Video Asylum

Posted by Joe S (A) on December 05, 2001 at 09:04:03

In Reply to: Re: There may... posted by mchad on December 04, 2001 at 09:57:52:

Check different brands for the stretch modes they offer. My Panny direct view has a mode called "just" which only stretches the outer quarters of the screen. This leaves characters (who are usually centered in the frame on TV shows, unlike movies) essentially untouched. I watch 4:3 material in this mode all the time and its not bothersome. You will also often find a "zoom" mode, but that will cut informnation off the top and bottom of the image and result in significant reduction in image quality. Every brand is a bit different and individual sets offer options of varying quality. Go look at some sets and see what is acceptable to you.

In other words - don't give up on 16:9 just quite yet. These things are long term purchases and if you accept the 4:3 compromise now you might end up regretting it for 8 or 10 years. And in the mean time NOTHING beats seening a widescreen DVD or HD image on a widescreen set.

joe