[alpha]

What do people do when they purchase a widescreen HDTV capable rear projection set, and then watch more than 50% 4:3 programming? Won't the side bars (besides being annoying) eventually burn into the television? I know that most televisions now offer the ability to zoom or stretch the picture, but this always seemed to be a rather poor compromise to me. If you stretch, it invariably looks distorted. If you zoom, then you are cutting out important parts of the picture on the top and bottom. Just leaving the vertical bars there and not doing anything would be really unattractive and annoying, as well as possibly dangerous for screen integrity.


It almost seems to me that as long as there is a significant amount of 4:3 programming around, it might make more sense to purchase a 4:3 television and just watch the widescreen programming with bars on the top and bottom. Only problem there is, HDTV sets only come 16:9 as far as I know.


So... what do people here do?

 

[videoholic]

Get a DLP or LCD then. Stretch is the devil.

 

[Magnadan]

I have a DLP. I watch all 4:3 programming as 4:3. I don't see how the side bars can be annoying. They're black! I don't even notice them. It's the way the picture is supposed to look.


What's annoying is buying a high priced television and watching in a stretch mode that distorts the picture. It's not like you're seeing any MORE picture. It's just distorting the one with the correct aspect.


It's like installing one of those carnival mirrors that make you look shorter and wider in your bathroom.

 

[jkhome]

Most get used to the stretch mode, which isn't that bad on the better sets. It almost can be viewed as subjectively better on an individual program basis. If 50% of your viewing is SD, is the other 50% DVD? If so, DVD has a higher quality picture, I would give it the preferred viewing aspect radio (widescreen)

 

[klemsaba]

I don't mind stretching. While I don't mind black bars on the top and bottom, I can't stand black bars on the side! Crazy, I know.

 

[edpowers]

It really surprises me that so many people use Stretch modes. I personally cannot stand watching strectched TV. I agree with Magnadan; it's like looking at a carnival mirror. How can you spend tons of money on a high-quality TV and then turn right around and distort the picture?


I have two HDTVs, one is an older 43 inch 4:3 toshiba and the other is a Samsung DLP. I actually prefer watching SD shows on my older Toshiba simply because there are no bars. The bars should not bother me, but for some psychological reason, I am always thinking about the fact that the entire TV is not being used. That being said, the same logic holds true for HD material on the Toshiba 4:3 set.


There are still some HDTV ready 4:3 TVs available. I believe Toshiba and Samsung still make them. Considering how cheap they are, if you watch mostly SDTV, I don't think its such a bad purchase. Save your money and buy a 16:9 TV once everything is in HD.

 

[alpha]

It's good to hear people who agree with me. I have visited other people's houses where they have a 5000 dollar tv and they are visibly distorting the picture. It bothered me greatly. I almost never see anyone using the vertical bar option. I guess it's unpalatable to them also. I have a much bigger problem with the vertical bars than the horizontal. I don't know why. Maybe I didn't like the horizontal bars years ago and then got used to it. Who knows.


Has anyone ever heard of putting a "mask" on either side of the tv, like black poster board with velcro to hide the bars and make it more easy on the eye? I read about this once and found it intrigueing.


I have also heard that some of the tv's have their veritical bars in gray! Isn't that bad for burn-in?


They need to make a 16:9 tv which has black "curtains" (made from plastic, or whatever) that you can slide in from the sides to match the aspect ratio of the program. That's exactly what they do in movie theaters.

 

[justman]

I hate strech mode - I agree - why buy an HD monitor (assuming you buy it becasue you want better PQ), and then distort the PQ?


avoiding strech mode and having 4:3 without burn in was a major factor why I didnt get a CRT RPTV.

 

[videoholic]

I've tried stretching a couple times and it is absolutely unwatchable. Ludicrous that anyone would say "You get used to it."


Why pay for an expensive tv "To get used to it."

 

[Foxbat121]

I hate stretch mode too. I've tried all the stretch modes on my Panny LCD and none of them I like. There is a mode in Panny called 'Just' which stretch board area and leave center portion relatively unchanged. It's ok for some TV programs. But as soon as you tune to a channel with scroll bar on the bottom like CNN, Fox News or any other cable news channels, the scroll bar get instantly screwed up.

