Is 16:9 really the future? (1 Viewer)

[Gene S]

I keep reading everyone posting that widescreen is the future... that its going to become the new standard.

That all the J6P's who complain now about "black bars" on their precious 4:3 sets are going to be complaining about "black bars" on their new 16:9 sets because they bought the P/S version of a DVD instead of Widescreen.

But is this "future" correct?
I know that digital tv is the future, and 16:9 is the standard for High Def. But I don't remember reading anywhere that 16:9 is going to be the standard for ALL DTV.
Won't there still be 4:3 sets available?

(Don't get the wrong idea about me. I'm a OAR snob and have driven store to store to store trying to find a widescreen copy of a movie to watch on my 16:9HD set)

Gene

 

[Carl Johnson]

The future is cloudy at best. I don't have a 16x9 set but one of my friends does and she always uses a stretch mode to fill the screen. Anyone who would buy a pan n scan DVD is unlikley to even notice anything wrong with stretching the picture to fill their screen.

 

[Chris*Liberti]

I have a feeling it will be. When is the last time you saw a movie in the theater in the Academy aspect ratio (1.37:1, close to 4:3 which is 1.33:1)? With the exception of a few indy films (blair witch, etc.) probably never.

 

[Lew Crippen]

For sure it is the future of TV—ATSC standards call for 16:9 telecasts. How long it will take for ATSC to replace NTSC is anybody’s guess.

 

[SteveRB]

if you are talking about the AOR of TV, project, then I disagree completely.. here's why.

take the largest 4:3 screen your room can handle... now show a 16:9 film on it. Then show a 4:3 film.

take the largest 16:9 screen your room can handle... now show a 16:9 film on it. then show a 4:3 film.

You will notice that the size of the 16:9 film is the same in all cases (the width of the screen does not change), but the size of the 4:3 changes dramatically in the above scenarios...it is almost twice the size if the screen is 4;3!

i think the best of all worlds is now a native 4:3 projector on the largest 4:3 screen your room can hold and show with the black bars masked with velvet when showing widescreen films..

just my 2 cents.

 

[mark alan]

Unless those 4:3 televisions of the future can compress all 1080 lines into a 16:9 space, you lose resolution buying a 4:3, even if it give you the same size picture as a 16:9

I know that some CRT televisions can squeeze the vertical resolution, but as far as I know, no digital (lcd, dlp, plasma) can.

 

[Lew Crippen]

A good point Mark and one often overlooked. The 4:3 CRT TVs that can do a compression right now are only compressing 480 lines into the 16:9 frame, not 1080.

I don’t know of any direct view TVs that will actually resolve 1080, so any 16:9 frame on a 4:3 set would lose resolution in HD mode (though likely not for SD pictures).

 

[John Royster]

lew, my sony xbr450 36" direct-view compresses 1080i I believe.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Yes, 16x9 is the future.

It may take a while, but it is gradually happening...

 

[Lew Crippen]

John I admit that I don’t know the exact technical specifications for that model.

But, AFAIK, these CRTs will not display 1,080 vertical lines (although the electronics handle this with no problem). That is the physical number of lines is less than 1,080. It follows if this is correct (and I may be wrong) that a subset of this 36”model will of necessity contain less than 1,080 lines.

If you lose about 25% of the vertical portion of the screen when viewing a 16:9 picture, in order for the 16:9 to resolve 1,080 lines the display as a whole needs to be able to resolve 1,440 physical lines.

My point is that I don’t think that there are any displays that do this. But I have not read all of the technical specs.

 

[John Royster]

Lew,

I think we're on the same page. There are limitations to CRT technology that limit the number of vertical lines it can display. But it will indeed scan 1080 lines interlaced. Its just squeezing them.

But back on topic. It seems there is more and more widescreen content coming (not even counting HD and DVD).

So is widescreen the future? Most definately, 110% yes.

Won't there still be 4:3 sets available?

They are dwindling fast. The forum frequently visits the "16x9 or 4x3" topic. Each year there becomes fewer and fewer reasons for 4x3.

 

[Chris Sherman]

In Japan and many Europian countries it already is the standard. The U.S. is often slow adopting new technologies. Remember when we were told in school how we would one day switch to the metric system. Yes, I think 16x9 is the future .

 

[Jay McC]

Lets face facts, as far as i know you can not purchase a 4:3 plasma, lcd, or rptv and the popularity of dvds and the big consumer (emphasis on consumer) following behind HDTV it only makes sense that the 16:9 aspect ratio is the future. But lets also recognize that it is a far far future. 90% of todays broadcast television is still in 4:3 and the transmission method moving from analog to digital is not going to miraculously change that. But as things continue to change the 4:3 direct view CRT will follow the trend and eventually go the way of the dinosaur. But i keep telling people at this point in time, if you are going to buy a direct view tv one as your primary viewing set get a 4:3. The pros far outweigh the cons and by the time it dies you can slide right into shiny new technology for probably the same money as you spent today.

 

[Aaron Garman]

I wish television and home video was more like film. We have 2 lenses: flat or scope. Then, to make sure the proper OAR is shown, each format (1.37, 1.85, 2.39, etc.) has its own aperture plate that does that. Along with screen masking, it makes it very simple to gain the full resolution for each respective format. Maybe with thousands of dollars, I could rig a similar setup with a front projector and some curtains.

AJG

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Aaron,

Some folks are doing just what you suggest...using anamorphic lenses and scalers to accomodate all aspect ratios with maxiumum resolution.

Some folks even have 2.35:1 screens to take advantage of the wider 2.35:1 picture!

-dave