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This thread is from 2008, when wide screen and HDTV was fairly new. Now-a-days barely any pictures are squished to fit the aspect ratio anymore, like they often were in the early days.
Back then a flat screen TV cost over $1000. Now they are affordable for anybody to own. Would you really like to go back to the huge square box with a relatively tiny screen with the fuzzy picture? Yeah, you go ahead.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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We were at Costco yesterday and passed by the 75" and 85" TVs, beautiful, ultra high resolution pictures. Then we passed the 50" which is what we have, and it seemed tiny in comparison. Still, I would not go any bigger, because it's being too close to a big screen that causes the oddities such as distortion, and it's just creepy to have people with head 3 times the size of normal. I first noticed this on my sister-in-law's TV, it's 70" in her small living room, way too close to the sofa. New TV buyers always seem to buy the biggest they can afford, without thinking about viewing distance.
We were at Costco yesterday and passed by the 75" and 85" TVs, beautiful, ultra high resolution pictures. Then we passed the 50" which is what we have, and it seemed tiny in comparison. Still, I would not go any bigger, because it's being too close to a big screen that causes the oddities such as distortion, and it's just creepy to have people with head 3 times the size of normal. I first noticed this on my sister-in-law's TV, it's 70" in her small living room, way too close to the sofa. New TV buyers always seem to buy the biggest they can afford, without thinking about viewing distance.
People shouldn't follow somebody else's rule, they should sit wherever they want.
To get the movie theater wow factor, you sit close to a large screen. I sit 10 feet from a 120-inch screen and have no distortion, and head size does not bother me in the least.
Now-a-days barely any pictures are squished to fit the aspect ratio anymore, like they often were in the early days.
It is not uncommon for me to watch content that might be narrower or wider than the 16:9 standard adopted by TV manufacturers. What I find annoying is when the provider thinks that perfectly acceptable 4:3 content is better delivered to my TV stretched and distorted.
Can’t believe this ancient thread has been resurrected. Clearly the technology has been perfected and we all figured out how to use it. No one would want to go back to tube tvs. lol
Am I the only person that does not see the appeal of wide screen TV's, with a picture that makes people look like distorted, fat elves? I really don't find the picture to be all that great for the non HDTV channels as well. Am I missing something?
Yu nutz?
If people are distorted, you are doing it WRONG.
You can always change the aspect ration to 4:3 for old TV shows. Yes, it means having to adjust something and back again, but it is there if it bothers you that much.
Meanwhile, a lot of older shows are simply showing black bars on either side while keeping the original 4:3 format.
Everything is HD these days, unless you are only watching really old TV shows in their original broadcast formats and not upscaled or remastered.
I LOVE HD widescreen TV. It has to be a top 5 favorite aspect of life today. It is absolutley fantastic. NFL games have never been the same. I never used to be able to read the names or numbers on jerseys on old 4:3 analog TVs. Games looked terrible. I just didn't know different as far as how good they could look until HD flat screen came along.
Don't even start me on MOVIES.
As a die-hard movie buff with a nice small collection of 500 or so movies, there is NOTHING like a big HD flat screen. Life has never been the same. Movies are so bright and vivid and big and clear.
Yep, HD flat screen is easily a top 3-5 improvement of my life in the past 20 years or more. I LOVE big widescreen TV.
^^^^^^^^Good notes above!^^^^^^^^ Like above, I am a sports and movie guy! I am quite happy with flat screen.
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