 

[alpha]

So all you guys that hate the stretch mode like me, what are you doing??? Are you just living with vertical bars, or what?

 

[maxcooper]

I am generally opposed to stretch mode, but I tried the Sammy's Panorama mode (which seems to just stretch the sides, leaving the middle alone) and it was not as bad as I expected. But it was still pretty annoying, so I don't stretch the picture when watching normally. During my brief test, a commercial came on where there was some action near the edge of the screen and the distortion was very evident and looked silly. No more stretch mode for me.


I got a DLP TV partially because I watch a lot of 4:3 content and didn't want to worry about burn-in. Apparently, the burn-in issue is somewhat overblown if you have your contrast adjusted correctly, but I still just didn't want to have to worry about it at all. The DLP affords me that piece of mind.


The vertical bars don't bother me at all. I much prefer to watch all sources in the original aspect ratio, including 4:3 and 2.35:1 stuff that results in some bars (sides and top, respectively). I understand the desire to use all of the display area, but it certainly isn't worth distorting or chopping the picture to me.


-Max

 

[CupertinoSlim]

For concerts, sitcoms and talk shows in 4:3, I like using the zoom mode that fills the screen without distortion but lops off some of the top and bottom edges. Likewise nature and science programming.


For news and sports, I want to see the upper and lower edges so I use normal mode if it's 4:3.

 

[Max_Gator]

Interesting this comes up because it is what drove my ultimate decision.


I went with the DLP in large part because there is no burn-in issue and all 4:3 can be watched in 4:3.


I'm waiting for my DLP and have a 42" Mits. Stretch is the devil. You do get used to it somewhat but . . . Of course, other sets have better strecth modes than the Mits.


As for direct view HdTVs - Sony makes a 36 and a 40. As I understand it, the 36 offers approx 30" 16x9; and the 40 offers approx 34" 16x9. I had actually decided to go with one of those since they can be had for less than the DLP (although more than the RPTVs) until I found that they weighed too much for my ent center: 256 and 300 respectively.


I'm awaiting delivery of my DLP and pickup of the Mits. From what I've read on this forum and the time i've spent watching the DLP, I believe I can deal with the issues around that technology better than those associated with standard RPTV. Of course, the DLP is much more expensive.

 

[Mit07]

Anyone serious about PQ should watch all programming in the OAR.


If you have a set that is susceptible to burn-in I recommend you either A) if you have kids have them watch their cartoons utilizing the entire screen, or B) let the TV play utilizing the entire screen when you are not in the room watching.


Burn-in is generally not a problem if you do not have your set in "torch-mode" and do not exclusively watch with static images like side bars.


Now - wouldn't it be cool if someone sold a set with remote controlled borders to mask the various different aspect ratios!

 

[kmonk]

Everyone seems to say, why buy an HDTV for higher PQ if you are going to stretch it?

So you can have the high PQ when you need it.

I have two distinct TV watching habits.

First is when a good show, or a nice widescreen DVD that I really want to see if available. Then I want maximum enjoyment and picture quality. This is like... half the time.

Second is when I am doing something else (dull programming, playing with the cat, whatever) and I want something on in the background. After all, a two year old episode of friends while I grade some paper reviews is not exactly high quality TV in the first place.

 

[Icarus]

I use zoom mode for most 4:3 stuff. It's not bad. It also isn't OAR, but I don't care.


-David

 

[Robert2413]

I am one of the people who thinks that the "OAR" mantra also applies to 4:3 material. I have a plasma, which I use for 16:9 material and a 4:3 CRT RPTV that I use for any 4:3 material.


I dread the day that I can't keep my CRT running any longer because there are no high end 4:3 RPTVs available anymore.

 

[raidbuck]

My wife likes stretching, I like OAR. I have a Samsung DLP and Comcast. Since for ESPN the HD channel (173) seems to give a better SD picture than the regular ESPN 06 (maybe digital vs. analog) I just shrink the HD channel to 4:3 and watch. I'd rather get used to the black bars than stretched pictures. Interesting that people like different ways...

Nice that we have so many choices.


Rich N.