|
|
TELEVISIONS
First things first. Don't even think about getting a TV in the old 4:3 aspect ratio shape. Any conversation I have about TVs assumes the newer, widescreen, 16:9 aspect ratio, which is more rectangular than the older TVs (with NTSC TVs, for every 9" of image height, there is 12" of image width, while with HDTVs, for every 9" of image height, there is 16" of image width).
Why? Well, for one we are talking about home theater, or at least a "prime" display, which means a lot of DVD movies, virtually all of which are widescreen. HDTV is widescreen, and HDTV is here and now, not yesterday like the old NTSC TVs. Yet, even if there is a fair amount of "standard definition" watching, today's widescreen displays offer several decent options of how to display it, including centering it inside the wide frame, or my favorite: chopping off the top and bottom. "Sacrilege!" you say? Watch a little TV tonight. Notice anything? Some shows are actually mildly widescreen/letterboxed, while others clearly avoid putting anything of consequence in the top and bottom of the frame. They know the direction TV is heading and it most certainly is WIDE! |
|
|
|