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Monday, 04 August 2003 |
Watching movies at home is convenient, but most people don't make it as involving an experience as it can be. Proper environment and equipment set-up will significantly improve the enjoyment of any movie. This can range from simply eliminating as much ambient light as possible, to properly setting the color, contrast and other controls on the television, to a full surround sound system. Some of these improvements cost nothing, while others can be achieved at very little cost. Finally, is understanding the proper presentation of the movie on the television screen and why those black bars you usually get when watching a DVD are a good thing. Following are several simple ways to improve the enjoyment of home movie watching.
Ambient Light
This can be the simplest and least expensive improvement. The most basic improvements can come by closing all window coverings when watching a movie. A little reorganizing of the viewing room can also yield significant improvements. The second factor to keep in mind is to try to eliminate, as much as possible, reflections on the television screen by not placing it across from windows. Ideally, have window coverings which eliminate most of the window light or try to place the television so windows are not in front or behind the television, but to the sides. A common solution is to set up a viewing room in a basement, where light control is usually much easier. Finally, the simplest solution is to watch movies at night and keep room lights to a minimum, avoiding any lights which reflect in the screen. Improving the viewing environment and reducing distractions as much as possible will result in a significant improvement in enjoyment of movies.
Adjusting the Television
Most televisions come from the factory adjusted to look impressive in brightly lit retail stores. Unfortunately, home lighting is nothing like a retail store and not only do the factory settings give the image a harsh appearance, they can actually damage the tube and shorten the life of the television. Virtually any television can be professionally calibrated for a fee, but anyone can get a significant improvement in picture quality simply by using the basic adjustments (color, tint, brightness, contrast) and an inexpensive calibration DVD such as Digital Video Essentials.
Before calibrating any television or video projector with Digital Video Essentials, it is critical that the contrast setting be reduced at least below the mid point. Not doing so can cause permanent damage to the tube, in much the same way that leaving it at the factory setting can shorten the life of the television. Digital Video Essentials contains many audio and video tests, but the one of interest here is the basic portion of the video section (Title 7) which has a few simple, thoroughly explained test patterns for correctly setting the user adjustable controls. This can usually be done in only 15 minutes or so and should be repeated periodically, particularly with a new television. Subsequent adjustments often take no more than 5 minutes to complete. It is important the television be turned on for at least an hour prior to calibration.
Once the user controls have been properly adjusted, it may be tempting to alter them. This is not because they are incorrect but because most viewers are not accustomed to a properly adjusted television. This also tends to be the first time many viewers actually pay close attention to the image coming from their TV and it is natural to want to try to fine tune the settings by eye, but there is no way you will improve on what the calibration DVD produced.. The image will look less harsh and the colors will be more accurate and less saturated, but they may seem wrong or too subdued until you have grown accustomed to it. After that, most people find the more extreme settings almost unbearable. How much of an improvement is seen will depend on the quality of the television and how far off the settings were to begin with.
Understanding Aspect Ratio
Until the appearance of DVD, it was rare to get a proper presentation of movies at home. The problem is, virtually all movies made after 1954, and some made before then, have an image with a different shape than the standard television. To make matters more confusing, the shape of the standard television screen is currently in the process of changing and becoming wider, which is why many current shows now have small black bars at the top and bottom of the screen when viewed on a standard television. One result of all this is that as time passes, many programs and movies will not completely fill the screen, often having black bars either above and below or to the sides of the picture, but the new screen shape will be midway between pre 1954 movies and the more recent widescreen movies, and the same shape as several current and all future television shows. After a little time passes, the screen not always being filled to all edges with picture will become common and will no longer be a distraction for most viewers. In the meantime, however, some may find it odd or even annoying that the screen is not always completely filled by the image.
Most DVDs are available in the movie's Original Aspect Ratio, or OAR. This means the image is exactly as it was shown in theaters. Most of the time, it also means the entire screen will not be filled since the OAR is wider than the TV screen. There is a distinct benefit though, since the entire picture is seen, exactly as it was in theaters.
It is common for viewers to think something is missing when watching widescreen movies on TV, but the exact opposite is actually true. In order to show widescreen movies on a television and still fill the screen, a portion of the picture has to be cut off. This is generally called "Pan & Scan" where the portion of the image shown on the TV will pan back and forth in an attempt to stay with the most critical part of the original image. While this may sound like a good solution, it creates many problems. It is often not possible to cut the image without missing something important, the movement in the movie can often end up unpleasant and, most important of all, the visual composition of the movie is negatively effected. A good demonstration of what is done with Pan & Scan movies is available HERE.
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