zoomed, stretched or 4:3 on widescreen (1 Viewer)

WilliamHg · Jul 11, 2006

just got my first HD widescreen and watching HD is VERY nice. i am wondering how you prefer to watch regular TV shows and TV movies that are not shown in widescreen on a widescreen TV? stretched, zoomed or 4:3 with vertical bars? i sort of like zoomed because it fills the whole screen without much distortion if any. stretched is OUT for me but 4:3 is a good picture but i don't care for the bars that much. nothing written in stone here for me and may change mind mind later on but would like to hear other peoples opinions on this.
i do watch as much as i can in HD but was wondering about the other channels. william

Andy_Bu · Jul 11, 2006

For the first 5 years I had my widescreen set, I used a stretch mode.

Once I upgraded to Direct TV's HD-Tivo box a few years ago I only watch in n 4:3 mode now and quickly got used to the black bars.

My set has been calibrated a few times so I am not too worried about burn in. And even if it does happen, the set is pretty old now anyways, as I purchased it back in 1999.

Andy

Rocky F · Jul 11, 2006

Most sets have a setting that gives a slight stretch on the sides, and maybe crops the top and bottom a little. On my set it's called panarama mode, but some brands give it different names. It's not perfect, but my wife and I have gotten used to it. Basically, it allows 4:3 material to fill the 16:9 screen with minimal distortion and cropping. It's worth a shot, but you may or may not actually like it.

Scott_F_S · Jul 11, 2006

It really depends on what I'm watching. If I'm watching a DVD of a 4:3 TV show, for instance, with some semblance of artistic integrity, I'll leave it at 4:3. The vertical bars on the side don't distract me at all. But if I'm watching a sporting event or a game show or something where artistic merit is a non-issue, I'll stretch it to what my TV calls Wide Zoom.

German Ramirez · Jul 11, 2006

I watch all regular TV in 4:3. I don't like to distort or rob myself of picture space. Burn-in on CRT is very unusual especially if you don't have your contrast/brightness set too high.

LindseyS · Jul 11, 2006

I think that's my setting is too...on my TV I believe it's called "Just." I normally use that one, or the one called "Full."

Lew Crippen · Jul 11, 2006

It depends on what I’m watching. I am likely to use some type of zoom, streach or combination for ‘talking head’ shows like Meet the Press. For movies, most other TV shows and sports, I only watch 4:3.

DanielHEN · Jul 11, 2006

Films or TV shows, it's always OAR for me.

Richard Michael Clark · Jul 11, 2006

Same here!

WilliamHg · Jul 11, 2006

thanks for the responses fellas. was just wondering and wanted to get an idea of what others are doing. william

Harry-N · Jul 11, 2006

OAR all the way for me. Whatever is intended is the way I view any source material. Horizontal bars never bothered me on the old 4:3 TVs and the vertical bars sure don't bother me now.

I will admit to, every now and then, running a 4:3 DVD in a "zoom" mode, just to check the framing, but I always end up back at 4:3 with vertical bars.

Harry

Mary_P · Jul 11, 2006

OAR, baybee... Drives me nuts when I walk through a Best Buy or Circuit City and they're demo'ing widescreen sets using a stretched 4:3 image....

David Norman · Jul 11, 2006

4:3 shows in 4:3 TV shows or DVDs.

The zoomed with the cutoff edges make me edgy and the stretched picture I just can't stand. I've been watching Letterboxed movies since LD's started the trend and I just don't notice the bands at all.

HenryDuBrow · Jul 11, 2006

On my widescreen TV stretching doesn't bother me, I don't bother to switch to 4:3 for 4:3 stuff. But I draw the line, when networks crop old 4:3 film/TV material to present it 16:9, it's an abomination...

Al.Anderson · Jul 12, 2006

When I'm watching TV w/o an OTA HD signal I use the 'justified' setting mentioned above. TV with a HD signal and TV on DVD I view OAR.

Jack Briggs · Jul 12, 2006

You know, folks, it seems more appropriate to discuss this topic in TV/HDTV Programming rather than Software/TV Shows. Thread moved. Carry on.

RobertR · Jul 12, 2006

I always watch in OAR.

Patrick Sun · Jul 12, 2006

I sidestepped this issue with my HDTV because I still have one of those 4x3 HDTVs from 4 years ago.

It bugs me to no end when I'm at a sports bar and they have all these 16x9 sets all over the place, and most of the stuff is still 4x3, but they use the stretch mode, and all the people are fatter than usual, plus it makes the sports look funny when it's in 4x3 as well.

Steve JD · Jul 12, 2006

Question:
Is there a way to avoid 'burn in' on a Plasma TV?

I've had mine for about 3 weeks and I noticed a faint burn in while a DVD was paused on a totaly black scene during a fade out. I always watch regular TV in 4x3 mode, ...or used to since noticing the burn in. I pulled out the manual and I found a warning about possible burn in if always in 4x3 mode, but it does not say if it can be avoided.

Is turning down the contrast/brightness all that is needed?
How about changing the side bars from black to light grey?

Is the burn in that's already there permanent? (Not a big deal, it's very faint)

Thanks.

John Garcia · Jul 12, 2006

Burn in would mean the damage is still there the next day. If this is the case, I don't think there is anything you can do to fix it.

The number one cause of this is not having your brightness/contrast set correctly - setting them too high can damage your set in just a few minutes (worst case scenario).

I leave my set on zoom or wide zoom all the time. It was a bit weird with regular 4:3 programming at first, but I quickly adapted to it.

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