Video Asylum

Posted by sam9 on January 09, 2002 at 11:18:33

In Reply to: viewing cable tv on a widescreen tv.... posted by Susan on January 05, 2002 at 14:41:00:

Sadly, I've found that I can't find just one setting and leave it there. Most DVD's work with 16:9 and "full" (i.e., anamorphic), but some classic films are best watched with 16:9 and "standard" (not anamorphic) and a few super wide DVD work best with 4:3 and "wide" (expands non-anamorphically to fill a 16:9 screen with a letterboxed image).

For cable, I set my TV to 16:9 and "standard" which fills it top to bottom but leave right and left bands empty giving me a 4:3 image. Howver, a few programs on Discovery aand PBS and ST:Enterprise are presented letterbox so for these I change "Standard" to "wide".

Confused? Me too. All the above terminology related to a Toshiba RPTV. I imagine each make has it's own equivalent. But the point is that unless you have an unusually clear owners manual you have to check out the various combinations until you find the one the works for each case.