480p=widescreen only, help! (1 Viewer)

[Dan Rudolph]

I just bought a Philips 30PW850H from Wal-Mart (display model, was only $575!), but when I got it home, I found that it displays all 480p input as widescreen. As I have many Xbox games that support 480p but not widescreen, not to mention all my TV on DVD material, being able to display 480P 4:3 is very important to me.

Is there some device I could hook in to add black space on the sides of the image and fix this?

If not, can anyone recommend

 

[Allan Jayne]

Return it instantly. Or if not instantly, in a heartbeat.

I have always said that anybody who buys a TV that "locks in full (16:9) will be cursing it sooner or later.

By buying a display model you bought another unknown, CRT burn, unless you viewed solid color screen content in different colors and different intensities. You do not know how much usage the TV sustained and how high the contrast was. For RPTV, looking inside with the set turned off, a rectangular dark stain on the tube face is a giveaway of CRT burn which shows up in the picture as the center being dimmer than the borders and one or more demarcation lines approximately where side bars or letterbox bars boundaries might be.

I don't know of any device under USD 575. (the entire price of your TV) that connects between a 480P source and the TV to add black side bars and reshape the picture to 4:3.

Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[Dan Rudolph]

The PQ is fine. New tv doesn't have to be as cheap as this one. Budget is $1000. The 0PW8402 was $800. It has an HDMI connector. I was wondering how useful this is and if anyone knows if it locks 16:9.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

The Samsung TSN3084WHD also seems to be a reasonable replacement. It's $900 and has a built-in tuner. Does anyone know if it has component and some sort of digital audio out? I need to be able to put the audio to my receiver and the signal to a DVHS recorder, but all websites I've found aren't clear on what sort of digital outputs it has.

 

[Glenn Gutierrez]

I've been Googl'ing the web looking for info on the new Philips 30" WS (since the weekend's Best Buy ad), and found a guy on another forum who just bought one. I asked him specifically about this, and he says this new model does not lock 480p into widescreen like previous models.

So the Philips 30PW8402 is looking mighty tasty, but I'm waiting for a head-to-head versus the upcoming Sony KV-30HS420 Hi-Scan 30" WS.