[mythtv-users] Is Wider better?

[Cool Frood]

On 4/30/07, Peter A. Daly <petedaly at gmail.com> wrote:
> In the next few months I'll be in the market for a new LCD screen for a
> small/medium sized room.  It will be replacing a 19" CRT TV.
>
> 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.
>
> Budget wise, it looks like a 22" widescreen or 20" (normal) display is the
> choice it's coming down to.
>
> Would I be better off with a 20" 4:3 display instead of a widescreen?  The
> 22" widescreen seems like the obvious choice on the surface, but since I
> mostly watch SD content, would I be better off with the 4:3 20"?
>
> 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.
>
> -Pete
>  http://www.mythpvr.com

Pete,

I was exactly in the same boat a couple of months ago.  The only CRT
that I had remaining at home was my TV and it was annoying the hell
out of me.  Instead of getting an LCD TV, I decided to go with a 22"
LCD monitor to serve my TV needs.  I haven't gone HD yet and I'm not
thinking about doing so any time soon, but I still prefer the
widescreen for DVDs and other movies.  SD content isn't too bad
either.  I tend to scale it up without losing the aspect ratio, so it
cuts off from the top and bottom, but that doesn't bother me much, at
least for stuff that I watch (old sitcoms, mostly).  Most of the new
stuff on TV is 16:9 aspect ratio which is transmitted in 4:3, so if
you scale that content to fill the screen, you won't lose the top and
the bottom parts.

22" LCD is in entering low-end to mid-range now, so the prices are
good too.  The jump up from 22" to 24" is quite drastic.

Also, you needn't worry about capturing SD content with your PVR 350
to display on a widescreen.  MythTV does the Right Thing (TM) out of
the box.

Hope this helps.