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Buying a new RPTV - Widescreen or not? (1 Viewer)

DaveF

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most 4:3 HDTV's have around 810i resolution instead of 1080i on 16:9 HDTV's
From what I've read in various threads, including this thread about HDTV, that's not correct. Current consumer-grade TVs, 4:3 and 16:9 alike, don't provide the full 1080i resolution. You'd expect 4:3 and 16:9 sets to have similar capabilities since they use the same general hardware and designs.
 

Richard Paul

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Dave, your right in the respect of the vertical resolution of 1920 not being met in any CRT HDTV. But in the respect of horizontal resolution 4:3 HDTV's are held to a lower standard than 16:9 HDTV's. At the moment horizontal resolution is the only one measured by manufacturers and so all 16:9 HDTV's are required to do 1080i. For 4:3 HDTV's the standard is lower since they are only required to do 810i for HDTV. The way a HDTV is designed helps determine how it functions so a 16:9 HDTV will always work better for HDTV than a 4:3 HDTV does. All RPTV's have a fresnel-lenticular screen that is one of the main limitations of current RPTV's resolution. This screen on a 4:3 HDTV will be designed for 4:3 material and not 16:9 material. That does not mean that a 4:3 HDTV will look horrible but it does mean that for the best in high definition a 16:9 HDTV is required.
 

Kevin. W

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Price both 4:3 and 16:9 sets out. Look at features, then decide. More than likely you can get a bigger 4:3 than a 16:9 for the same price. Doing the squeeze trick could render you the same size 16:9 picture on the 4:3 depending on its size. Personally I went with a Panny 47wx52 Widescreen cause I'm into DVD's more than TV watching on the set. For TV I use the upstairs 32". Also at the time the Panny came with free RP62 and $240 in rebates.

Kevin
 

DaViD Boulet

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Price both 4:3 and 16:9 sets out. Look at features, then decide. More than likely you can get a bigger 4:3 than a 16:9 for the same price. Doing the squeeze trick could render you the same size 16:9 picture on the 4:3 depending on its size.
This still doesn't solve the issue of viewing-distance to image size. Tall 4x3 material will require that you sit farther away to get a good picture than the compressed 16x9 material. You could literally sit 1/3-1/2 closer to the set with compressed 16x9 material. A 16x9 display allows one seating distance to work it's best with all aspect ratios.
 

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