Why the shape of your screen matters - Brian Gervase

翻译人员: Tianshu Wang 校对人员: Jenny Yang

You know, back in the '40s and '50s,

你知道，上世纪四五十年代时，

the original standard television had a 4 to 3 width to height ratio.

电视屏幕的标准长宽比本来是4：3。

That shape was chosen to be a slight rectangle,

这个形状虽是长方形，

but still mostly square, thus having the maximal screen area

但仍然很接近正方形， 因此在给定的维度下

for the given dimensions.

实现的面积最大。

And that's still the ratio on many TVs and computer monitors in today's homes.

今天的许多电视电脑 仍然沿用了这一比例。

The problem is, hardly anybody today treats video content in a 4 to 3 ratio.

问题是，现在几乎没人 还看4：3的视频了。

See, this whole problem started

看吧，当人们想在自己家中

when people wanted to watch movies from the theater

欣赏和在影院效果一样的电影时，

in the comfort of their own homes.

问题就来了。

Movie screens are considerably larger than our home television.

银幕的尺寸比电视大得多。

More important, the screen is completely different rectangle

更重要的是，银幕用的 是完全不同的长方形，

and can't mathematically fit on our TV screens without manipulation.

这样的尺寸很难不经调整 就直接被搬上电视屏幕。

A typical TV is one and a third times wider than it is tall

通常，电视屏幕的长宽比是4：3。

Some movie screens could be up to three times as wide as it is tall.

有些电影的长度 可以达到宽度的三倍。

So what're we going to do to make it fit? Well, we have all kinds of options.

那怎样才能让它们匹配呢？ 唔，选择还是很多的。

Well, we could squeeze and stretch and mangle everything onto the screen,

我们可以压缩和拉伸， 把所有内容都塞进屏幕，

to make it all fill up,

让屏幕被画面完全覆盖，

and everyone would look ridiculously thin and compressed.

但是画面上的人就会显得特别瘦， 看起来像被压扁了一样。

The good news is the sound would be just fine,

好消息是， 声音和画面还是匹配的，

although I don't think people would be too happy about that option,

不过我不知道 人们会不会满足于这个方式，

particularly the actors in the movie.

尤其是电影的演员们。

We could just cut a chunk of the original movie like a cookie cutter

我们也可以像用模具切面片一样 从原版电影中截一块，

and just see that frame of the movie.

并以此作为框架。

The problem with that would be people and objects

这么做的问题是， 说话的人

would be speaking from off the screen, or, even worse, they might be cut in half.

可能被挡在了屏幕之外， 更糟的是，他们可能被切掉一半。

一些影片编辑使用一种 叫“平移与扫描”的技术

Some movie editors use what's called the "pan and scan" technique

to allow the full height of the TV screen to be used,

来充分使用电视屏幕的宽度，

but pick and choose what section of the original movie

但可以选择 电影的哪一部分

should be shown on your screen

应该出现在电视屏幕上，

thus eliminating the annoying cutting of people.

这样就能避免经常把人像剪开了。

Imagine that job: staring at a 4 to 3 hole

想像以下这份工作： 从4：3孔开始，

watching movies all day, deciding for everyone

整天就看电影， 并决定画面的哪一部分

which piece of the screen is the most important part for people to see.

是观众一定要看的。

Now let's do a little quick math.

现在让我们迅速算一算。

If we compare a major cinematic film produced on a 2.35 to 1 aspect frame

比较一下 2.35：1的银幕电影

with my standard 4 to 3 TV screen,

和4：3的标准电视屏幕，

we find out that only 55% of the movie can actually fit on the screen

我们就能发现， 只有55%的电影，

每一幕都可以完整地搬上屏幕。

at any one time.

Just over half!

只有一半多一点！

You've seen the disclaimer at the beginning of the movie on TV or DVD

电视或DVD里的电影开始前， 都有一条免责声明说

that says, "This film has been modified

“这部电影的内容，

from its original format to fit on your TV screen."

已经修改为适合电视荧屏播出的尺寸。“

Well, what it should say is,

其实，它该说的是

"We are only displaying 55% of the movie of our choosing."

“我们只展示了选出的55%的电影画面。”

Now for all the full-screen TV lovers,

对所有热爱全屏电视的人来说，

this is your dilemma:

这是个进退两难的局面：

do you want to see all the movie, or is 55% good enough?

你想看所有电影， 还是质量好的55%那部分？

How about new TVs?

那换个新电视机呢？

Around the start of the century, some widescreen TVs

本世纪初， 有些宽屏电视

emerged in a 16 to 9, or 1.78 times wider than it is tall.

采用了16：9， 也就是1.78：1的长宽比，

Well, this screen fits the movie a little better,

这样的屏幕与电影稍微匹配了一些，

but still only shows 75% of the original movie at one time.

但也只适合75%的原版电影。

Suppose someone made a TV for your living room

如果有人在客厅

that was actually 2.35 to 1 to show those full movies?

装了2.35：1的电视 来放原版电影呢？

Well, the TV with the same height as the most current 50-inch TVs -

如果这电视的宽度 和一般电视一样有50英寸（127cm），

that TV would be close to six feet long.

那它的长度就要达到6英尺（1.83m）。

And on top of that, you'd only use the full screen when you watched movies.

关键是，你只有看电影时， 才需要这么大的全屏。

Most of the other content would have to be stretched,

而其他画面要么会被拉伸，

or have empty space on the sides of the screen.

要么会让屏幕边缘留下黑边。

Of course, there is one more option.

当然，还有一个选择。

We can just shrink the movie screen proportionally,

我们可以按比例缩小电影画面

to fit the width of your home television.

来与电视屏幕相匹配。

We can mathematically scale the original to fit exactly the width of the screen

我们能给电影 算出正好适合屏幕的长宽比，

and this'll preserve the entire movie screen,

并保留电影的全部画面，

but show the infamous black bars along the top and bottom

但画面上下 会出现难看的黑条，

that so many television watchers abhor.

很不受电视观众待见。

Of course, now you can argue that we're only using 75% of that screen.

当然，你也能说 现在我们只用了屏幕的75%。

And that is where the real question is:

这才是真正的问题：

do you want your full screen, or do you want to see the entire movie?

你想充分利用屏幕的每一寸， 还是看到完整的电影画面？

Most likely, you just need a bigger TV.

最有可能的是，你需要买一台更大的电视。