Widescreen Stinks. Why should I buy it?

Question

I'm about to purchase a new TV. If I buy a widescreen TV, all of my standard DVDs will be tiny. That is one drawback. Another is that widescreen TVs of the same diagonal size are actually SMALLER. A typical 100" diagonal projector screen in 4:3 format is measured 60" by 80". The same 100" diagonal screen in 16:9 format is 7" wider, but 12" shorter which results in a 15% smaller viewing area. So basically, any widescreen TV I get will cost more, and have 15% smaller viewing area. Can anyone tell me why I should buy one? Unless I'm missing something, I'm just going to get a much larger 4:3 TV for the same money. That way, when something is in 16:9 format, it will be the same size as it would have been on widescreen TV.

Answer 1

You have some valid points, but long term all TVs will be 16:9
- Most DVDs are widescreen to begin with, so 16:9 TVs are a better fit. If you have old 4;3 DVDs, you can still scale them to fit the whole screen on a 16:9 TV
- HDTV will be in 16:9. You can scale down, but either you will lose side infor or people will look really skinny
- In the US, all digital transmission is mandatory by Feb. 2009.
- 4:3 is going away. You can wait until prices go down, but invest in the future.

Answer 2

I noticed that too. On my wide-screen TV I end up using the Zoom feature a lot but some of the picture is cut out in the process. Some of the HD stations are starting to broadcast in wide-screen without the upper & lower black margins. It was much simpler buying a TV in the old days. Now you have to do research for months before deciding. If you are considering a thin flat one I heard the LCD is the best choice over a Plasma set. Good luck.