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Aspect ratios: displaying pictures correctly

Stretchtv_1 I've just read "Why does that new widescreen HDTV look so weird?" at George Ou's blog which explains with visual examples the issues surrounding displaying 4:3 and 16:9 content correctly. He says of people (in general):

"...they can't stand buying a brand new widescreen TV and see black bars on the sides and waste screen Real Estate. [One] user actually said "I let 4:3 stretch to 16:9" and he's probably very typical. So I decided to visually explain why this is such a bad idea and maybe then people will understand why their brand new widescreen TV looks so weird."

It might be obvious, particularly once you've seen the examples, but it's definitely something worth getting right. There are still plenty of programmes broadcast in 4:3 so even if you have a lovely new widescreen TV, you're going to run into this issue.

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Posted by Andy Merrett on August 17, 2006

Comments

Sky should be FORCED to broadcast 4:3 shows in 4:3 not 16:9 AND use 720p as they said they would originally AND only show HD programmes on their HD channels !

Shame on you Sky !!

Still love it and couldn't live without it though . . . .

Posted by: Daniel Beveridge | August 17, 2006 1:20 PM

With my widescreen TV and Sky+ box (both SD), the picture automatically adjusts between 16:9 (where 16:9 is being broadbast and so the picture is stretched across the screen to fill it without cropping), and whatever non-16:9 setting I last left the TV on (I usually leave it on a compromise of cropping off part of the top & bottom of the picture but still having some bars to the left and right, so most of the picture is not lost. If I wanted to i could leave it on 4:3 and all of the 4:3 picture would be displayed). This means the picture is always displayed correctly, or at least as correctly as you want it to.

The Sky settings refer to this feature as 'SCART control' i think (it needs to be switched on on the sky box, and your TV presumably needs to support it).

When watching analogue TV on a different widescreen TV, when Channel 4 broadcasts films in the proper 16:9 aspect ratio (ie. with large black bars, rather than the compromise ones most '16:9' broadcasts are done in over analogue), the TV automatically switches to a zoom mode which zooms out the bars and makes the picture fill the screen. This must be due to something transmitted over the air, as this TV does not have the capacity to auto-detect and zoom into the image when there are black bars.

Posted by: Joe Nixon | August 18, 2006 8:10 PM

To Daniel, which shows are you talking about? The only shows I've noticed broadcasting 4:3 in 16:9 (which results in a black border around the entire image on a 4:3 TV) are Sky's music channels, SCUZZ, FLAUNT and that other one whose name I can't remember. In this case it makes sense as it would be difficult to switch formats between every music video, and with most music channels broadcasting in 4:3 all the time, it's nice to at least have three which broadcast in 16:9.

Posted by: Joe Nixon | August 18, 2006 8:14 PM

Sky is also ruining my viewing by broadcasting 4:3 (SD) shows on Sky One HD in 16:9 with a 14:9 picture and black boarders at side and picture looks much worse we are also losing the top and bottom. The same show are displayed in the correct aspect ratio of 4:3 this make no sense. Also another problem is viewing non HD channels on Sky though a HDMI or component cables as unlike the SCART where it automatically change from 16:9 to 4:3 and back it does not seem to do this. Sky should fix these IMMEDIATELY, broadcast only HD on Sky One HD would good idea and as broadcast in 720p if the show is 720p not 1080i.

Posted by: Nicholas Rowe | February 26, 2007 2:10 PM

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