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Found a cool site that shows what happens when a movie is modified to fit your screen. It's a 2 minute demo.
Follow Ups:
http://homepage.mac.com/hdtv_guide/
Then see the six links. Though, that site seems to favor 4:3 TVs and monitors for value, since the 4:3 set is cheaper, and you can just deal with the black bars when viewing widescreen material.Though, like you, I think wide screen is the best (especially if the material is shot in widescreen). Just buy a bigger TV and deal with the black bars and the risk of burn-in! :-) Someday, for example, a 34" 16:9 set may be cheaper than a 36" 4:3 set. Both yield the same size 16:9 image at the same resolution (assuming it does compression to use all the scan lines for the 16:9 image).
And one day I WILL trade in my 36" 4:3 36af61 SDTV for a 34" 16:9 whatever modelnumber by then HDTV. since pretty much everything I watch is already 16:9 or wider. This seems to be the aspect ratio of the future.
A 4:3 TV is a better value, and 16:9 TV's are definitely priced at a premium. You can get the same size 16:9 image on a brand of 4:3 TV as on the same brand 16:9 TV for less money. But 16:9 TV's look much slicker, they don't cost THAT much more, and I only watch DVD's anyway (so I get less black/grey bars this way). Usually the 16:9 TV's have a few extra features that relate to higher definition use.
Sort of true. Take Toshiba's line (which I like a lot). The 36inch 4:3 hi-def (36HF71) is about $1699 at my best buy (brooklyn, OH). The 34inch 16:9 hi-def (34H81) is $2349. A difference of about $650. At least it isn't 2x more, I suppose. I guess it depends how easy one can swallow that $650 (in this case). And YMMV from other retailer or other models, naturally.
That is a fair $$ difference, I wonder if the WS Toshiba doesn't have some more HD and other features? Many large-screen TV's are NOT HD capable (esp. 4:3), so watch that when comparing. Also, the price difference between direct-view 4:3 and 16:9 can be quite large, and I'm assuming that is what you were comparing. Different technology than RPTV, and harder to do in larger sizes. What I meant by slicker is it doesn't look so tall and dominating in the viewing room, you know, slimmed down a bit. As mentioned, I do not watch broadcast TV, and if I did I would certainly have a 4:3 TV for that (I do in the BR, 12 years old and lightly used). Viewing 4:3 pictures (from DVD) on the WS without distortion (or losing stuff) gives me a pretty small picture compared to the screen size, but I think all I have of those is The Simpsons, Fawlty Towers, and Black Adder. HBO TV looks GREAT on DVD's.
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