Reference: Review Lines
Rick Retro’s Reference Rundown #11: Footer Block, Review Lines
Retro Reviews Reference
The body of the review is followed by the Footer Block. The first line or lines of the Footer Block are the Review Lines with information on when I most recently, and also firstly, experienced the reviewed work, how many times I’ve experienced it, if more than once, and how I experienced it. For video works, how I experienced the work is compared to its original aspect ratio and sound mix.
A typical Review Line for a reviewed film or video work experienced only once looks like:
viewed 12/27/24, sd7, 1.37, 1M
Or for literary works:
read 12/1/24, pb
Or for audio works:
listened 1/3/25, 2D
The Review Lines for a reviewed work experienced more than once look like:
last viewed (3) 12/19/25, HDX7, 1.85v, 5M
viewed (2) 12/31/24, HDX7, 1.85v, 5M
first viewed December 1998, ThX, 1.85, 6
There will only be a line between the first and last viewing of a work if there is a Rick Retro’s Review associated with that viewing, which is substantially different than the latest review.
The number in parentheses indicates how many times I've watched (or read or listened to) the reviewed work in my lifetime. It might show as “~#”, meaning the number is a guess, or as “#+”, meaning at least that number of times.
After the date, there will be one notation for a literary work, as follows:
hb – hardback
tpb – trade paperback
pb – standard paperback book
dS – a small digital screen, probably my phone
dK – my Kindle device
dM – a mid-size digital screen, probably a tablet
dL – a larger digital screen, probably my desktop computer
dX7 – a extra-large digital screen, in this case with a 7-foot (84") diagonal
For video works viewed, the viewing date is followed by 3 notations.
The first notation is my viewing picture quality (letters) and screen size (number representing diagonal in feet). For example:
ThX – I watched in a movie theater or even a drive-in. Probably my first viewing and I don't recall screen size, but I usually went to the theaters with the largest screens whenever possible.
HDX7 – applies to most modern movies and television series. I viewed in high definition (1080p) on my 7-foot (84") diagonal TV.
HDI5 – an older high definition format that's not quite as detailed (either 1080i or 720p). I viewed on my older 5-foot (60") diagonal earlier HD TV.
sd7 – the old standard definition from 20th century television (480i).
3DX7 – viewed in high definition 3D.
UHD8 – viewed in UHD (2160p). How I would view if I replaced my current TV with a 4K TV that has a 12" bigger diagonal. But I don’t want to give up my 3D TV yet... You can’t have both in one TV, at least not that I'm aware of. And they no longer produce new 3D TVs.
The second notation refers to the original aspect ratio of the work and the aspect ratio I watched if different.
Modern HD television would normally be the aspect ratio 1.78:1 (I will leave off the :1 part and just use the number that precedes :1) and fills a modern TV screen.
Old TV shows were shot in 1.33 and will have black bars on the sides when watched on a modern TV.
Some old television is upgraded to HD by chopping off the top and bottom of the 1.33 picture and zooming in on the resulting 1.78 picture so that it will fill the entire modern screen. I hate this and will avoid it. But if I do watch it, I will show this as <1.33>, representing that it is made to look wider than it would with the bars on each side.
Modern movies are typically shot in 1.85 and will usually have a little bit clipped off on the sides when shown on a modern television. I’ll use 1.85v to show the original aspect ratio, but I’m actually watching in 1.78. In rare cases if you see “vv” after the number, it’s a widescreen movie I watched on an old TV in 1.33 with the sides of the picture cut off even more.
If you see a number greater than 1.78, with no “v” following, I’m watching the original aspect ratio and there are black bars at the top and bottom of the picture so that nothing is cropped.
The third notation refers to what I’m hearing. (If I’m listening to a sound recording this will be the only notation.)
0 – a silent film
0D – a silent film with sound added later. The added sound is typically a mono or stereo soundtrack upgraded by modern equipment and played in Dolby Stereo.
1D – originally a mono soundtrack, but I’m listening to a stereo upgrade. When Dolby upgrades mono to stereo it pretty much sends it equally to both speakers of a stereo system or to the center channel of a 5-speaker or 7-speaker surround system like what I’ve got.
1M – originally a mono soundtrack, but I’m listening to an upgrade to 5-channel surround sound—At least theoretically. In practice it’s usually the same as 1D above.
2D – Dolby stereo. (Not a 2-dimensional picture as opposed to 3D)
2M – originally a stereo soundtrack, but I’m listening to an upgrade to 5-channel surround sound.
5D – 5-channel Dolby surround sound.
5M – processed sound that is sent directly to each of the 5 main speaker channels. It’s how most of my modern movies stream with Vudu. Lots of Blu-ray discs have it too.
7D and 7M – the same as 5D and 5M but sends some sound to my two rear speakers as well as the 5 speakers normally used in surround setups. Typically only available on discs, but rarely available on streaming services.
A number with no letter following estimates the number of tracks of sound in a theater viewing.
Originally posted to text group 2025-01-18
Last updated 2025-02-04
Retro Reviews Reference Pages:
Reference Overview
Header Block:
Primary Information Line
Version Line
Secondary Information Line
Franchise/Series Lines
Opinion Block:
Grade Line
Entertainment Quality Line
Dark Whimsy Line
POPCAP Line
Left-Right Line
Footer Block:
Review Lines
Genre Line
Content Block:
Overall Content Line
Content Detail Line
Viewpoint Block:
My View Line
Christian Values Line
Biblical Values Line
Political Values Line
⬅️Previous (all sections) | Next (all sections) ➡️