The Corner Penthouse

I really don't understand why any company would author a DVD like TNA did with their The Best of the Asylum Years, Vol. 1 DVD. The majority of the footage on this DVD was shot in 2002-2004 in a 4:3 aspect ratio. However, NONE of the footage is presented in the proper aspect ratio on the DVD. It is either stretched into a 16:9 aspect ratio, or the top and bottom is cropped off to put it into a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Take a look for yourself in these two screenshot comparisons of stretched footage.


1. On the top is the 4:3 footage stretched into 16:9. Notice that Jeremy Borash's face and body both look fat due to the horizontal stretching. Lest you think that I have my player or TV set up incorrectly, at the bottom is that same image properly shown in a 4:3 aspect ratio. You'll notice that Jeremy Borash's face and body now look as they should, but that the newly-added graphic on the bottom is squeezed. That the archive footage and the graphic don't BOTH display correctly at the same time shows that the problem is on the DVD, and not on the player or TV setup.


2. On the top is the 4:3 footage stretched into 16:9. Notice that Dusty Rhodes' (in the black shirt and cowboy hat) is a little fatter than usual. At the bottom is that same image properly shown in a 4:3 aspect ratio, where you can see that Dusty's body now looks as it should.

The archive footage is bookended by new interviews which were filmed in a 16:9 aspect ratio. It is unfortunate that TNA chose to alter the archive footage to match the new interviews, rather than cropping the sides off the interview footage to match the archive footage, and leaving it all in a 4:3 aspect ratio. Absolutely nothing is gained on the left and right sides of the interview footage.

I can't watch the footage stretched like this without getting a headache. If this is indicative of what TNA is going to do with their future DVDs containing archive 4:3 footage, then this may very well be the last TNA DVD I ever buy.

For the sake of completedness, here's the match list.

DISC 1
1. Sabu vs. Ken Shamrock (July 24, 2002)
2. AJ Styles vs. Low Ki vs. Jerry Lynn (August 28, 2002)
3. Raven vs. Jeff Jarrett (April 30, 2003)
4. Elix Skipper and Low Ki vs. AJ Styles and D'Lo Brown (May 7, 2003)
5. Jeff Jarrett vs. Raven vs. AJ Styles (June 11, 2003)
6. Triple X vs. America's Most Wanted (June 25, 2003)
7. Raven vs. Shane Douglas (September 17, 2003)
8. Jeff Jarrett and Lex Luger vs. AJ Styles and Sting (November 12, 2003)
9. AJ Styles vs. D'Lo Brown (August 6, 2003)

DISC 2
1. Julio Dinero and CM Punk vs. Terry Funk and Raven (February 18, 2004)
2. AJ Styles vs. Abyss (March 17, 2004)
3. Sabu vs. Monty Brown (April 14, 2004)
4. Jeff Jarrett vs. AJ Styles (April 21, 2004)
5. Kazarian vs. AJ Styles (June 9, 2004)
6. Monty Brown vs. Jeff Hardy (July 28, 2004)
7. Kid Kash vs. AJ Styles (August 18, 2004)
8. Jeff Hardy vs. Jeff Jarrett (September 18, 2004)
9. Sabu vs. Abyss (April 28, 2004)
10. Monty Brown and Abyss vs. America's Most Wanted (June 9, 2004)
11. AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy (June 23, 2004)
12. Monty Brown vs. D'Lo Brown (July 7, 2004)

That is all.