When technology makes a step backwards.
by Lorence Lombardo  23-Mar-2014
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The switch from 4:3 to 16:9 has been a technological step backwards in
my humble opinion.

The 4:3 ratio can accommodate 16:9 without any width loss.
But when you try to fit 4:3 into 16:9 maximum width is not possible.

So the wide-screen technology claim of 16:9 is fraudulent from my
perspective.

The 4:3 ratio is able to give you more TV and more height for the
available width that you have.

I think in most cases in the home width is the issue and height is of
abundance.

I prefer 800x600 to 800x450.

800:600 =  4:3
800:450 = 16:9

800x600 can accommodate 800x450 but obviously you cant put 800x600
into 800x450. So 800x600 must be reduced to 600x450 to fit in to
800x450 and maintain its 4:3 ratio.

You only need to multiply the 16:9 height by (4/3) to make the ratio
4:3 again.
eg. 450 * 4 / 3 = 600

So from my perspective 16:9 wide-screen claimed technology is merely a
height reduction and also a width reduction for 4:3.


So for the 4:3 fan we now have digital set top box's which do quite a
reasonable job in allowing us to continue viewing free to air TV.

When viewing 16:9 we have a choice of viewing in letter boxed correct
aspect ratio OR full screen stretched.

When viewing traditional 4:3 movies/programs we can switch to
"pan & scan", which provides a correct full screen aspect ratio for
4:3 TV's.

STB = set top box

But for music shows such as "rage" where the video format changes from
16:9 to 4:3 back and forth, viewing is not so great. It is not
practical to switch the STB's viewing mode back and forth to deal with
the next unknown video format.

The STB's auto mode is not able to work because the 4:3 is broad cast
as 16:9 with left and right black bars.

Its not the STB's fault it cant detect fake 16:9 (really 4:3).

Would it be practical to incorporate a fake 16:9 detection in the
STB's circuitry ?

So when the left and right black bars are detected the STB can switch
to the appropriate viewing mode.

In any case when viewing music programs there is room for improvement.