16:9 vs 4:3

[jkdawg]

I know that 16:9 widescreen and 4:3 standard both use 720x480. One has pixel aspect ratio of 1.2 and the other of .9

If you shoot something in standard 4:3 then crop it to 16:9, do you achieve the same quality as starting shooting on your tape as 16:9?

[guns1inger]

no. if footage is shot in true 16:9 widescreen mode (as opposed to the cheaper method of justing matting the top and bottom of the display) then you actually get more vertical pixels in the image. If you shoot 4:3, then crop, you will have to resize the image vertically to compensate, resulting in some softening. will this be noticable and spoil your enjoyment - impossible to say. You will just have to try it out and see if you like it.