After deciding to step-up my Laserdisc game, I’ve been taking the time to go through my collection. The majority of discs I have were purchased without research or second thought. I simply saw a title I liked and then purchased it.

But, now, my mind set has begin to shift. After going through my collection, I’ve noticed that about 25% of the movies I own are P&S titles. I’ve become so used to watching letterbox movies that I don’t know if I could watch a film knowing that I’m actually missing out on parts of it.

I wanted to see where everyone else’s thoughts on the matter fall. Do you collect P&S Laserdiscs or do you avoid them? Some of the P&S videos I have are big name titles like Terminator 2, Jaws, etc. My main thought is to sell them to my local store (it’s a place that sells LDs) for a cheap price and use the little money they give me to purchase more widescreen pictures.

Otherwise, I could also just keep the P&S versions until I obtain the letterbox variations, but would I ever watch them knowing they are cut offs?

Also, if you are against P&S but a title is only available in P&S on Laserdisc - do you buy it? I’m arguing with myself whether to at least collect those titles or just skip them completely on Laserdisc.

Just wanted to see where everyone’s mindsets fallen. I’m possibly just very picky, but maybe my thoughts fall in line with other collectors.

not P&S per se for me, but I only really like 4:3/academy ratio/video for LDs because of the extra vertical resolution (anything wider than 1.66 looks pretty bad on an 80" screen from 7 feet away), so I look for films where no letterbox version exists, open matte versions, or where it was made in 4:3 to begin with.

It depends really, and not all non letterbox films are P&S, their actually a lot of open matte discs, which aren't always perfect, but really neither is 2.35 squeezed into a 4:3 box. I have a lot of full screen discs and there are some that look pretty nice.

There are also some director approved P&S LDs (I think all James Cameron, so your T2 disc might even be one)

And to answer your question, if a film I want is only available in p/s LD, in most cases yes I would take it.

Edit: I also have a ton of films in academy ratio as well, since basically everything before 1953 is 1.37 you'll find a lot of those..

James Cameron made his late 80s and 90s films with pan in scan in mind as he knew that was how they would most often be seen at the time. The original theatrical ratio is always definitive but at least with Cameron you know he's shot the film in a way that you're not going to lose anything important in pan and scan (in some shots you even gain!). I'm not sure what other directors did this but it cant' just have been him.

As for me I tend to avoid Pan and Scan laserdiscs unless it's unavailable in letterboxed, or more often the specific cut of the film isn't available in letterboxed.

If it's the only way to get a movie (as a widescreen version hasn't been released to home video), I don't mind a P&S LD. I mean, you still can't get Return of the Living Dead on DVD or blu-ray with the complete original soundtrack (latest releases are still missing one song)--so the fullscreen LD is still the best way to watch that.

Now, like previously mentioned, some "fullscreen" versions aren't quite P&S as they are sometimes "open matte." Sure you're not seeing the composition as the film-maker intended, but at least you're not losing any of the picture (and sometimes seeing things that you're not supposed to!)

First time I noticed this was the boom mic in the open matte home versions of the Princess Bride.

I do, specially many 80s releases are 4:3. And they look good

Interesting! I'm aware of other reasons for 4:3, which is why I specifically said P&S but it is interesting to hear your particular focus. Quite unique.




That's very clever of Cameron to plan ahead in such a way.

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In the end, however, I think I've made my decision. I'm going to be clearing out all my P&S LDs that have LBX versions available.

I remember watching P&S DVDs growing up because we had yet to purchase a widescreen television. Never understood why people would want widescreen at the time, but it came from the perspective of a child without a wide screen to watch on. Now that I've become so accustomed to it, and I've watched a few P&S vs LBX comparisons of films, I don't think I could watch films in P&S without feeling as though I was being cut short.

Interesting to hear everyone's thoughts though! Super cool.

Make sure they aren't open matte otherwise you will be basically buying the same title again.

