everything filmed at 16:9 1080p?

Because of theaters. Most theaters still have 2.39:1 screens (fairly close to 21:9, which is 2.33:1). They got that because of a very long and complicated history.

 

The TL;DR is this:

1. Movies are shot in 4:3 aspect ratio.
2. TVs start getting popular and they are 4:3 since that's what everything at the time was using.
3. Movie theaters gets scared because more and more people just watch TV instead of visiting them.
4. Movie theaters/studios start making wide screen movies because it offers a unique experience that people could not get at home.
5. Making wide screen movies was a complicated process and many companies tried to do it. Twentieth Century-Fox contacted a French professor (Henri Chrétien) who had developed a special lens that could shoot wide screen movies onto regular film. They bought his gear, refined the process and then launched CinemaScope. This was a massive success.
6. 16:9 became a standard for TVs because it was a geometric mean between 4:3 and CinemaScope, the two extremes of common aspect ratios.

 

Movies are still produced in 21:9 (or some similar aspect ratio) because of old equipment still being used, movie theaters still having that aspect ratio screen, people have experience with it and don't want to change, and some might argue that a wider screen fits movie theaters better (since you got a lot of people in a row watching them) although I am not sure if that's actually valid (since iMAX is pretty square).

 

Here is a very interesting video that goes into more details. When watching it, remember that our current 21:9 screens were designed after the CinemaScope standard.

[dalekphalm]

7 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

Why isn't everything filmed at 16:9 1080p?

Well for one thing, the 1.85:1 and 2.39:1 aspect ratio standards are FAR older than 16:9, which wasn't really an industry standard until the 1990's with Widescreen DVD's and widescreen HDTV's and computer monitors.

 

Second, it's at least partially artistic choice. Some filmmakers want a wider aspect ratio to capture a wider, more vast scene, for example. There's also the argument that a 2.39:1 100 foot wide movie theatre screen is a more engaging experience, because it wraps around your field of vision more fully.

 

Thirdly, why would they film at 1080p? That would be a massive downgrade to what movies are currently filmed at. Filming at 1080p would be going backwards in time. Most digital movies are filmed at 4K or 6K. That means this Christmas when 4K Blu-Ray players come out, we can actually SEE the increased resolution, because many films were natively filmed in 4K or higher.

 

3 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

Because of theaters. Most theaters still have 2.39:1 screens (fairly close to 21:9, which is 2.33:1). They got that because of a very long and complicated history.

 

The TL;DR is this:

1. Movies are shot in 4:3 aspect ratio.
2. TVs start getting popular and they are 4:3 since that's what everything at the time was using.
3. Movie theaters gets scared because more and more people just watch TV instead of visiting them.
4. Movie theaters/studios start making wide screen movies because it offers a unique experience that people could not get at home.
5. Making wide screen movies was a complicated process and many companies tried to do it. Twentieth Century-Fox contacted a French professor (Henri Chrétien) who had developed a special lens that could shoot wide screen movies onto regular film. They bought his gear, refined the process and then launched CinemaScope. This was a massive success.
6. 16:9 became a standard for TVs because it was a geometric mean between 4:3 and CinemaScope, the two extremes of common aspect ratios.

 

Movies are still produced in 21:9 (or some similar aspect ratio) because of old equipment still being used, movie theaters still having that aspect ratio screen, people have experience with it and don't want to change, and some might argue that a wider screen fits movie theaters better (since you got a lot of people in a row watching them) although I am not sure if that's actually valid (since iMAX is pretty square).

 

Here is a very interesting video that goes into more details. When watching it, remember that our current 21:9 screens were designed after the CinemaScope standard.

All of this is true too ^