Widescreen Gaming Forum

Main Entry: ana·mor·phic
Pronunciation: ˌa-nə-ˈmȯr-fik
Function: adjective
Etymology: New Latin anamorphosis distorted optical image
Date: circa 1925
: producing, relating to, or marked by intentional distortion (as by unequal magnification along perpendicular axes) of an image

Merriam-Webster

Anamorphic content is that which has a resolution of a different aspect ratio than it is intended to be displayed at. One example widescreen DVDs which are meant to be displayed at 16:9 but are 3:2 (720x480) on the disk. Another example is games in which the display aspect ratio can be set independently from the rendering resolution.

The behavior of various cut scenes and such commonly referred to as "Anamorphic" on the this forum is not anything of the sort. "Fixed aspect ratio" would be a proper description of such content.

ne·ol·o·gism Audio Help /niˈɒləˌdʒɪzəm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[nee-ol-uh-jiz-uhm] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a new word, meaning, usage, or phrase.
2. the introduction or use of new words or new senses of existing words.

"Anamorphic" once specifically referred to a kind of camera lens, long before DVDs or even home video existed. The use of the word to describe DVDs is a neologism. Our own neologism has to do with games, and it refers to the behavior of black bars being reduced when you go from 4:3 to 16:9, as can be observed on anamorphic DVDs.

And actually, our use of the word is truer to the etymology than the DVDs' usage is. "Ana" means "upwards," and "morph" means "shape." In our use of the word, the rectangle that contains the content increases its size as a function of Δx/y. IMO, this interpretation of the word makes more sense than the DVD's definition, which essentially means "squished."

What do you think the anamorphic camera lenses you mention do? They squish a wider aspect ratio image onto a narrower aspect ratio film. Then, anamorphic projector lens stretch that content back out to the wider aspect ratio when displaying it. Referring to such reshapeing methods ussed with DVDs is not neologistic.

As for etymology, the Latin prefix "ana-" has a few meanings, and the one relevant to the term in question is not "up" but rather "again". "Shape again", or in more modern terms, reshape, is the meaning expressed by "anamorphic". That meaning is completely lost in the usage of the term on this website though, as there is no reshaping of the content when adding letterboxing for a narrower display, just like there is no reshaping of the content when adding pillarboxing on a wider one; neither process is anamorphic in any etymologically accurate sense of the term.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anamorphic_widescreen

What do you think the anamorphic camera lenses you mention do? They squish a wider aspect ratio image onto a narrower aspect ratio film.

Film has nothing to do with how an anamorphic lens works. The lens simply bends the light - a completely optical process.

Referring to such reshapeing methods ussed with DVDs is not neologistic.

It is, because the original (AFAIK) meaning of anamorphosis has to do with optical tricks, and the methods used on DVD players have nothing to do with optics. By the time optics are even involved in the process (the picture going from the monitor to your eyes), the "unsquishing" is already finished.

As for etymology, the Latin prefix "ana-" has a few meanings, and the one relevant to the term in question is not "up" but rather "again".

The one relevant to the term as we're using it is "up."

as there is no reshaping of the content when adding letterboxing for a narrower display, just like there is no reshaping of the content when adding pillarboxing on a wider one;

If you really want to disregard all meanings of "ana" other than the one that works best to describe anamorphic lenses, it can work here too. When you add black bars on top of and below a rectangle, you are in a sense "reshaping" a wide rectangle into a less wide rectangle. But I like my "up" explanation better.

Another point worth noting is that the term has been used to describe 1080p video content, even though 1080p uses square pixels and doesn't involve any squishing. The term has simply come to mean "fixed aspect ratio with black bars on the top and bottom to make up the width difference."

If you look the Wiki entry Ibrin posted, you'll find:

DVDs using anamorphic widescreen are very similar to anamorphic film negatives, where the rectangular image is optically-squeezed (horizontally) to fit inside the almost-square storage space.

Hopefully that will help you grasp the relationship between camera lenses and film and that between optical and digital imaging as well. Also on that page, you'll find another link to the entry for Anamorphic format which describes the etymology of the term:

The word "anamorphic" and its derivates derive from the Greek words meaning formed again.

Adding black bars on top of and below content is not forming it again, it is not the "intentional distortion" described in the definition of anamorphic. Adding black bars to the top and bottom is simply letterboxing, which the as the entry explains, is a process used for "preserving the film's original aspect ratio", and that is done with matting rather than anamorphosis.

While I appreciate your fervor, and grasp of vocabulary and it's details, the bottom line is this:

For the general population, "anamorphic" means something that is letterboxed on a 4:3 screen (to maintain it's aspect ratio), and something that fills the screen (or nearly fills the screen) on a widescreen display (using the bars as needed).

Whether the term is truly accurate in the historical sense, it really doesn't matter. The games we identify as being "anamorphic" display in the same manner as an anamorphic DVD does on 4:3 and widescreen displays. The goal is to use or define a term that people will understand with no to minimal explanation. "Anamorphic" does this.

For the general population, "anamorphic" means something that is letterboxed on a 4:3 screen (to maintain it's aspect ratio), and something that fills the screen (or nearly fills the screen) on a widescreen display (using the bars as needed).

How do you figure that? I've rarely seen the term used to describe such matting outside this website, never by a broadcaster or on any Blu-ray box. Have you?

Also, note that I had no intention of bring up the history the term, that was The Cranky Hermit's doing. My disagreement in the usages is based on the commonly accepted usage of words which linguists record in dictionaries.

How do you figure that? I've rarely seen the term used to describe such matting outside this website, never by a broadcaster or on any Blu-ray box. Have you?

