Are you an avid Simpsons fan? This option will definitely come in handy. For more than a year, it has been possible to watch all the seasons of the animated series on Disney +, the subscription video on demand (SVOD) platform.

However, when the subscription streaming service was launched in April 2020, Internet users realized that all episodes were offered in a single format, 16:9. Unfortunately, this rectangular presentation doesn't match the way the first seasons of The Simpsons were produced: this remaster cuts the image and spoils some jokes.

Disney+, however, was able to react quickly by obtaining the original versions of The Simpsons, then making them available to its subscribers and subscribers a few weeks later. Since May 2020, you have therefore been able to choose whether you want to watch the episodes in 4:3 (and therefore have small black bars on both sides of the screen) or in 16:9 (a format that fills the " rectangle” of current televisions and computers, but cuts out part of the images).

Here's how to enable this option.

How to Enable The Simpsons 'Original Format' on Disney+

To watch episodes of The Simpsons in original 4:3 format, you must:

The “remastered format” option on Disney+

Its good ! You have nothing more to do, the episodes that will launch will be available in their original format.

Why is the picture different in 16:9 compared to 4:3?

To adapt the episodes shot in 4:3 to a longer format, the image undergoes modifications: it is “cropped” at the top and bottom, then slightly stretched. This is why, in The Simpsons for example, the characters tend to look more thick in the 16:9 version.

The Simpsons in original version (4:3)

Source: Screenshot on Disney+

The Simpsons in original version (16:9)

Source: Screenshot on Disney+

More precisely, it is not the 4:3 image that is cropped: the teams in charge of the remastering actually recover the original film rolls, which contain the shots shot at a slightly wider angle ( in pink below), and these shots are then cropped:

This is what we have shown below with this illustration of the different formats:

The different video formats. Source: Nino Barbey for Numerama

The Simpsons are not the only ones in the case: series like Friends, for example, also underwent a remastering of this type in the 2000s, which let it appear on the screen elements supposed to be out of camera at the screen. 'origin.

On the other hand, not all platforms reacted like Disney+. Netflix, for example, does not offer an alternative for the Seinfeld series, the entirety of which it put online in October 2021: some episodes are poorly sized (in 16:9), and it is not possible to activate a button to switch them to 4:3.

Which SVOD service is right for you?

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