One of the reasons that I am so far behind on my weekly photos (other than laziness) is that I have been quite busy at work recently. We are scrambling to get our latest and greatest product out the door, and we are almost there.

I'm a software developer at heart, but I've been working in the broadcast field so long that sometimes I feel more like a video engineer. So, I find I am sometimes amused by things that would make normal people scratch their heads. This photo shows one of those moments at work where I just had to stop what I was doing and run around the office proclaiming how insane the world has become. I will try to explain.

You see, this is what happens when you watch a commercial that has been shot in a high definition aspect ratio for a standard definition broadcast, and it has been picked up by a high definition channel, which I am tuned in to through a standard definition digital tuner but am actually watching on a high definition monitor.

In other words, it has been letterboxed four times!

I will break it down in reverse order:

• The outermost set of black pillarboxes were created by the monitor because I'm watching a 4x3 standard definition signal on a 16x9 monitor.
• The next set of grey letterboxes were created by the Rogers digital tuner because I'm tuned into a 16x9 high definition channel through a 4x3 standard definition port.
• The next set of black pillarboxes were created by the broadcaster because they are playing a 4x3 standard definition commercial on their 16x9 high definition channel.
• The final set of black letterboxes were created by the company that filmed the commercial because even though their goal was a 4x3 standard definition commercial, they wanted to give it the "wide screen" feel so they filmed it in a 16x9 aspect ratio.

Anyway, hopefully this gives you a better understanding of the weird situation we are in with mixing high definition and standard definition signals. I find it hilarious that the original creator of the commercial wanted a wide screen commercial, and instead when all is said and done they get a little postage stamp in the center of the screen.

Technical details: This photo was taken with my Sony Ericsson K790a at 5.2mm, ISO 125, f/2.8 for 1/30th of a second.

Comments

LOL.  I see this all the time.	

Haha!

LOL!  That is crazy and hilarious!