4:3 on a widescreen tv?

[Hatz]

Hey everyone. Just was wondering how 4:3 ratio dvds look on a widescreen tv. I'm sure some of you have done this many times. Does 16:9 look alot better or can you really not tell? I know you see more of the movie with 16:9 or so they say but if I'm backing up dvds would I want to back up the 16:9 or 4:3 ratios for my future tv?

Thanks again.

Hatz

[mysticgohan17]

there are big grey bars on the left and right. the picture height is scaled down to fit. heres a really poor simulation i made is paint

[tgpo]

Most TVs give you an option of how to watch it. Most give you 3 options. Bars, Zoom, and Stretch.

Bars places bars on the left and right of the image.
Zoom will zoom in on the video until it fils the screen.
Stretch will stretch the image to fit the screen, thus making everything look wide.

[flaninacupboard]

i think hatz is asking how letterboxed 4:3 as opposed to anamorphic material looks.
Well, the genreal rule i work to is this:
if it's more than 90 minutes, and is 1.85:1, then it gets made as letterboxed 4:3. If it's more than 120 minutes, and is 2.35:1, it gets made as letterboxed 4:3. anything under those values gets made as anamorphic.

There's a difference between the two if you compare side by side, but letterboxed 4:3 zoomed to fill the widescreen space still looks very good on DVD.

[Marco33]

4:3 ratio dvds look on a widescreen tv

I watch them stretched to fit. You get used to it after a while. Every body looks fat. It's watchable. If I have a choice I always buy the WS version.

Does 16:9 look alot better or can you really not tell?

Any movie show in it's original ratio is better. You can tell it's 4:3 cause, the picture is either stretched to fit or it has the bars.

I know you see more of the movie with 16:9 or so they say

You see more when watching a WS DVD then watching a Pan & Scan DVD... even on a regular TV.

would I want to back up the 16:9 or 4:3 ratios for my future tv?

That really depends on you. What will your future TV be, Widescreen or regular?

[digitalmaster]

Always buy widescreen DVDs for the future. 4:3 is from the 1950s or earlier. 16:9 is the present and future. Even some commercials are in 16:9 along with some music videos. All new HDTVs are widescreen, so obviously you will want widescreen material. Changing 4:3 to 16:9 always looks stretched out. Also you will want all of your DVDs that you encode to be set at a max resolution of 720x480, that is the highest all U.S. standard DVD players can play. Some can play a higher resolution though.