"Jerry G." wrote in message
...
If the program content is not in 16:9, the picture will be cut on the
sides. If you force the wide mode, the picture will be stretched.


Some RPTVs (and direct view) widescreen sets have a 'cinema' (or similar)
mode where the 4:3 picture is cropped top and bottom to fill the screen,
avoiding picture stretching. This has the added bonus that the station logos
are often cut out, avoiding the dreaded burn in! The downside is that
sometimes tops of heads are lost, and subtitles at the bottom, though my
Toshiba has a 'subtitle' mode which crops the picture more at the top than
the bottom for viewing subtitled programs.

There's also (on my Toshiba) a 'super live' mode where 4:3 images are
stretched far more at the left and right of the picture than the middle,
which means the most important part of the screen doesn't look silly. This
actually works rather well considering.

Here in the UK most sets on sale now are widescreen, with a great deal of
transmitted content being 16:9 format. I would never recommend buying a 4:3
set to a UK resident, but obviously things are quite different in N.
America. As you say a lot depends on what it will be used for, a DVD fanatic
will likely want a widescreen, whereas a TV buff may prefer 4:3.

Dave