Voiding warranties now no choice (1 Viewer)

[RichardA]

Basically all the warranties I have read, even the extended ones all state the warranties will not cover your screens if one continually plays movies with black bars at the side or top/bottom. WELL now that all these new movies use the aspect ratio 2.35:1 we don't have much choice. Unless one zooms in and cuts off the edges we have to have the top/bottom black bars. Can't believe the movie industry has done this again to us. Business I guess.

 

[BruceSpielbauer]

>>>Basically all the warranties I have read, even the extended ones all state the warranties will not cover your screens if one continually plays movies with black bars at the side or top/bottom. WELL now that all these new movies use the aspect ratio 2.35:1 we don't have much choice. Unless one zooms in and cuts off the edges we have to have the top/bottom black bars. Can't believe the movie industry has done this again to us. Business I guess.

 

[Brent Hutto]

a) The movie industry isn't doing anything to you. They make movies. The aspect ratio varies from movie to movie. It's been that way for close to 100 years and isn't going to change just because of something written in your television instructions.

b) If you want to watch movies, why would you buy a TV that you're not willing to play movies on?

c) Don't believe everything that's written in a manufacturer's instructions. They have certain legal obligations to warrent their product from defects regardless of what they write.

d) Extended warrantees are so full of conditions and exclusions that I can't believe people pay hundreds of dollars for them.

e) A lot of televisions have fancy zoom and stretch modes to let you fill the screen however you see fit. If you're that worried, then by all means throw away part of the movie rather than getting an ulcer worrying about your screen.

f) Was this a troll?

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Have your set ISF'd.

IF you are still worried, get a DLP/DILA set.

 

[Michael Mathius]

My 2 cents: "Front Projector".
,er I meant two words.

 

[RichardA]

I know this has been around or a long time. I remember when the really "big" movies use to be recorded on the wide 70mm film. It is just now that 2.35 has become far more common. Even many dramas and movies that really don't need it use it.
Just ironic that the reason I bought the TV and the main reason most people buy these type of TVs (to watch dvd movies) is the exact thing that voids the warranty. Well by the time it gets noticeably damaged maybe the plasma or LCD TVs will be affordable.

Anyway I guess this is all obvious stuff. Sorry to waste you time.

 

[Jim FC]

Bars at the top and bottom of a DVD picture are not an issue if the TV is broken in and set-up properly. There are plenty of posts here you can look up and read explaining burn-in, and how to avoid it with a properly calibrated TV. But you are correct, manufacturers will not repair a set that has a burn-in problem, nor will most extended warranties cover this repair, because it is classified as user abuse rather than a defect. Chances are that you will watch plenty of programming that is not in a format that leaves bars along the top and bottom, and as long as you vary what you watch like that, you will be fine. It's only an issue for those who don't read owner's manuals and don't visit forums like this one to learn about their equipment.

I agree with Bruce and Brent - don't blame the movie industry for something that might happen to your TV because you don't understand how to operate it. They make the movies and you buy them. If you are this upset about it, then go back to VHS pan-and-scan movies. Personally, I'm very happy that the movie industry has finally realized that the best way to present a movie in a person's home is to display the same image that was filmed for the theater. As Bruce said, I feel that the division between 16:9 and 21:9 DVD is about 50/50. It does seem to go along the lines of the movie's genre, though: sci-fi or action movies tend to ge 2.35:1, while comedies, dramas, and childrens' flicks are most often 16:9.

EDIT: Plasmas can burn in also, although it's tougher to do it than on an RPTV. The only burn-in-proof TVs are DLP and LCD.

 

[RichardA]

Ok I like the wide screen no argument here, but lets be realistic. The "wide screen" (1.85:1) was originally produced to distinguish movies from TV (regardless of the official reason). The original TV ratio was a copy of the movie ratio of the time i.e Wizard of OZ. The movie industry will always try to ensure that the real movie experience is different from the TV experience. This keep improvement going. Remember those awful multiplexes!
When they admit defeat we will be watching first run movies that are beamed by satellite to our TVs after we paid $20.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Richard,

People have been watching widescreen movies on 4/3 rptvs for many years via Laserdisc which preceded dvd by some 15+ years. As long as the set is adjusted correctly and you watch a mix of stuff that includes material that does fill the screen you have nothing to worry about as far as burn-in.

Turn your Contrast down to less than 50% (30-40% works best for most sets). Get a copy of AVIA and calibrate the set.

The mfgs deliver these sets with the contrast turned up to 100% in most cases, and with it this high burn-in is very very much more likely. The warning in the manual is there to because the average buyer is going to leave contrast at 100%.

I watched countless hours of widescreen movies of all aspect ratios on my previous 4/3 rptv, for the 2 years I had it. All of these movies had black bars. I had the contrast set to 35% and other controls set per AVIA. There was not the slightest sign of burn in on this set.

I've had a 16/9 set for a year now, adjusted similarly. I use the variable stretch mode to watch the news in the morning, and probably watch twice as many 2:35 dvds than 1:85 ones. I have no sign of burn in on this set either, and don't expect to in the future.

I think you are somewhat of a victim of what I like to call "burn-in-paranoia."

As long as you take the set out of torch mode and watch a reasonable percentage of stuff that fills the screen you can enjoy your set for many years without burn-in.