fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

My complex went from analog cable to these DTV converters last year & now to real digital cable boxes. Each house got 1 free box. The cable guy hooked me up with a digital HDTV box with HDMI out free of charge. I also get all the standard HD channels & free HBO & on demand. And this costs me zero. Included in the maintenance.
Pretty cool. I never been an HDTV person. I don't watch much TV & still don't, but baseball games look pretty darn good.

I do have a question....Why are some HDTV programs still in 4:3? I thought the HDTV standard set everything to 16:9. I have seen several movies & shows that have side black bars because there not 16:9 on a HDTV channel.

doopstr

For TV shows it is usually because it was originally shot in 4:3. I have seen some stations (I think TBS) convert Seinfeld to 16:9 but then you are missing a good portion of the original frame. Not sending movies in 16:9 is annoying. I put on Matrix the other day and it was in 4:3

jupitersolo

Sports have been the biggest benefit with HDTV, watching a Hockey game in HD is awesome.

Yakuza17

Anything 4:3 is not true HD. The signal is "upconverted" to HD but it's not the same quality as something shot in HD although it's better than analog.

litesout

HD cable channels broadcast at a set resolution. Some are 720p, others 1080i. Both are 16:9 resolutions. Now shows and movies are filmed at various different aspect ratios, not all are filmed in 16:9. In order to make them fill the screen horizontally or vertically they have to upconvert non 16:9 material. Its up to them whether they stretch or crop off part of the picture or preserve the aspect ratio when they do so. I think its TBS-HD that does by far the most annoying the thing I've ever seen when broadcasting older 4:3 material. They actually put giant TBS-HD logos in the sides to fill the black bar areas instead of just leaving them black.