Widescreen TVs - Optical Illusion? (1 Viewer)

[Alfred Seet]

I recently compared "The Royal Tenebaums" DVD on both a 26" widescreen as well as on a 34" 4:3 TV. The movie aspect ratio is 2:40, and I measured the vertical height of the picture on both sets. The height on the 4:3 tv was 11.5" and height on the 16:9 tv was 10".

Even so, the picture just "felt" bigger on the widescreen TV. I can't explain it, other than to theorize that it is an optical illusion. The size of the black bars on the 4:3 set were so large they seemed to make the picture look smaller than it actually was.

I'm upgrading to a progressive scan TV and still haven't decided on a 4:3 set or a 16:9 set. I watch equal amounts of 4:3 and 16:9 material so the choice is difficult. I also have lots of non-anamorphic letterbox material which do NOT translate well to a 16:9 set.

 

[John-Miles]

Yes it is an optical illusion, welcome to the world of marketing. the choice between 4:3 and 16x9 is a very personal choice, so just go with what makes yo uhappy, and be sure to do your research.

on a side note what brand is that 26" widescreen? where did you get it?

 

[Alfred Seet]

The 26" widescreen that I'm using now is a SHARP analog TV. Pretty old, at least 5-7 years. I get very bad shimmering and moire on pictures with fine detail, so I want to get a new TV with progressive scan. Unfortunately, widescreen TVs are still a rarity in the TV market in Singapore and they come in sizes of 36" or greater.

At my bedroom viewing distance of 5 ft, that's too big. So it appears that my choice is limited to 4:3 sets by necessity.

 

[John-Miles]

personally i feel that if you dont dwell on it the black bars arent a bother, especially if your 4:3 tv does enhanced widescreen

 

[Jan Strnad]

Unfortunately, widescreen TVs are still a rarity in the TV market in Singapore and they come in sizes of 36" or greater.

Here in the USA, too, and it's a darned shame. Having a smaller widescreen set would really maximize the viewing of modern movies with a minimum footprint for the set.
As for the optical illusion: well, optical illusion or not, if it feels bigger, your viewing experience is enhanced. There's something about filling your screen that is inherently satisfying to us human beings. That's why it's such an uphill fight to convince people to play letterboxed movies on their 4:3 TV sets.
I've preferred letterboxing ever since I performed the squeeze trick thirty years ago on a bootlegged, anamorphic VHS copy of 2001, adjusting the "horizontal size" on my 20" TV by turning a knob in the back! But dang..."filling the screen" is a tough habit to break. And I'm sure some psychologist could tell us why we so dearly love having our screens filled!
Jan