What's "letterboxing," you ask?

In the early years of motion picture history, virtually all films were shot in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.37:1, which closely matches the aperture of today's (still most popular) television screen (1.33:1).

When, in the 1950s, the invention of the television set became widespread and threatened the future of cinema, movie studios looked to develop new ways to keep audiences coming back to theatres. One of the most successful of these inventions was the introduction of widescreen movies.

If you have not yet had a chance to compare a Pan & Scan and a letterboxed version of the same widescreen movie, you may literally not realise what you are missing. Try to place that subtle feeling of claustrophobia next time you watch a cropped film that's full of unnatural close-ups and robotic, back-and-forth camera movements that rival a Ping-Pong match.

Pan-and-scan' is the process by which a portion of the widescreen theatrical image of a film is selected to fill your TV screen. It is called 'pan-and-scan' because the video operator who does it can 'pan' or move across the widescreen image to (presumably) follow the action. He can also follow the action by creating additional 'cuts,' i.e.. by cutting from one portion of the widescreen image to another. This application is still highly prevalent in the 'dumbed-down' demographically targeted TV stations for the terminally thick, who are incapable of this simplest of comprehensions, ITV, BBC and Channel 5. Sky Movies still heavily acknowledges this mainstream majority and limits its widescreen premium movie channels to the select few who can afford the extra payments for them.

What is essentially happening here is that an unknown technician somewhere is overruling the decisions of the film's director, who chose to film a scene in a certain way, in the process delivering an experience that is not what was intended, an inferior experience for the viewer. Those who complain about "black lines" above and below the image need to pay attention to what the shape of the image is next time they watch a film at the cinema, and then perhaps consider investing in a larger, widescreen TV set!