If I had my choice between watching widescreen movies on TV with the "pan-and-scan" method and the "letterbox" format, I'd choose the latter every time. Outside watching them on a big theatre screen, letterboxing is the best way to present widescreen movies on TV. I would rather see as much of a widescreen film as possible than just those sections you pan and scan to. It all started with CinemaScope* in "The Robe" and I am fond of seeing those enlogated vistas despite what such as Lang and Stevens** have said. tjoeb};>

*Then came Cinerama (which I don't like), VistaVision, Panavision et al.

**"It is a formula for snakes or for funerals, but not for human beings"-Fritz Lang
"It's fine if you want a system that shows a boa constrictor to better advantage than a man"-George Stevens

LOL.

For me it depends on the tv I'm watching it on. If it's a small, square tv I prefer the formatted version - on square tvs you get huge chunks of black that are very distracting. If you double that with a having a small tv in the first place, watching the letterbox just isn't worth it, it's too hard to see.

Now if you have a large (or at least larger) tv, or a widescreen tv, or even one of the "in-betweeny" tvs that are slightly-elongated-but-not-quite-widescreen, then I prefer having the whole movie.

Any idea why it's called "letterbox" by the way? I've always wondered...

[ 01-22-2002: Message edited by: LadyCaitriona ]

Lady, It's because of the shape, Wide and narrow!!

right letterbox...the shape of an envelope
that is the 35mm film industry standard

I have a big TV...so letterbox is fine

I purposely bought a TV with a larger screen so my poor old eyes could see what I was watching. Wasting nearly two-thirds of it with the black lines above and below the letterbox defeats my purpose! I'd rather see at least something of the movie with pan & scan than have to guess at what I'm watching with letterbox! (Reading credits is nearly impossible.)