Iwanna new TV but Widescreen or Square?

N9eav

I am looking to get a bigger TV, since my wife just spent almost £1000 on a guitar I can easily convince her that now is the time to replace the £100, 21 inch 6yr old Alba.
;D But is it better to choose wide or square? I notice on my current one that often words are missing off the edge of the screen or people in films etc..
I can't seem to get used to wide, seems funny, but they could be the best?
I am considering 28-32 inch
I would welcome your comments please
???

alanrowell

Has to be wide as a lot of programs & most DVDs are produced in widescreen format.

N9eav

Thanks my current TV is so old that it would not do this. I think that wide seems to be the way. thanks for the help

RufusA

One last thing which may add to the confusion, most "widescreen" broadcasts on analogue terrestrial television aren't. For example when the BBC show a programme in "widescreen", they broadcast it at 4:3 ratio, but add black bars to the top and bottom of the image (letterboxing). On a widescreen tv you can zoom in on this to get a 14:9 ratio, which will occupy the full height of the screen but give you black bars at the side. Or you can stretch (stumpy fat people) or crop (headless people) the image to fill the whole screen.

To see a widescreen broadcast as the cameraman intended (16:9), you MUST have an "anamorphic" source. This provides the extra information to give you the correct resolution vertically without blackbands at the sides.

In the UK this means a suitable DVD, or a digital broadcast (Freeview, sky digital etc.). If you don't have one of these, you (like a good proportion of the people with widescreen tvs) will be looking at misproportioned pictures. My parents for example find a correctly ratioed picture looks "wrong" in their eyes because they've become so used to a stretched tv.

If you get a chance, wander through a typical highstreet store, and look at their widescreen tvs. 9 times out of 10 they will all be showing stretched or cropped images!

HTH - Rufus.

N9eav

Very knowledgable response.

So If I get a wide screen, and use it with my SKY or DVD, the image will be correct?

antenna

I think you should look at how many square inches of picture you get.Wide is what it says,the wider it is the narrower it looks.....so you pay more and get less..or so it seems.....i much prefer a large square screen,32 inches is great....but i know it's not the fashion!,but it can still be configured to show widescreen when needed.Do this test,Go to your local Comet or Dixons,measure the width of the widescreen tv picture then measure the width of the 32 inch square tv picture,is there much difference?.....not convinced? then measure the height of the pictures on screen.....i am sure you get more with square screens....

Dan29

If I get a wide screen, and use it with my SKY or DVD, the image will be correct?

If you have Sky, the reason that the edges of your picture of missing is because you've got the Sky box set to "4:3 Centre Cut Out" - try "4:3 Letterbox" (while watching a 16:9 programme) and see which you prefer.

Although widescreen tvs are 16:9, most widescreen DVDs are 21:9, meaning you do still get black bars at the top and bottom, even on a widescreen tv.

vansboy

There's not too many 'square' sets to choose from, now. But they ARE good value, if you wanted one!

What you MUST do, is make sure the position in the room will fit whichever size you choose.

28 widescreen are big, anyway & 32 VERY big & the larger ones, mean knocking a wall down!!

& 24 widescreens are barely watchable - I couldn't see it too clearly, anyway!!

Also, try to view the set on the stand it's supplied with. Some are not as smart, or have so many shelves & hold the set at different heights.

We narrowed it down to Samsung & Philips, when looking at them.The 28 Philips has a smart, twin glass shelf stand, with the legs matching the case outline very neatly. The 28 Samsung has only one shelf & is actually nearly 2inches higher, when assembled.

Worth thinking on!!

VB