Apple Final Cut Express HD - Manual (Page 1060)

1060 Part XIII Appendixes
Video can also be recorded anamorphically. For example, using a standard definition
NTSC camcorder, the recorded video frame is still 720 x 480 pixels, but the active area
of the 16:9 frame is vertically stretched to fill all 480 lines.
The advantage of this is that producers can shoot widescreen material using
inexpensive equipment. The disadvantage of shooting anamorphic video is that
everything in the anamorphic frame looks thin and distorted on a normal monitor
unless the image is adjusted.
Note: As high definition video becomes more affordable, more moviemakers will likely
shoot 16:9 video directly instead of using an anamorphic process with standard
definition video.
To view this type of material, the display device needs to squeeze the image vertically
by 25%, canceling out the stretch performed during recording. This puts 480 lines into
a smaller vertical space (360 lines), reducing the appearance of scan lines. If the source
material is film, which has no inherent line count, the vertical stretch is accomplished
optically, giving an increase in vertical resolution.
This squeezing can be done by Final Cut Express HD or by an appropriate video
monitor. If your video monitor has a 16:9 button (many high-end broadcast video
monitors do), you can also use this. Pressing this button rescales the video vertically as
it is displayed on the monitor, giving it the proper widescreen dimensions.
Remember that 16:9 anamorphic video is supposed to look stretched on a typical 4:3
monitor. Although it may look odd, it is the correct behavior. When recording, editing,
and outputting to tape, an anamorphic image should never be permanently rescaled.
Instead, leave the video at its native resolution to retain the full video resolution of the
image for future use, either for display on a widescreen monitor, or for transferring to film.
This picture is slightly
distorted after being
stretched vertically.