Anamorphic Video

Found on a large number of DVD's, anamorphic video appears to squeeze a 1.78 picture shape into a 1.33 image area. If you view an anamorphic video image on a 1.33 set, the characters will look tall and thin. In reality the active video area has been redefined as a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, as the high definition video active area is 1.78:1. This format is designed for 1.78 aspect ratio TV sets. This approach offers about 33% more vertical resolution to widescreen images. Unsqueezing an anamorphic image on a 1.33 set is accomplished by squeezing the vertical size. Back in the mid-90’s Toshiba released four laserdisc titles as promotional material in anamorphic video, prior to the coming of DVD. The four titles are "Free Willy", "The Fugitive", "Grumpy Old Men" and "Unforgiven".