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New RPTV....4:3 or 16:9????
Posted by Andy [IP: 199.185.223.10] on December 12, 1998 at 16:54:12:
In Reply to: New RPTV....4:3 or 16:9???? posted by Cam Ens on December 11, 1998 at 23:56:21:
In the end, i would base my decision
on which screen format am i likely
to use most. If it looks like the
total time you spend watching cable or
DSS type of 4:3 material will exceed
that of widescreen movies, I would go
for a 4:3. With a large enough 4:3
you can have a letterboxed image as large as a lot of 16:9 er's, with the
added bonus of 4:3 programming being
much larger. As a long time laserdisc
viewer, i personally don't mind the
'black-bars'. i think i would mind
gray or black bars on the sides of a 4:3
image though. I think the new 4:3 Sony
XBR's have integral proprietary line-
doubling of some sort. So there are some
4:3 TV builders who are addressing
the loss of vertical resolution in
letterboxing.As far as 'fitting' the 4:3 to a 16:9
with the set's own internal processing,
what I've seen is hokey at best. I think
you've got a choice of various degrees of stretching or cropping, not good IMO. Even with a typical 16:9er you are not totally going to eliminate the 'black
bars' from your viewing. The only way
is with anamorphic ('enhanced for widescreen') DVDs of 1.85:1 aspect ratio. If it is a 2.35:1 anamorphic,
you will still end up with the dreaded
black bars, albeit much thinner ones.
Also, regular widescreen 1.85:1 DVD's
will also 'fit' a 16:9, but they are simply 'blown-up' to fit and have
no resolution advantage over the same
image letterboxed on a 4:3. Another thing to consider is bang for
the buck, which would be higher with a 4:3. Personally, as much as I'd like to upgrade, there seems to be too much happening as far as NTSC, DTV, and
'cross-over' based sets to commit
to a new set now. Plus my 46" Sony
still performs like a champ, and
puts up a stunning picture...even in
2.35:1 letterbox. But if i HAD
to buy something now, given my cable
LD and DVD viewing habits, it would be
a 53XBR200 4:3 Sony. Good luck.
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