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Click here for REAL size of your widescreen TV. (1 Viewer)

M_a_r_k^NE

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Feb 19, 2003
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O.k. fellow HT nuts. Here I have the real size of your widescreen tv when watching DVD movies. Sorta a conversion chart. Old crt full screen TVs are 1:33 aspect ratio. Your widescreen standard TV aspect ratio is 1:78. Most movies are made in 1:85 and 2:35, so you're gonna get the black bars at top and bottom becase the ratio is longer to fit intop your standard widescreen of 1:78. Of course this whole thread is based on if you DO NOT use the zoom button and watch the movie in its purest form.

So if you're watching a 1:85 movie on your wide screen you lose 2 inches diagonally. Watch a 2:35 movie and your TV loses 4 inches. Watch movies beyond that like 1963 movie: "Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" in 2:55 you lose even more. These figures are measured diagonally from top corner to opposite bottom corner. So for example below using a 50 inch widescreen TV:

Watching 1:85 movie: Your 50 becomes a 48 TV
Watching 2:35 movie: Your 50 becomes a 46 TV

In my opinion, always buy a tv a little more in size than you're looking for. If you want a 48. Get a 52, etc. because its gonna shrink viewing wise when watching movies. Of course regular tv watching is o.k. and stays at 1:78 with no black bars.
 

Jonty Rees

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Nov 13, 2003
Messages
81
A handy rule of thumb, but those differences of 2" or 4" or whatever will change depending on the size of the pic. e.g. it might be 2" on a 50" diagonal wide screen TV, but it'll be less than that on a 40", and more than that on a 60".

I believe the percentage loss on a 1.78:1 TV watching a 1.85:1 movie would be, (deep breath):

((((1.78/1.85)^2 + 1.78^2)^0.5 / (1.78^2 + 1)^0.5) - 1)*100

Sub in 1.33 for 1.78 if you have a 4:3 TV, sub in 2.35 for 1.85 if that's the aspect ratio of your movie.

Turns out you lose 0.895% of your diagonal showing a 1.85:1 movie on a 1.78:1 screen, or only 0.45" if you have a 50" diagonal. Move to a 2.35:1 movie and now you're losing some serious diagonal, 5.3% or 2.6"

Loss on a 4:3 TV is obviously worse.
 

Justin_D

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Dec 27, 2003
Messages
217
Using DaveF's link:

This is interesting. 32" 4:3 TV compared to 30" 16:9 like many companies such as Sony are doing:

Comparing a 30 inch 16:9 TV to a 32 inch 4:3 TV

30 inch 16:9 Set 32 inch 4:3 Set
4:3 (1.33:1) NTSC mode 4:3 (1.33:1) standard mode [70.6% larger]

* Your viewing area is 19.6 in(w) x 14.7 in(h)
* Total viewing area is 288.12 sq in.
* This is the equivalent of a 24.5 inch 4:3 TV



* Your viewing area is 25.6 in(w) x 19.2 in(h)
* Total viewing area is 491.52 sq in.

16:9 (1.78:1) native mode [4.1% larger] 16:9 (1.78:1) letterbox mode

* Your viewing area is 26.1 in(w) x 14.7 in(h)
* Total viewing area is 383.67 sq in.
* This utilizes the full display of the 16:9 TV



* Your viewing area is 25.6 in(w) x 14.4 in(h)
* The diagonal size is 29.4 in
* Total viewing area is 368.64 sq in.
* This is the equivalent of a 29.4 inch 16:9 TV
* Your viewing area is decreased by 25.0% from 4:3 mode

16:9 (1.85:1) letterbox mode [4.2% larger] 16:9 (1.85:1) letterbox mode

* Your viewing area is 26.1 in(w) x 14.1 in(h)
* The diagonal size is 29.7 in
* Total viewing area is 368.01 sq in.
* Total area is 15.7 sq in. (4.1%) smaller than 1.78:1



* Your viewing area is 25.6 in(w) x 13.8 in(h)
* The diagonal size is 29.1 in
* Total viewing area is 353.28 sq in.
* Your viewing area is decreased by 28.1% from 4:3 mode

16:9 (2.35:1) letterbox mode [3.8% larger] 16:9 (2.35:1) letterbox mode

* Your viewing area is 26.1 in(w) x 11.1 in(h)
* The diagonal size is 28.4 in
* Total viewing area is 289.71 sq in.
* Total area is 94.0 sq in. (24.5%) smaller than 1.78:1



* Your viewing area is 25.6 in(w) x 10.9 in(h)
* The diagonal size is 27.8 in
* Total viewing area is 279.04 sq in.
* Your viewing area is decreased by 43.2% from 4:3 mode


EDIT: Well, that didn't turn out the way I was hoping it was. Basically, in widescreen modes, the 30" is bigger by only about 4%, but in 4:3, the 32" is 70%+ bigger. Maybe I will go with a 4:3 TV after all.
 

DaveF

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That's what I did two years ago. This was particularly useful knowledge as the WS TVs were distinctly more expensive than the 4:3 sets.
 

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