Widescreen TVs - Do they stretch every programme?
Is he not using the thing properly? - I'd hate to have to constantly change settings according to what kind of programme I'm watching.
Answer:
This is funny... ;-)
You stated: "Even movies which are being broadcast in widescreen format just get stretched keeping the black space above and below the image."
Okay. First off, good info from the other responders here. Yes, the subject TV is set to 16:9 mode while viewing programming that has been broadcast in standard 4:3 ratio.
So think a minute, and you may see where I'm coming from with the "funny" thing.
Let's say the studio has a widescreen movie they want to broadcast. But their current transmitter is only capable of standard broadcast, not hdtv.
So what happens is that they transmit the movie in 4:3 letterbox mode. Your subject TV picks up the 4:3 letterbox transmission and displays it in 16:9 mode. Result? The letterbox can't be restored to widescreen, so it just gets stretched like any other 4:3 transmission.
To a non-tekky, that can look real confusing.
Like I said...funny.. ;-)
But rest assured, it's all the same problem and easily curable by simply putting the TV in 4:3 mode.
PS: Once the TV is (re)set to 4:3 you'll get a new artifact: The next time that station broadcasts that widescreen movie in letterbox mode, you'll have black bars not only on the top and bottom of the picture, but on the sides as well.
PPS: I'm not hands-on experienced with hdtv. I just know their math and a few basic features, but I can't afford to own one. :-(
That said, I do know electronics, and the video area of the letterbox could easily be expanded to fill the hdtv screen. You wouldn't get the true hd resolution, but it would fit properly. It would be so easy in fact (kind of reverse-pip) that I strongly suspect that many, if not all, hdtv's already have a "button" for it.
PPPS: (Sheesh! Doesn't this guy ever QUIT??) It also seems to me that autodetect of 16:9/4:3 would be easy to accomplish.
Okay. NOW I'm done. I'll go away now. ;-)
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You friend might have his settings placed in a 16:9 Cinema mode that uses an anamorphic (stretch, just as you say) mode on 4:3 (well, that's NTSC as I don't know other countries' aspect ratios as well) and other aspects.
Ask them to remove the option and allow you to view a wide selection for your studying. If you have SKY or other satellite service you will probably have plenty of non-widescreen channels from several countries. The morphing feature might just be habit for your friend because "they don't like blank spaces on the telly".
They all have adjustments on the format for your screen, like Full Screen, Wide Screen , 4 :3 , . Find the adjustment in your menu , on-screen, likely under" picture ", or" screen format", something like that.
all i can add to this is that your friend obviously doesn't know what the hell the "screen mode" or "format" button is.
i've got a widescreen TV, mine's got a couple of advanced features. standard 4:3 with the bars on the side, a 16:9 zoom...for zooming in letterboxed movies and programming. a 14:9 mode for those funky BBC programs (i live in the US), a CinemaWide mode which stretches only the sides of the picture leaving the center in proper aspect and a wide, which evenly stretches it out.
the one thing i've noticed about people who own these things is they stretch it out regardless. i have no clue why, do they think they'll get extra information? I've even had people ask me "why does this look funky?".
my TV has what's known as auto-format feature, in which if it detects a letterboxed program, it'll automatically stretch it to fit, it's not perfect and i'm honestly a button pushing kind of guy, so pushing the format button isn't a big deal to me. i've not seen this auto-format feature on anything but rear-projection TV's..never on a plasma CRT or LCD.i could be wrong though.
it's mostly people have no clue how to handle having this wide TV, not a fault of the TV.
and widescreen format is different than letterbox. widescreen format implies that the picture is being broadcast in a format for widescreen TV's, meaning if you watched it on a normal TV, it'd look too tall, where as letterbox means the picture has been matted to look normal. DVD's have what's called anamorphic widescreen, the video content is stored in a full widescreen format, and the player will knock it down to letterbox..that's another thing people tend to not to, they don't tend to properly reconfigure thier equipment for widescreen TV's.
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