4:3 lcd TVs impossible to find nowadays?

buglawton

I have a reason to want an LCD TV with 4.3 native aspect ratio and good clear sound. Have seen one or two really nice Philips ones (17 or 19 inch I believe) in peoples homes in the past. Looking for them on Amazon or Ebay has drawn a blank - widescreen 16:9 or nothing it seems, apart from some very old & dodgy brand used ones.

Or am I searching wrongly?

OneADay

Not sure why you would want 4:3 specifically.

The aspect ratio is moving towards 16:9 - and with any digital box (freeview etc), you get options to select aspect ratio in the set up or on the remote.

So rather than the display, its important to select a digital box that allows switching aspect ratio (automatically hopefully).

buglawton

Its for a relative who has a legacy 4:3 TV connected to a Sky box and wants a 2nd TV in another room, connected to same Sky box. They already have a 16:9 connected to a different Sky box elsewhere in the house and don't want to upgrade the legacy one. Each box is set to the ratio that suits its TV. Well you did ask...

OneADay

buglawton wrote: »

Its for a relative who has a legacy 4:3 TV connected to a Sky box and wants a 2nd TV in another room, connected to same Sky box. They already have a 16:9 connected to a different Sky box elsewhere in the house and don't want to upgrade the legacy one. Each box is set to the ratio that suits its TV. Well you did ask...

Tell the relative about the digital switchover that is coming in Sep 2011 and the need to move to 16:9. Even if it is Sky.

But if they must have a 4:3 ratio, you can get plenty of lcd which can provide that (I use a AOC monitor/tv - might want to search for AOC 4:3 on google - plenty comes up.

In the end - its a case of finding a widescreen monitor which can has 4:3 settings (not just standard 4:3 physical size) - there are plenty around.

buglawton

It needs to have a SCART socket. If it is native 16:9 but has has a 4:3 setting, does that mean there'll be black bands at the sides? The 'smart resizing' LCD tvs are at the premium end of the market and difficult to assess before buying.

Enterprise_1701C

Ours is plasma so might be different, but if you set it on 4:3 it has the side greyed out. A strange look, but you get used to it. To be honest we thought we would use it more than we do as we just changed from 4:3 to 16:9, but we are now realising how much we were missing as most things seem to be broadcast in 16:9 these days! We just leave it on 16:9 most of the time, but it seems to have different settings according to what you are watching so sometimes there is an auto setting. It is not a top-end model, it is a Samsung PS43D490.

It does have a scart socket.

penrhyn

buglawton wrote: »

Its for a relative who has a legacy 4:3 TV connected to a Sky box and wants a 2nd TV in another room, connected to same Sky box. They already have a 16:9 connected to a different Sky box elsewhere in the house and don't want to upgrade the legacy one. Each box is set to the ratio that suits its TV. Well you did ask...

Sky boxes can be set to produce a different aspect ratio on the RF2 output to the main output. So you could have 4x3 on the main scart output and 16x9 on the RF2.

buglawton

Now that I didn't know... just been upstairs to check DS's Sky box (daddy can't afford one for self ) and lo, there's a 2nd location format. Bingo! Make the choice of 2nd screen much more flexible.

Ain't MSE and it's contributors great?

buglawton

Just realised, if "Location 2" only applies to the RF output, then I cant use it with the video sender I was planning on.

debitcardmayhem

buglawton wrote: »

Just realised, if "Location 2" only applies to the RF output, then I cant use it with the video sender I was planning on.

What sender are you using one of those magic eye thingies via coax? or a wireless one? I dont think the RF2 shows a different channel , but hey when I get home I will check

buglawton

Plan to buy a 5.8 GHz type sender, these work via the SCART - not allowed to drill cable holes in this rented place.