a new program that converts videos to 16:9 without screwing up the picture

[guns1inger]

Over here everything digital is broadcast 16:9. 4:3 material is pillarboxed, anything wider than 16:9 is either cropped to 16:9, or letterboxed to 16:9.

No one would ever pretend that visual distortion is a substitute or acceptable method of displaying video

[johns0]

Simple solution is to build a frame matching your hdtv and pop it on for 4:3 movies,it will hide the black bars on the side then have a rope on the middle attached to a winch near your chair so you can raise it for 16:9 movies. 8)

[guns1inger]

Why not have a small window frame with curtains that you can open in close, just like at the movies ?

[netmask56]

In Australia on digital tv everything is transmitted in a 16:9 frame. 4:3 material is pillaboxed within the 16:9 frame. This applies to SD and HD channels. So the only difference between watching the same movie on SD or HD is resolution. The same applies to analog TV if the original is widescreen then it is shown widescreen within the 4:3 frame. No automatic switching or stretching. Digital TV here is not encoded or have macrovision applied. But who would bother to pirate the material when it's covered with rolling credits along the bottom of the screen plus logos as to what is on next and the rest of the marketing crap. No wonder FTA is in decline.

[guns1inger]

Except analogue may still be broadcast in the bastardised 14:9 aspect ratio, instead of true 16:9