What’s wrong with Seinfeld’s aspect ratio on Netflix?

Seinfeld officially switched to streaming on Netflix today, with a new 4K upgrade that promises to make the show look better than ever. But while Netflix has upgraded the iconic “show on nothing” to an even sharper resolution, Netflix is ​​adopting the same strategy that Hulu and other HD versions of the show have used: a more modern 16: 9 aspect, at the same time. instead of offering the original 4: 3 aspect ratio in which the show was originally broadcast.

The aspect ratio is not a new problem for Seinfeld fans, dating back to the original HD remaster that was produced in 2008 for syndicated reruns of TBS HD, which were further scans of the original film (hence the ability to add in the larger footage that was never part of the initial broadcast) in widescreen to better suit modern televisions.

Image: Captainjoe201 / Reddit

But this 16: 9 cut is the only one that has been released publicly in HD; the best versions with the original 4: 3 aspect ratio format are the DVD versions, which means that Seinfeld fans have been forced to choose for years between visual quality and aspect ratio.

When Netflix announced that it would obtain the rights to Seinfeld – and the series upgrading to 4K in the process – there was some hope the streaming service would return to the drawing board and create a true 4K Cut, one that re-digitized the movie in the highest quality possible. A new 4K scan would also have offered the ability to restore the 4: 3 aspect ratio, offering the holy grail of Seinfeld cuts: a high definition version of the show, cropped as it was originally intended.

Netflix doesn’t seem to have done it, however – something that admittedly makes sense, given that such a venture would cost a huge amount of money on top of the already exorbitant $ 500 million it spent on rights. . But the service also didn’t take the chance here to at least offer the option to choose between the 16: 9 HD cut and the lower resolution 4: 3 aspect ratio, which would have been a useful compromise.

The 4: 3 aspect ratio isn’t just about nostalgia either. The wider aspect ratio has a real impact on things like basic scene blocking: in exchange for a bit more footage from the left and right sides of the frame, the top and bottom of the frames are cut off, which sometimes results in a severed foot or the top of someone’s head.

And a bit like The simpsons (which suffered from a similar aspect ratio issue when it was first streamed), the show’s 16: 9 cutout also ruins some of the jokes: as one Twitter user pointed out, The Nest The pothole of the episode “The Pothole” doesn’t really appear in the widescreen version anymore thanks to the cropping.

The good news is that there is a precedent for a fix: when The simpsons started streaming on Disney Plus, it was also missing an option for its original aspect ratio, but the service eventually added the option to switch to the 4: 3 aspect ratio a few months later. Which means there’s a (admittedly unlikely) chance that Netflix – or anyone else ends up with the Seinfeld rights then – may decide to offer a similar option in the future as well.