This is probably a dumb question, but one that I feel I must ask before I go buy a widescreen. I'm probably going to get the Sony KP46WT510. Question is this - Because of the 16:9 ratio, are regular TV programs going to look funny or have the black lines around them on the TV, or does the TV somehow stretch the programming to fit the screen? If I'm watching regular TV from my direct TV dish, what is it going to look like? Will it fit screen nice, or will there be black lines or stretched people? Thanks a lot.
Yep! You're gonna get results all over the place, depending on what you're watching!
Some video material will fill the whole screen perfectly. Some will have black bars on the sides. Some will have black bars on the top. The worst is when a broadcaster replaces the black bars with gray bars or blue.
Most sets have a zoom feature built-in. You can widen the picture, zoom it... whatever. And, they will display different resolutions. But, when you're done fiddling around, it will usually look worse than what you started with. Either the picture is squished or stretched, or it cuts off all the edges. So, you're better off sticking with the bars, IMHO.
You'll get used to it after a while. All I can tell you is, when it's good, it's good! Wait 'til you see 16:9 HD in you're living room for the first time. You'll wanna lay down and have sex with Sony!
Sorry to tell you all this, but at least you won't be shocked the first time you turn your new set on, and pop in your favorite DVD...
Anonymous
Posted on
It will take a little experimenting to your liking and depend on the program material. For static programs such as talk show or infomercials, the main subjects are usually in the center of the screen, stretching would not make things look too funny. But for programs with fast moving objects from edge to edge of the screen or a lot of camera panning, such as movies or sports shows, I would stay with the regular 4x3.