Also some P/S are not really cut on the sides so you may not be losing much if any information.
One film I own is listed as P/S but when I did side comparisons with the letterboxed DVD I only see about a sliver on the sides more and cutting into the heads from the matting.

Good luck with LD.

I personally don't mind. If there's a letterbox version available, I'll get that but there are some movies that only had a pan & scan LD release. Though I still watch older formats which are all pan & scan, just need to get in the right mindset.

No P&S for me unless there is no other option available. When I was buying discs new, I always figured some day I would have the right gear to properly show widescreen, so I always went for the widescreen versions of movies. Some stuff was only 4:3, and that's fine.

It's interesting what rein-o said about how some P&S versions were cut. Too bad there's no way to know how much material was cropped out.

I think I'm one of those rare weirdos that really loves P&S... mostly for the nostalgic factor.

I used to work at a video store on the late '80s and had tons of copied versions of my favorite movies. I spent years seeing movies like Tron, The Thing and Close Encounters in P&S only. I definitely embraced widescreen releases when they became more common (and most of my favorite movies I own in mutliple formats), but I sometimes like to see some of those old classics and P&S. It just "feels" good.

Give me the old days when I didn't know any better, now I have to check IMDb before watching a movie just to see if I'm being cheated.

For example I Just finished How to Marry a Millionaire obviously a CinemaScope movie, taking into account the position of the reel change marks it appears that the video is slightly cropped. Five years ago I wouldn't have known any better, for me in this example ignorance would have been bliss.

For the nostalgic factor, I prefer the 1.33:1 aspect ratio.
I feel the widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with twice the amount of black bars are so distracting that I sometimes actually hate them. I don't think this has to do with my settings, but the extra black bars are thought to give the cinematic feeling you would get at the cinema. I normally don't have an issue with black bars, so to speak, so I'm not the guy that wants everything stretched when the source material doesn't allow this to happen in an easy way without compromises.

I watch Laserdiscs (also VHS and DVD) mainly on the platform that they are intended to be viewed on, a good high quality CRT TV so I don't mind Pan & Scan however I honestly much prefer Letterbox/Widescreen so will buy those releases if available. I do also have a Laserdisc player connected to a LED HDTV but still don't mind Pan & Scan on it as the HDTV has a 4:3 ratio setting. Now that I'm thinking about it, I really should get a video processor and high end scaler someday for that Laserdisc + LED HDTV setup.

I also think this is the case for all movies shot in Super 35. Top Gun and Black Rain add a lot to the top and bottom and not much is cropped from the sides on the P&S versions. I think the P&S versions of some Stanley Kubrick films do this as well, like Barry Lyndon. I used to have a list of movies where the P&S versions of films on LD added more picture information than the letterboxed versions but I can't find it.

Yes but not exclusively... i even have a Laserdisc 4:3 group set up on Facebook (everyone that is a FAN of 4:3 is welcome to join). Why 4:3? Many reasons for me.... nostalgia being one strong reason- especially if you want to watch an old fave on a vintage tv or 4:3 display. Another reason- often the 4:3 versions have great artwork and variant covers. We discuss the other reasons on the group if you would like to join in- please do.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/354128105029513/

I collect both fullscreen and widescreen versions, depending on the film.

Most of the Pan & Scan Laserdiscs we collected are from the 1980s. Also, Pan & Scan usually refers to a film who has been cropped from its original version. Films shot in Anamorphic Widescreen, some films shot in Super 35 (though they may also usually contain a combination of Open Matte), and some films shot in 1.85:1.

For the 1990s, if a Letterboxed Widescreen version of a film is available (and a Pan & Scan version as well), we usually go for that one.

If I want to buy an old movie, I first check IMDb. If the technical specs are 1.85:1 I will look for the open matte LD. If anything else it's a DVD or Blu-ray. Once I bought an open matte title "Soapdish" and it was a P&S of an 1.85:1 image, the grain was really bad. One odd one was the movie "Repossessed". The DVD is open matte 4:3 just like the LD...