Sony 34" XBR Stretch Mode vs. 36" XBR (1 Viewer)

[Modena]

I am in the market for a new tv. I just can't jump on the RPTV deal right now with space limitations. I like the Sony 34" but was wondering if this had a stretch mode on it. With the small amount of HDTV signals that I can get, most of my viewing will be in 4:3. I have been informed that larger RPTV's have various stretch modes that take 4:3 tv and stretch it to 16:9. Will this work on the Sony and how does this effect work? Do they just zoom in on the image so that it fits or do they literally stretch the picture? (which seems like a lot of geopmetry problems may arise)If buying this tv and stretching it will look worse then getting a 36" XBR, please let me know, I'm just going to go that route until I have the space and money to get a widescreen. Thanks.

 

[Lew Crippen]

There are four modes: normal, wide (or maybe full), zoom and wide zoom (?).

Normal is for regular 4:3 viewing, both TV and 4:3 viewing.

Wide stretches the picture horizontally across the screen in equal proportions. This is used to make anamorphic DVDs fit the screen perfectly. It can also be used to fill a 4:3 TV picture on the screen. It results in ‘fat’ people.

Zoom expands the picture equally in both directions. It is used for expanding non-anamorphic (but letterboxed) DVDs to fill the screen. It is also used to fit widescreen TV shows such as The West Wing to the TV in proper proportions. You can also use it to fill a 4:3 TV picture—you lose some of the top and bottom of the picture, but don’t have any fat faces.

Wide Zoom (or whatever) fills the screen and (I think) stretches the sides more than the center. I’m not really sure on this last one, as I don’t ever use it.

Mostly, I don’t stretch TV. About the only time is for talking heads-type TV.

 

[Modena]

So if I just wanna watch regular 4:3 on the widescreen, I'm going to have those grey bars on each side. If I want to get rid of those bars the picture needs to be compensated for, (stretch total or stretch sides) except for the zoom which just cuts off the top and bottom, but doesn't affect the actual picture. Is this correct?

 

[Lew Crippen]

yes