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For those of you with a Widescreen, do you watch regular TV in 16:9 or 4:3? (1 Viewer)

Alan Wong

Auditioning
Joined
Jul 19, 2003
Messages
12
I watch TV programs in stretch mode on my CRT RPTV because I fear burn in. You get used to it I guess but after watching a DVD or something which is made for widescreen, it takes a few minutes to adjust to the distortion again.

I use Mits' Stretch Plus mainly now and it's a compromise but the best stretch mode for this set.

Does watching with grey bars in 4:3 mode cause burn in over time? If I was sure it wouldn't, I'd watch all TV in this mode. Since I don't know, I stretch.
 

KalaniP

Grip
Joined
Jan 27, 2004
Messages
24
Yes, Alan, the grey bars cause burn in, over time, at least. Not as fast as black bars would, but it will bite you eventually.

I watch everything in 16x9 mode on my 65" widescreen Mitsubishi RPTV. I'm lucky enough to have the Mitsubishi others have mentioned, with a stretch mode that leave the center intact and stretches out the sides. Toshiba's have a good mode similar to this also, I've heard. It's fantastic 95% of the time... you see the distortion only occasionally, such as when the actors are both framed at the edges of the scene, then both faces are wonky. Also, you'll notice a "fisheye" effect when panning a lot. But overall, it's well worth it... you quickly get used to it. Then the screen starts to look really odd when the whole thing isn't used. *g* Seriously, though, the few

Seriously, though, you get so used to the effect it's very rare you even notice it anymore after a week or two. And it's always nice to know you are helping keep your screen healthy by viewing fullscreen content to keep those phosphors evenly worn. Watching TV = Maintenance for your set. Nice! LOL

The Mitsu's also have an "expand" mode, for use on regular shows that are broadcast letterboxed. It just stretches it vertically to roll off the letterboxing, leaving a perfect, full 16x9 screen picture. (such as many HBO shows, Angel, Babylon 5 on SciFi, etc) The only downside is you can see all the defects, esp. digital satellite compression, since everything is so magnified. It's still really nice to have a nice, undistorted, full screen picture.

The only time I ever pillarbox a 4x3 show on my 16x9 set is the rare show that looks really bad for whatever reason. I can really only recall doing that twice in the year I've owned my set, however.

-Kalani
 

Mike Wilk

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 12, 2003
Messages
84
I have a GWIII and have no fear of burn-in so I watch all in OAR. I've noticed that zoom modes degrade resolution and can live with the black bars on 4:3 content. Occasionally, I zoom letterbox material that's sent out in a 4:3 window such as some shows on SciFi channel, or for example B5 & ST:NG.

PS - I hate the stretch that ESPN uses when they don't have true HD source material.

YMMV
 

David Sailor

Agent
Joined
Jul 21, 2003
Messages
30
I also have a Sony GWIII but watch everything that's not HD in partial zoom mode. To me it seems like a good solution. I definately do not like the stretch mode or the full zoom mode. I think that whatever pq loss there is going from 4:3 to 16:9 is outweighed by having a big, full picture. David
 

Qui-Gon John

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2000
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Real Name
John Co
A direct-view CRT can suffer from burn-in, but it's much harder. The reason RPTV's are so susceptible is the picture coming out of the tube has to be much brighter to reflect off the mirrors and still be seen. But if you leave a CRT on the same image for a long time, and especially if your contrast/brightness is too high, it too will burn-in the image.
 

douglas-b

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Dec 4, 2003
Messages
199
Location
Indiana
Real Name
Douglas Berry
EVERYTHING is susceptible to burn in.
I watch 4.3 material in "strech-plus" on my Mits.
 

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