Seinfeld goes HD on TBS HD

by Ben Drawbaugh, posted Sep 3rd 2008 at 10:36PM

No, this isn't the usual stretch-o-vision we've come to expect from TBS HD, this is the real thing. Yesterday -- in a move that has been more than three years in the making -- TBS HD started broadcasting syndicated reruns of Seinfeld in HD. What's that you say, how could a show that was produced long before HD was invented be presented in HD? It is simple, film is eternal -- well almost -- and Sony spent the big bucks to go back to film for your HD enjoyment. Now, since this is TBS we're talking about here you know there has to be a catch, and that catch is that the show is cropped -- TBS, like Engadget is a Time Warner company. Everyone knows how much Turner hates black bars, and apparently 4x3 HD content isn't any different.

Filed under: New content

Tags: Seinfeld, TBS HD, TbsHd

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

T-bone @ Sep 3rd 2008 10:43PM

As long as they release it in 4:3 HD on Blu-ray I'm happy

Neutral

Mr. E @ Sep 3rd 2008 10:51PM

Ben, I don't think this is cropped. From the screen shot above, it definitely looks like they just opened up the sides of the frame to fill the 16x9 screen. It was likely shot at 16x9 with a 4x3 "safe zone" they monitored while filming. While showing the 16x9 version will have its own share of problems (poor composition, possibly distracting elements out of the main 4x3 zone, I think it's preferable to chopping the top of people's heads off, or stretching a 4x3 picture to 16x9.

Highest Ranked

Alex @ Sep 4th 2008 11:47AM

Seinfeld was shot on 35mm film which is close to 4:3. You can only get a widescreen view if you crop the top and bottom. You would get the most area from 35mm if you crop to 4:3 and not 16:9.

Neutral

Adam @ Sep 3rd 2008 11:21PM

(elaine's voice)
GET OUT!!!!! *shoves jerry*

Neutral

yanks86 @ Sep 3rd 2008 11:30PM

People did comparisions on avs. It looks like they cropped some and opened some. They probably didn't have enough extra on the sides to make it 16x9 so they cut the extra. Also, people are saying it is likely a decision Sony made to air the 16:9 version, and not TBS.

Neutral

Rusty B @ Sep 3rd 2008 11:35PM

Mr. E, hate to burst your bubble, but it's a little of both. Click the picture to go to the avsforum.com thread and check out the two photos (like the one above), notice the bathreem and microwave/stove, but also George has no legs and the stools are gone. I think the "safe zone" only allowed a little more picture but not enough to be 16x9. I see this as a "recomposition" of sorts. I just want it on blu, and I hope Sony did a good job on this!

Neutral

Mr. E @ Sep 4th 2008 8:09PM

Thanks Rusty, you're right. I went and checked out the thread after posting. I'll have to watch a few episodes and get a sense of the composition to see how I prefer it. Based on this particular screenshot, I definitely like the widescreen composition better. All that counter at the bottom of the picture does nothing for the scene.

In any case, Seinfeld on Blu-ray? Sign me up. I expect they'll be coming out when we get past any lingering replication constraints.

Neutral

Rusty B @ Sep 3rd 2008 11:38PM

bathrOOm, sorry

Neutral

shawnmos @ Sep 4th 2008 1:06AM

As long as nothing important was cut i'm ok with it. If they release the show on Blu-ray I'm definitely going to buy.

Neutral

Jeremiah @ Sep 4th 2008 2:09AM

Think of it this way. The "original" show we've been watching for years was "cropped" to 4x3, even though there was still more on the film frame that was never seen. Now you're just seeing a slightly different area from the source film. A recomposition - as Rusty B said.

The only picture i could find to explain is this Super 35 diagram:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_35
Note the red and green frame outlines.

Neutral

Jeremiah @ Sep 4th 2008 2:28AM

More example pics (T2 at the bottom):
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Makeup/4303/vertical35mm.html

I don't know if sitcoms shoot Super 35, but it's the gist of the frame cropping idea.

Neutral

Jeremiah @ Sep 4th 2008 2:27AM

More example pics (T2 at the bottom):
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Makeup/4303/vertical35mm.html

I don't know if sitcoms shoot Super 35, but it's the gist of the frame cropping idea.

Neutral

tritt @ Sep 4th 2008 8:51AM

I happened to be watching this Seinfeld broadcast last night, and noticed that it was in HD and in widescreen. I was trying to figure out if they zoomed in, or if they had some original widescreen footage. To compare, I switched back and forth between TBS and TBSHD several times. I could see that it was definitely zoomed in on TBSHD.

Neutral

David Fell @ Sep 4th 2008 10:32AM

HDNet has been running Hogan's Heroes for years, partially zoomed in. I'm holding out for the Dick Van Dyke show in HD, all the better to stare at young Mary Tyler Moore.

Neutral

Greg Roe @ Sep 4th 2008 5:58PM

Cropped? The credits at the end of each episode states it was filmed in Panavision.

Neutral

Alex @ Sep 5th 2008 12:10AM

Panavision is just a brand of camera and has nothing to do with the aspect ratio. Check out the imdb page for the show.

We're lucky that seinfeld was shot on film. If it was shot on video, like most comedies were at that time, it could never have been scanned in at high def.

Shows like Married With Children will never be released in high def because it was shot on video.

Neutral

ian9outof10 @ Sep 5th 2008 10:25AM

Friends was shot on film too, but from what I can gather attempts to re-scan have ended in failure because the make up wasn't up to it.

Anyone comment on how the show looked, aside from the aspect ratio stuff.

Was it nice and sharp?

Neutral

Runciter @ Sep 7th 2008 12:25AM

Why the Turner hate? It isn't Turner that hates black bars, it is Time Warner. TMC has long been known for showing letterbox movies (back when 4:3 sets were all the rage), but TimeWarner (via HBO/Cinemax) has long been known for cropping/chopping films.

Neutral

MM @ Sep 12th 2008 7:18PM

What I'm curious about is, are these new HD versions an upconvert from the original SD shows? Or did they actually go back to the original film, restransfer the uncut footage to HD, then edit it again to make new, true HD masters?

Or I suppose they could've edited the original shows on film first, then converted them to video, so the film cuts could also be converted to HD video. But that seems unlikely.

Neutral

Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Sep 24th 2008 5:36PM

Whoo hoo!
I just discovered this 30 minutes ago while watching. I couldn't believe my eyes.

To answer your question, yes, they went back and rescanned the film which the episodes were captured on in HD.

Thank god I held off on buying the collection on DVD, I knew this would happen sooner or later.

Neutral

Raunchy @ Sep 15th 2008 3:29PM

sony spent millions transfering all the film elements to HD and re-editing them (ie. the credit titles had to be completely redone)

the dvds are simply downconverted 480p from the high def transfers

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