[mythtv-users] OT: Aspect ratio broadcast rant

[f-myth-users at media.mit.edu]

    > Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 11:55:13 -0600
    > From: Jack McGee <jack at greendesk.net>

    > FYI,  in my day job I run a PEG station,  our only outputs are SD
    > 4:3 on cable companies, AT&T Uverse, and our Internet live stream.
    > We produce everything in 16:9 HD,  but I center cut it to send
    > 4:3. We produce all the content and make sure all titles are 4:3
    > safe. If I were to letterbox into a 4:3 frame,  it would actually
    > be lower than SD, since it is using less pixels.

I don't know about your actual customers, but if I were one, I'd
rather you letterboxed and sacrificed a slight bit of resolution than
what I usually see, which is (sometimes but often not) title-safe
placement, but (almost never) action-safe placement---heads and bodies
routinely cut off on the left and right, etc.  Losing a tiny bit of
resolution on a talk show is inconsequential; not being able to even
see who's talking at the moment is much more annoying.  This seems
to be more and more common as people assume that everything is 16:9
and that 4:3 displays must not exist any more.