Story about 16 x 9 mode on Sony Wega. (1 Viewer)

I just bought a Sony Wega. I pop in an 16 x 9 dvd and turn the setings on the dvd to 16 x 9. I then turn on the 16 x 9 mode on the tv. The picture looks pretty good, but when I switch everything back to normal, it's hard to tell the diference. It brings me to these questions: Is the 16 x 9 mode overrated? Is the Comb filter really that good if the picture is that great without even having on the 16 x 9 mode? Basically what I am saying is It is difficult for me to tell the difference between pictures with or without vertical compession. Just wondering what you guys think.

What DVD was it?

I think it depends on the size of the set. With a 32 or 36" set it is tough. I noticed a difference on my 36" set, but it wasn't huge. Get a large set, like my 47" widescreen now, and the difference is night and day (to me).

Greetings

And of course, the smaller the set, the less you can tell. At a certain size, even VHS starts looking DVD quality ...

Regards

You might not be making the right comparisons.
To see how good the 4:3 TV's 16:9 mode is, compare it with the alternative of putting the DVD player in 4:3 letterbox mode and leaving the TV in 4:3 mode. As mentioned above, the smaller the set or if there are convergence or focus problems, you won't see as much of a difference.
If, when turning down the contrast and then turning up the brightness (or maybe without doing the preceding), the TV in 16:9 mode has gray rather than black top and bottom borders, then the 16:9 mode is not really good. Scan lines are being wasted since that is the only way of making the top and bottom bars gray.
To see how good the TV comb filter is, watch a broadcast show with vivid colors (not cartoons) and/or sportscasts with a (usually red and blue) stripe with scores or players' names near the bottom. Good comb filters dont' render a zipper like effect of crawling dots along color to color boundaries.
The very best comb filters do not render thin closely spaced diagonal lines such as on pinstriped shirts into a mess of reddish and bluish rainbow blur (subject not in motion). Comb filter deficiencies show up most obtrusively to those videophiles who have laser disk players.
Ideally the DVD player should be connected via S-video or component video (not yellow jacks) which does not exercise the comb filter. (You can test the TV comb filter by connecting up a DVD player using composite in which case the Video Essentials or Avia 200 TVL resolution test should go more than 400 TVL.)
Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

I dont think it has to be a large screen to see the benifit. I can certainly see the difference on my 27".

What Allan Jayne said.

And in my own case, the difference is night and day. There's no going back, in fact.

Also depends on how close you sit to the tv. If you sit 10ft away from a 27" tv like me, you won't notice a thing. Go up to the spot where you start to see the scan lines, then do the comparison. Chances are you will see a huge difference.

Thanks guys. The tv is only 27" and the dvd I was playing was The Others.

16x9 mode makes a big difference on any TV as long as you arent like 25 feet away. I can see scan lines on a 27 inch at about 12 feet away at the most. Going to 16x9 reduces them quite a bit and gives the picture a more "detailed" look. Remember all you are doing in 16x9 is squishing the picture vertically. There has to be an effect of eliminating the "SCAN LINE" look. Just try looking closer or try sitting a bit closer, once you see the difference you wont forget it