Mark Dunn Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Having just acquired a widescreen TV, I note that most shows here are actually transmitted at a compromise 14:9. Filling the screen with the 'letterbox' button usually crops far too much off the top. 'ER' is acceptable, so are some 'Scope films, but generally I can't fill the screen without losing a big chunk of picture . What's the standard elsewhere- are you already getting true 16:9? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Phil Rhodes Posted February 21, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted February 21, 2007 Hi, This has long been the case in the UK. I'd hazard that the majority of new programming is done ins 16:9, and is usually broadcast as such on terrestrial channels who've decided to do widescreen. Some do not (the history channel, for one) and their content, which is often few-months-old mainstream stuff, goes out in 14:9. More and more material is shot widescreen, though - one of the greatest holdouts in the UK was the channel four news, which recently went over to widescreen as it was a bastion of 4:3 in a channel which was otherwise almost universally 16:9. Other stuff, mainly imports like Scrubs and The Simpsons, are and go out as 4:3. One of the biggest differences HD production has made in the UK is that American imports such as ER and the Star Trek series now appear as 16:9. It's not about it being higher res, it's about aspect ratio. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Dunn Posted February 21, 2007 Author Share Posted February 21, 2007 I've not looked at C4 News, but I have noticed that most stuff still goes out in 14:9. Except for the older shows you mentioned, I watch on 'zoom'; the only shows which satisfactorily fill the screen are those which air with a visible letterbox on 'zoom' and there aren't many. ER is the only one I can think of off-hand- CSI is still 14:9. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Holland Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 I am a bit confused ! why not just set your wide screen to tv to 16.9 ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Holland Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Just twigged you dont have a digital box Freeview / Sky ? Cable ,do you ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Dunn Posted February 21, 2007 Author Share Posted February 21, 2007 No digibox, no. Do they detect the AR? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Holland Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Yes , not much point of having a wide screen tv without one . can get a Freeview for box from about £20 to what ever price you want to pay , make sure you have a strong signal . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Dunn Posted February 21, 2007 Author Share Posted February 21, 2007 It works fine, I just have to press the button to get the right AR. We have a digibox elsewhere. Thanks for the tip. I had no idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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