Continuing from my previous post, I have continued to take extra notice of how non-standard aspect ratios are converted to fit onto TV.

This particular noticing involved George Millers 1981 film Mad Max 2 (also known as The Road Warrior, or Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior). In excitement for the upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road I decided to re-watch the originals over the weekend on Blu-ray.

I noticed it was also on TV Sunday night, and I compared the differences.

On Blu-ray the film is in 2.40:1 letter box aspect ratio, while the version broadcast on television was full screen at 16:9. This meant that the edges of the screen were missing.

While nothing super important was cut off the side of the screen, it still messed up a few shots: Near the beginning of the film, on Blu-ray you can read the signpost, but on TV it was almost entirely off-screen.

Another example was in an overhead shot which had Max walking across the screen to investigate the parked Gyrocopter, the copter is half off-screen, whereas it was fully onscreen in the original aspect ratio.

In the final chase sequence multiple cars which were fully in view on Blu-ray were partially obscured on TV.

I personally found it very disappointing, and I wish TV broadcasters would show content as the creator intended. It also raised another question: Why do 4:3 programs get black (or blurred copy’s of the image) to fill excess space, but anything wider than 16:9 is cropped to fit