If anyone would like to clue me in, what exactly is "wide-screen?" While reading the episode summaries I've seen that it was noted when an episode was shown in "wide-screen" or not. I've been watching the show since that 2nd season and I don't really notice a difference in how the show is aired...Am I missing something? (BTW: I live in NY...Would that have anything to do with it?)

-- Lis (s14v25@hotmail.com), February 08, 2001

Answers

The widescreen format is new this season. It's when they show the program w/ black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, so the actual picure is wider.

-- MM (conjuror_3x3@hotmail.com), February 08, 2001.

Wide-screen is not new this year. It has been around for years. Woody Allen demanded that Manhattan, his 1979 film, be released on tape in the wide-screen format. The VCR release was probably at the latest in 1981. It was not the first film, Allen was the first to demand it.

The term "aspect ratio" refers to the width/height ratio. Normal TV is 4/3. Wide-screen movies, such as CinemaScope, which was invented in the fifties, are about 16/9. There are two ways to transfer a wide-screen movie to TV. One, is the to scan. The person making the film to video transfer makes the decision what part of the shot to put on TV. The other is to show the whole shot. The blank bars at the top and bottom of the TV screen are an unfortunate result. There are advantages to both methods. (Stanley Kubrick, the director, said that what he did with his films was to cut off the top and bottom of the shots to create the wide-screen for theatre release. For the video releases, the whole shot is presented.)

In a few years, all TV broadcasts will be in High-Definition Television (HDTV) format. HDTV sets will have the wide-screen aspect ratio. So, ER and NBC were showing ER as TV will be presented in the future. (No folks, you will not have to buy new TV sets. Converters will be made for the old format TV sets.)

Lis, New York will be the same as the rest of the country. All changes will be nationwide, not "opening July 4 in New York and Los Angeles, later in the rest of the countr

-- Zorbo (RDomino1@aol.com), February 08, 2001.

I think MM meant that wide screen was new to ER this year. I remember when I first saw wide screen years ago it was hard to get used to. But now I love it!

-- amanda (amanda.rehm@home.com), February 08, 2001.

Uh, yes, I meant it's new to ER. I've been buying widescreen movies for years.

-- MM (conjuror_3x3@hotmail.com), February 08, 2001.