[FenderMan]

Hi all-


This is probably a stupid question but here it is anyway:


I have a Panasonic widescreen TV and I want to know the best way to view 16:9 content off standard cable. For example, the Sopranos is shown on HBO in 16:9 but I can't seem to find the right mode on the TV to watch it in. The Panasonic has 4 different modes: 4:3 (bars on the left and right), Zoom (picture zooms in), Stretch (picture is stretched across to fill the screen), and JUST (picture progressively stretches from the center).


I thought Zoom would be the best way however the quality gets reduced immensely. All the other modes still have bars on the left/right or top/botton.


Am I dreaming here or missing something?


Thanks!

 

[hob]

I have had my widescreen since May of 2001

I refuse to watch anything in foolscreen 4:3 only in stretch. I don't even see the stretch anymore, just a beautiful black bar widescreen.




Don't like black bars, read my signature at the bottom.

 

[Delvo]

Unfortunately, the source you're dealing with is meant for 480-line 4:3 screens, and has those "letterbox" black bars added to the signal to get the original 16:9 material to fit them, so that only a fraction of the 480 lines in the middle are even really used for picture. That's just a low-resolution source you've got, and blowing it up shows it.


Digital HBO by satellite or digital cable might not be this way.

 

[PamW]

I have the HD TWC and receive HBO HD - It is 16:9 on that station, but only 4:3 on the "regular" HBO.


Hope that helps!


Pam