Posted by pokee on 05/09/06 00:41

I recently bought 16x9 widescreen TV. I have a little over 100
"Widescreen/Letterbox" DVDs. Most of them look awesome on my TV
(either anamorphic or enhanced for 16x9 TVs), but....about 45 of them
do not mention "Anamorphic" or "Enhanced for 16x9 TVs" on the package
description.

For example, I have Armaggeddon Criterion collection, Lost in Space,
the Abyss Special Edition, Godzilla (Emmerich version), Close
Encounters, Spiderman (Toby Maguire), Starship Troopers, The Thing
(Kurt Russell), Stargate, Something About Mary - to name several. They
all just say "Widescreen" or "Letterbox". I could go through and check
them all on my TV, but it would take a while. I already checked a few
of them to discover they are not formatted properly, so I fear it's the
same for the rest of these. Can anyone confirm?

The DVDs I did check that aren't described as "anamorphic" all look
horrible on my 16x9 TV (in 4:3 mode, it's a small letterbox within the
4:3 frame AND in 16:9 the image is stretched out horizontally with the
black bars on top and bottom).

I don't have a zoom mode (bare bones 16x9 TV, so I only have two
viewing modes - 4:3 & 16:9), so I don't have the choice to zoom in. Is
this a viable option for most people when watching Widescreen DVDs that
aren't formatted for 16x9 TVs?

Thanks,
Paula

[Back to original message]