Always wondered if this was possible. This way when watching an SD station, the image wouldn't have to be stretched or have the letterbox bars or having to use the zoom function. It'd work similar to how HD and SD work right now so that a 4:3 TV wouldn't be screwed, they just wouldn't see the full image like someone with a 16:9 TV would.

Although I'm sure if it was possible, it would have been done by now...

EDIT: I'm NOT talking letterboxed, FYI.

The United Kingdom has had most of it's new TV programming for the past several years created/broadcast in widescreen even though HDTV has only become a reality there in the last few months. It really frustrated me, moving to the U.S. and seeing the resistance to moving towards 16:9 digital broadcasts (apart from HD).

It's been going on (widescreen SD) for several years. It's called Major League Baseball on Fox!

It's been going on (widescreen SD) for several years. It's called Major League Baseball on Fox! During that time frame, the NFL on Fox also did line-doubling SD with wide screen formatting for their HD broadcast.

16:9 Standard Definition is possible....we've been doing it for years. Problem is, the CE industry doesn't recognize it, for the most part, as a standard (so much for "standards" :( ).

I can't seem to find a 16:9 SDTV set anywhere, and the last couple of STBs I've purchased don't have a setting for displaying 16:9 SD on a 4:3 screen. Needless to say, I don't make recommendations on STBs or sets much anymore.

Quite a few PBS presentations are in WS 480i. Usually they tell you so at the beginning of the program or list them as WS instead of HDTV. Sometimes, depending on the quality of the images, it's possible to mistake programs as HD. Waiting for segments that show distant fine details helps determine it's 480i (possibly upconverted) because distant objects aren't detailed enough (if your display can present finer resolutions.) -- John