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New RPTV....4:3 or 16:9????
Posted by Cam Ens [IP: 199.185.225.204] on December 12, 1998 at 18:58:32:
In Reply to: New RPTV....4:3 or 16:9???? posted by Andy on December 12, 1998 at 16:54:12:
: 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. Thanks for the excellent points Andy. I am currently looking very closely at the 53XBR200, and also the 61XBR200. They have a great picture, but of course aren't digital ready. But does that really matter right now? I guess its just personal opinion and hunch as to when HDTV will get serious and if the standards will continue to be what they are today. I have also considered the Hitachi SDX and Toshiba digital ready RPTV's as well. Once again, thanks for your input.
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