It's on every DVD I own:



And major DVD websites have used the phrase for years:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/welcome.html

Such DVDs are anamorphic; 3:2 aspect ratio digital video on the disks, intended to be viewed at 16:9. But again, broadcast HD and Blu-ray content aren't called anamorphic because there is no "unequal magnification along perpendicular axes" involved to meet the commonly accepted definition of the term.

Sorry, I don't have the energy to keep up with this. Your point is taken, but we don't have a better word or solution. If we found one, it would have to be "really good," for us to go back and re-work everything in the site and Wiki.

Hopefully that will help you grasp the relationship between camera lenses and film and that between optical and digital imaging as well.

I'm aware of the relationship. Camera lenses produce an optical trick known as anamorphosis. Digital image processing for DVDs *simulate* anamorphosis, but it isn't anamorphosis. But we call them "anamorphic" anyway because of the similarities. And by a completely reasonable extension, games with fixed aspect ratios and dynamic letterboxing *simulate* the effect of watching an anamorphic DVD on a widescreen TV.

Also on that page, you'll find another link to the entry for Anamorphic format which describes the etymology of the term:

I'm not disagreeing with you on the etymology of the term as it applies to optics. What I'm saying is that "upwards shaping" also make sense etymologically, and that's what we use.

Adding black bars on top of and below content is not forming it again,

It's not forming the *content* again, but it is forming the *shape* again. Nowhere in the structure of the word "anamorphic" does it specify that the shape cannot include the black bars as well.

it is not the "intentional distortion" described in the definition of anamorphic.

That's why it's a neologism.

Really, anamorphic works fine. The new definition is completely logical (it doesn't matter that the new definition is different from the old one - that's why it's a new one), it's defined clearly on this website, and it refers to a behavior that is familiar to people who purchase videos that are advertised as "anamorphic."

It's not forming the *content* again, but it is forming the *shape* again. Nowhere in the structure of the word "anamorphic" does it specify that the shape cannot include the black bars as well.

The definition specifies "intentional distortion", and there is no distortion in letterboxing content. Again, the black bars are there to preserve the aspect ratio which is basicly the opposite of the "unequal magnification along perpendicular axes" which the term " anamoprhic" refers to. Also, there is no reason for you to be hanging on optical nature of anamoprhic lenses. If you had bothered to look though the sources I provided, you would have seen that we had anamorphosis long before we had camaras.

Sorry, I don't have the energy to keep up with this. Your point is taken, but we don't have a better word or solution. If we found one, it would have to be "really good," for us to go back and re-work everything in the site and Wiki.

Again, a proper description is "fixed aspect ratio". That what it is called in video drivers, and that is the function of such matting. If you have your heart set on a single word, "Unimoprhic" would be at least be etymologically correct, I can't say I've seen the it listed in a dictionary, but Google shows it being used in regard to a range of subjects. As for the work, there are plenty of programs with find/replace functions to automate such tasks across an entire database, Textpad being the one I tend to use.

The definition specifies "intentional distortion"

Again, that's just one possible definition. We're not using that one - we're using a different definition that makes an equal amount of sense considering the structure of the word.

Also, there is no reason for you to be hanging on optical nature of anamoprhic lenses. If you had bothered to look though the sources I provided, you would have seen that we had anamorphosis long before we had camaras.

I'm aware of that. But it's not the lenses I'm hanging on to - it's the optics. And the paintings you link to have everything to do with optics.

Again, a proper description is "fixed aspect ratio".

Too wordy. It needs to be a fairly terse adjective in order to fit in with other ones like "hor +" and "vert -."

"Unimoprhic" would be at least be etymologically correct

Not bad, but anamorphic is also etymologically correct and has the added advantage of alluding to a behavior that DVD consumers are already familiar with.

Again, that's just one possible definition. We're not using that one - we're using a different definition that makes an equal amount of sense considering the structure of the word.

What you are doing is using the word in a way that isn't listed in any dictionary and doesn't have any relevance to the definitions you will find in dictionary. So if one who isn't familiar with the term looks it up in a dictionary rather than asking about it on this forum, that person won't know what you are talking about but rather will either be confused or mislead.

I'm aware of that. But it's not the lenses I'm hanging on to - it's the optics. And the paintings you link to have everything to do with optics.

The paint on a canvas isn't any more optical than the cells of a film, or the pixels in a digital image. All can be anamoprhic though, but only if they have the intentional distortion absent from your usage of the term.

What you are doing is using the word in a way that isn't listed in any dictionary and doesn't have any relevance to the definitions you will find in dictionary.

That's how all neologisms begin. Not just this one.

So if one who isn't familiar with the term looks it up in a dictionary rather than asking about it on this forum, that person won't know what you are talking about but rather will either be confused or mislead.

That's why we have a page describing every form of "screen change" we recognize. Here's the one on "Anamorphism":
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/wiki/index.php/Anamorphism

The paint on a canvas isn't any more optical than the cells of a film, or the pixels in a digital image.

Distorted paintings are more optical than distorted digital images. A distorted painting is something you look at. But by the time you look at a digital image (or by the time light has anything to do with it), it's no longer distorted, and therefore no longer anamorphic.

Hmm I see both sides of the argument here.

On one hand, based on it's use on DVDs I always thought anamorphic meant fixed aspect ratio too since those DVDs would always display in 16:9 or 2.35:1 regardless of the ratio of the display. I don't think it has a high potential to confuse anyone and I'm not against making a new meaning for an old word. How many people need to start using/accepting the term in the "wrong" context before it beomces the right one?

On the other hand, fixed aspect ratio already describes the effect accurately and more directly I suppose, so I don't know that there's a need for the new term, it's not even that much of a character savings ;)

"Fixed aspect ratio" describes a static property of the game. It isn't a kind of "screen change" like "hor +" and "vert -" are. The "screen change" of these games specifically involves the black bars becoming smaller, so the term used needs to reflect that.