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  • pinchvalve

    Jan. 6, 2009 10:21 a.m. pinchvalve UltraDork

    I know that broadcast TV is ending next month, and that doesn't bother me. They are forcing 12 people in rural Arkansas to get a satellite dish. I feel bad for them, but they could probably use the connection to the outside world. (Look Pa, girls are learning to read now!)

    I am more upset with pushing me to get a new HD TV. Personally, I could care less that I can see the sweat on the face of Ben Rothlesberger from a mile away. I am a bit miffed that there are a slew of cable stations that I pay for but cannot watch because I don;t have Hi Def, but there a many more that I do watch.

    What I can't stand is that stations are abandining the 4:3 aspect ratio that has been a television staple for a hundred years (give or take) and going to the wide-screen 16:9 format. That means that on my standard TV, the left and right of the screen are often cut off! I tried to go out and buy a box of Orn Flake only to find out that it was really Corn Flakes! And don't get me started on oot loop or Herry Sod. I guess the bastards will force me to upgrade once again. But I am not buying a Blueray Player!

  • carguy123

    Jan. 6, 2009 11:01 a.m. carguy123 Dork

    In a short time you will be touting the benefits of the new aspect ratio and will wonder how you ever got along on 4:3

  • Appleseed

    Jan. 6, 2009 11:20 a.m. Appleseed Reader

    What? I love watching -BC or -OX. What I don't like is how it makes weird looking people on TV weirder by squashing their faces.

    I do agree that its a big conspiracy.

    "You need to get a new TV to easily comply with the new digital format. Here, buy is 24" TV for $500."

    $500 buck for a smaller TV? WTF?

  • Gearhead_42

    Jan. 6, 2009 11:26 a.m. Gearhead_42 HalfDork

    In reply to pinchvalve:

    Broadcast TV is NOT ending... there is simply a shift from an analog signal to a digital one. Your old rabbit ears still work, they just get zeroes and ones instead of waveforms. That's what all the converter box coupons were for...

    Luddite

  • aircooled

    Jan. 6, 2009 11:28 a.m. aircooled Dork

    The sad thing is, once you get 16:9, you start seeing movies shown in 2.39:1! Dohhh!

    More irritating though is when they stretch the 4:3 to 16:9, it just looks wrong. You need to keep the format switch button handy.

  • jeffmx5

    Jan. 6, 2009 11:49 a.m. jeffmx5 New Reader

    Stretch mode is EVIL. It makes me nauseous sometimes. DishNetwork receivers are setup this way by default.

  • foxtrapper

    Jan. 6, 2009 12:17 p.m. foxtrapper SuperDork

    Yep, broadcast TV is ending, I heard Elvis say it!

  • Keith

    Jan. 6, 2009 12:24 p.m. Keith UltraDork

    Umm...do you not get letterboxing? I have a normal TV (purchased back when picture in picture was viewed as a cool thing and S-video was hot stuff) and widescreen stuff all shows up letterboxed. Heck, a number of TV shows have been shot this way for years.

    The only thing that would make me go to a new TV would be to get a widescreen format, it's how I watch movies. I find that if the content is any good, you forget about the quality of the picture. If you're looking at the picture quality while watching, whatever you're watching isn't worth watching.

  • Chris_V

    Jan. 6, 2009 12:36 p.m. Chris_V SuperDork

    Keith wrote: The only thing that would make me go to a new TV would be to get a widescreen format, it's how I watch movies. I find that if the content is any good, you forget about the quality of the picture. If you're looking at the picture quality while watching, whatever you're watching isn't worth watching.

    I disagree to an extent. Sometimes the visuals of a movie/TV special are part of the reason you're watching it. Especially seeing something like Cars in HD on a widescreen. Yeah, a lot of regular TV isn't going to gain anything by being bigger and clearer, but some stuff is definitely worth it.

    Vice versa, I can't watch regular TV signal on an HD widescreen, as the quality of the picture is worse than a 5th generation VHS copy. No mater how good the plot/acting may be, I can't get past the fact that it looks like crap.

  • HiTempguy

    Jan. 6, 2009 4:51 p.m. HiTempguy Reader

    Here is kind of an off topic question for ya:

    Why do widescreen movies not fill up the whole widescreen TV? (there are always the black bars on top and bottom?) I DONT GET IT!!!! It's basically you bought a more expensive tv and get less picture with it

  • aircooled

    Jan. 6, 2009 5:03 p.m. aircooled Dork

    HiTempguy wrote:

    ...Why do widescreen movies not fill up the whole widescreen TV? (there are always the black bars on top and bottom?)...

    Because most theatrical movies are shot and shown in 2.39:1 16:9 was developed as a compromise format so most movies you view on DVD or Blu-Ray in widescreen are actually cut down a bit.

    I think you can actually get monitors in that format, but I suspect they are rather pricey.

  • MedicineMan

    Jan. 6, 2009 5:20 p.m. MedicineMan New Reader

    I am actually happy with the new broadcast...My 25 inch Zenith bit the dust new years eve so I was kind of forced to look at new tv's. I bought an el cheapo at wallys mart. They didnt have any LCD screens in stock so I got the 32 inch plasma display...awsome resolution. We do still use antennas to get local networks. With the digital "streams" every channel has subchannels (channel 10 is no longer 10, its 10.1, 10.2, 10.3...in our case we get a different network on each of the subchannels!) I get 22 channels for free!!

    Granted this is the governments way of getting money out of something that was free...they sold the band width to cell phone companies for LEO satelites (low earth orbiting)

  • MedicineMan

    Jan. 6, 2009 5:20 p.m. MedicineMan New Reader

    By the way I have a converter box too, It works but not as well.

  • pinchvalve

    Jan. 6, 2009 7:09 p.m. pinchvalve UltraDork

    I thought broadcast was gone, but just analog. Hmmm, I have been out of the television game for too long. Thanks for clearing that up.

    For me, I watch most of my movies and Top Gear on my computer monitor since they were downloaded. (legally of course ) It is a big graphic-designer model and is fine for me.

 

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