[mythtv-users] Is Wider better?

DM - MythTV mythtv at tazman.net
Mon Apr 30 15:24:26 UTC 2007


Peter A. Daly wrote:
> I think I've decided to go the LCD computer monitor route rather than 
> the LCD TV route.  We watch exclusively (right now) SD recorded from 
> TV content.
>
No DVDs?
> I don't currently own a widescreen, but have heard they are not great 
> for SD content.  However, it looks like widescreen's are all the 
> rage.  Thanks for any advice. 
"not great for SD content" could mean a couple things:
1> the vertical letterboxing annoys some people (like my wife).  Not 
much you can do about that, it's a fact of life when watching 4:3 
content on widescreen (unless you want everyone to suddenly gain 200 lbs 
by setting it to stretch to one of the widescreen ratios).
2> Not all HD TVs have exactly spent much engineering time on their SD 
tuners.  Therefore, picture quality can suffer (even beyond the fact 
that it is SD and not up to HD standards to begin with).  This would 
vary by manufacturer and shouldn't affect you (at least not in the same 
way) since you are using an external tuner and a monitor.

My 2c are that if you watch any DVDs on this display, you probably want 
the widescreen.

If you don't and only watch TV, the 4:3 is probably the better choice if 
you look only at today.  If you look into the future tho, the FCC is 
pushing hard on getting all broadcasts to HD, so you new 4:3 monitor 
will become the non-preferred format pretty quickly.  Even if cable 
sticks with SD (I don't think they are affected by the FCC changes quite 
the same way as broadcast), program formats are already switching to 
widescreen in SD in our area (and I'm guessing nationwide).  This 
letterboxes on SD, and double letterboxes (horizontally and vertically) 
on our widescreen (see below).  Unless you plan on replacing this 
monitor in the next 2-4 years, long term you may be happier with the 
widescreen (even it it's not the preferred choice for the short term).

We just got a new widescreen for our main TV this year and I haven't 
gotten around to switching out the cable service to HD, and the double 
letterbox is pretty annoying sometimes... :)  (I know, we can manually 
switch the settings, but that's annoying for me and I'm sure not going 
to try to teach my wife how to do it.)  In the end, I'm pretty sure we 
will be happier with the widescreen long term (and already are when 
watching DVDs).

HTH

Dan


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