16:9 dream at DVinfo.net

Chris Black · August 17th, 2004, 08:34 AM

Please forgive me for the question I'm about to ask. I'm sure its been asked many times here, but I have a terrible memory and a burning case of ADD. Lets say you shoot footage with the XL2 in 16:9 mode. After bringing the footage into your NLE ..and working whatever magic there is to work .......will you be able to get the footage to display in letterbox on a standard 4:3 tv?

thanks,

chris

Boyd Ostroff · August 17th, 2004, 08:50 AM

This situation would be the same as any anamorphic 16:9, regardless of what camera you used. If you burn the footage onto a DVD then the DVD player will automatically letterbox it for people that have 4:3 TV's. If you are playing back directly from the camera, sending video directly from your computerr, or playing from VHS tape, the anamorphic video would not be letterboxed on a 4:3 TV (with the exception of some of the newer, larger, more expensive sets that have this ability). In this case you would need to create a separate letterboxed version of your video for 4:3. If you're working in FCP then you could create a new 4:3 sequence and drop your 16:9 sequence into. That would automatically letterbox it, but of course a render would be required and you'd end up with two different versions of the video.

In short, the XL-2 has a higher resolution way of creating the 16:9 image but what it writes to tape is still just 720x480 anamorphic 16:9, just like the XL-1s, GL-2, PD-150, VX-2000, etc. From the standpoint of editing and playing the video all these cameras could be treated the same. The difference would be in the quality of the image.

August 17th, 2004, 08:34 AM	#1
Chris Black New Boot Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Corpus Christi texas Posts: 14	16:9 dream Please forgive me for the question I'm about to ask. I'm sure its been asked many times here, but I have a terrible memory and a burning case of ADD. Lets say you shoot footage with the XL2 in 16:9 mode. After bringing the footage into your NLE ..and working whatever magic there is to work .......will you be able to get the footage to display in letterbox on a standard 4:3 tv? thanks, chris

August 17th, 2004, 08:50 AM	#2
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,787	This situation would be the same as any anamorphic 16:9, regardless of what camera you used. If you burn the footage onto a DVD then the DVD player will automatically letterbox it for people that have 4:3 TV's. If you are playing back directly from the camera, sending video directly from your computerr, or playing from VHS tape, the anamorphic video would not be letterboxed on a 4:3 TV (with the exception of some of the newer, larger, more expensive sets that have this ability). In this case you would need to create a separate letterboxed version of your video for 4:3. If you're working in FCP then you could create a new 4:3 sequence and drop your 16:9 sequence into. That would automatically letterbox it, but of course a render would be required and you'd end up with two different versions of the video. In short, the XL-2 has a higher resolution way of creating the 16:9 image but what it writes to tape is still just 720x480 anamorphic 16:9, just like the XL-1s, GL-2, PD-150, VX-2000, etc. From the standpoint of editing and playing the video all these cameras could be treated the same. The difference would be in the quality of the image.