HDTV: Should I stretch?

[technogeeky]

Hey folks,

I posted a thread the other night about HDTV and I finally ordered the decoder from our cable company. Installation should be Wed.

I have a question about something, though. Our TV is 4x3, not 16x9. I want to know if you reccomend using the Stretch mode (I think our TV is one of the few that can stretch HDTV signals) or Pan & Scan to make the HDTV pictures fill the screen?


Thanks,

-tg

 

[conjur]

Heck no!

I remember watching an anamorphic DVD on my old 27" 4:3 set and everything was pulled tall like salt water taffy all stretched out.

Just live with the letterboxing. You'll get used to it.

And cropping to fill the screen you'll lose picture quality.

 

[notfred]

Why do people buy huge expensive TVs and then fvck up the way the picture looks on purpose?

 

[N8Magic]

If you watch a lot of 16:9 material on your 4:3 TV, be sure not to have the contrast and brightness set too high. This can cause burn in and can be avoided by having your TV professionally calibrated.

If you can't afford to have your TV calibrated, you can achieve similar results by using something like AVIA.

 

[technogeeky]

Originally posted by: N8Magic
If you watch a lot of 16:9 material on your 4:3 TV, be sure not to have the contrast and brightness set too high. This can cause burn in and can be avoided by having your TV professionally calibrated.

If you can't afford to have your TV calibrated, you can achieve similar results by using something like AVIA.

I'll keep that in mind.



In response to the question of "Why do people buy big expensive TVs and then do ..."


It was a 1000$ a year ago, not 3000$.

I was JUST ASKING. Jeez. I always watch animorphic stuff normally now, so I figured I'd just see what the other option is like.

 

[woowoo]

It's only TV.............

 

[toant103]

Originally posted by: technogeeky
Hey folks,

I posted a thread the other night about HDTV and I finally ordered the decoder from our cable company. Installation should be Wed.

I have a question about something, though. Our TV is 4x3, not 16x9. I want to know if you reccomend using the Stretch mode (I think our TV is one of the few that can stretch HDTV signals) or Pan & Scan to make the HDTV pictures fill the screen?


Thanks,

-tg

No,

get a widescreen