Women Are 4:3 And Men Are 16:9
What is the difference between men and women when it comes to watching movies?
Women Are 4:3
My wife was watching Devil Wears Prada on our 40” Sony Bravia HD television. I looked at the screen and the first thing I noticed was that the film was being presented in SD (standard definition) which has a 4:3 aspect ratio.
I also noticed that she was watching the film on the W Network, complete with commercials and edited down to fit into a two hour time slot.
Two things struck me as odd:
- She was watching a cropped SD version of the movie when we have it on Blu-ray in HD.
- We have several HD movie channels that are commercial free and unedited.
A friend of mine doesn’t watch anything unless it is in HD on his cable box. A year after he purchased his first HD television he still marvels at the quality of the beautiful widescreen picture.
Yesterday he confessed that his wife always watches the latest television shows in 4:3 standard definition using Roger On Demand service (streaming video). She could care less if her TV shows are in HD or SD.
Men Are 16:9
Most of my television viewing consists of HD channels. When I watch a movie on my PVR it better be widescreen, HD, and at the very least, Dolby Digital audio. I prefer to mute the audio on my television and use my AV receiver with a subwoofer to provide the audio.
If The Devil Wears Prada is on SD television I would likely change the channel. If it was on one of the HD movie channels I still wouldn’t watch it, but, if I had to watch The Devil Wears Prada I would most certainly grab the Blu-ray disc in our video collection and watch it in HD. Makes sense, right?
I can’t help it. Most guys can’t help it. We’re all about specs, even when it doesn’t matter. Women don’t care if a television is 60 inches or 42 inches. Ask a woman if she prefers plasma, LCD, LED or rear projection and you might get a funny look or a slap in the face.
I probably sound extremely sexist but from my experience, most women don’t care about the technology behind the presentation of a movie or a television show. As long as the television works the way she would expect it to, my wife is happy.
For some people, what they are watching is more important than how they are watching it. The emotional connection to a film or show outweighs the aspect ratio.
I know that there are a lot of 4:3 guys out there as well but I’d be curious to hear from some women that care about the specs and given a choice, would rather watch HD content instead of SD content.
Note: the widescreen video capture above is actually 2.35:1 (anamorphic widescreen). Guys that are really uptight about the specs are 2.35:1 instead of 16:9.
Posted in Movies at 11:50 PM
