SolveYourProblem
HDTV Article Series
Buying
a High Definition Television (HDTV)
The
Value of Widescreen HDTV
Ever go to the cinema and as you are watching
the movie and eating popcorn wish you could replicate your
enjoyable experience at home? Well the good news is you can
with a widescreen HDTV. In a nutshell, HDTV is a widescreen
wonder for television’s greatest supporters, not to mention
it has true movie quality brought to life.
In order to consider the value of a widescreen HDTV one must
look at the screen aspect ratio. A screen aspect ratio is a
measurement of the television screen’s horizontal length (or
width) and vertical height as well as the relationship that
exists between the two. A conventional television screen is
a tad bit wider than it is long, as it is basically 4 units
wide by 3 units tall (written as 4:3 or “4-by-3”). A quick
glance at your own television set should make this very obvious.
On the other hand a widescreen HDTV boasts much more of a
rectangular size and has a screen aspect ratio of 16:9
which means that the television is 16 units long for every
9 units
it represents in height (giving it another name as well, a
16x9 television). This gives rise to a television with a much
wider image than on a standard 4:3 set. Both television programs
that are filmed in widescreen format as well as major motion
pictures that are also filmed in the same manner can be displayed
much more realistically but with very clear, smoother images.
As HDTV becomes more and more popular with the viewing public
the advantages of purchasing a widescreen (or 16x9) television
that imitates a screen in a movie cinema becomes evident. Coupled
with this are the other advancements in the home entertainment
world such as the move to make all broadcasting DTV/HDTV and
the soon-to-be introduced onto the market, Blu-ray and HD-DVD
(facets of high-definition DVD technology). Widescreen televisions
are not only becoming the “in” thing, but they are also becoming
the “practical” thing.
Watching
a movie on a videotape can be an eye opening experience
on a widescreen TV but lots of regular programming can also
have the same effect. A perfect example of this is viewing
sporting events, such as football, baseball, soccer or hockey.
The reason for this is simple- on a standard 4:3 television
set viewers are used to shots that are wide but distant, but
on a widescreen 16x9 the entire field the team is playing on
can be watched in one big wide shot with the shot being at
an up close and personal vantage point. It is definitely a
treat for the eyes to view an event you enjoy and feel as if
you are really there in the bleachers cheering your team on.
Two channels that have incorporated a lot of widescreen television
programming include the Discovery channel and PBS which feature
a number of historical, science and/or educational programs.
More and more movies shown on television or made for television
are being broadcast in the widescreen format. The widescreen
format of broadcasting is being utilized for a variety of different
television series’ as well. Examples of this include Angel,
Babylon5, Enterprise, ER, Smallville and Stargate SG1. You
don’t have to currently subscribe to HDTV to receive some programs
that are broadcast in non-HD versions of HDTV. An example of
this is The Sopranos. Most television guides will list whether
or not shows are broadcast in a widescreen format or not. Another
name for widescreen format is “letterbox format.”
Plenty
of consumers are still watching 4:3 television sets that
feature programs in a widescreen format. This also can
be said for DVD watching as well. This presents a challenge
for the viewer. When watching widescreen HDTV programs on a
conventional television set, both the top and bottom of the
screen there are black bars visible. This is referred to as
“letterboxing” (or letterbox format as previously mentioned).
Individuals who do not understand this concept completely often
feel that the widescreen format is failing them or it is not
as worthwhile or as thrilling to watch as they had expected
it would be. However in reality this is not the case at all.
The majority of films that came out after the year 1953,
and also most since that time, are filmed in a variety of different
widescreen film formats. There are a number of these but the
most commonly used ones include Cinemascope, Panavision, Cinerama,
Technirama and Vista-Vision. In order for it to be possible
to view a widescreen film on a 4:3 television set, moviemakers
must meticulously take the time to re-edit the film in what
is called a Pan-and-Scan format in order to retain as much
of the original images from the film as they can. When you
see the message “This film has been formatted to fit your television
screen” before the start of a movie it is this process of re-editing
that is being referred to.
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SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
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