j123vt_99

Got a big screen TV over the summer (Toshiba 51h84) and am still playing with the settings.. I can't decide whether to keep my TV on "Stretch" mode or not... The picture gets a little blown out on Stretch, but I hate the grey bars and not being able to "fully" use my TV

I guess it is just personal preference

X

If it's just regular TV it's probably better to stretch just to even out the burn-in.

chipmac

For me it depends on what I'm watching. My undistorted, unstretched mode is called Standard on my Mits. The mode is for HD channels and anamorphic DVDs which is most of my viewing. For SD cable channels it really depends on what I'm watching. If its the local news I don't bother switching to 4:3 mode but if it's one of my favorite old sitcoms or old pre widescreen movies I'll watch it how it was intended in 4:3 with the bars on the sides. For DVDs that have an OAR of 4:3 I of course switch to 4:3 mode.

What do you mean by the picture gets blown out in stretch mode? Do the whites bloom or are you saying that the entire picture is too distorted? Many feel that Toshiba has some of the best stretch modes so your comment makes me raise an eyebrow.

j123vt_99

blown out isn't the right phrase... it actually just gets stretched like was described above

X

My Pioneer HDTV has a very good stretch mode and in the approximately one dozen times over the last 5 years that I've watched SD TV on it I generally used the stretch mode.

It stretches the two outside thirds the most so people don't all look fat. I found the grey bars were quite annoying in the non-stretch mode. If it had black bars I would have used them. But for people who watch a lot of TV on their HDTV the grey is there to try to even out the burn-in if they don't use the stretch.

My solution is to not watch regular TV on a 16:9 RPTV.

mbs

I have black pillars on my LCD. I hate the stretched image and pillarbox non-16x9.

However, if I had grey bars, I might think differently.

OldDude

In the evening, most of the content is HD anyway. News, commercials, reality shows, I would just as soon watch pillar-barred. My set uses black bars, but sometimes CBS pads 4:3 conent to 16:9 with gray bars. I think I'd prefer the gray bars all the time.

The stretch looks pretty bad I think. In showroom, I've seen brands with uniform stretch over whole screen, and non-uniform, mostly at edges. Both look bizarre to me, and the second makes me a little ill as the distortion increases as an object moves to the edge. (But Giantrobo would like the stretched women; even Danni (from Survivor) would look like she had meat on her bones)

B.A.

I watch everything in it's OAR.

Brian Shannon

NestoJR

I hardly use stretch (I also hardly watch anything but movies). I'll use it now and then just for the heck of it (usually if the source's quality isnt' that great) or if friend's are over as they can't seem to stand it. My Hitachi set does a very good job of stretching, however, and I have the choice of making the grey bars black which I usually do when viewing in complete darkness.

Sdallnct

For SD TV I leave my X-1 to fill the my entire 16:9 screen. Yea, on occasion it bothers me, but mostly it is ok for the normal crap that is on TV anyway.

Course now that I have HD content, the differences seem a lot more obvious since I can switch betweent the two with ease.

Eddie W

I hate, hate, hate stretch modes. Sadly, most people I know who have 16x9 TV's stretch everything and don't really notice much difference. Maybe it's because I have black bars too, those gray ones really bug & distract me.

What I find weird is that most people use burn-in to justify stretching. But those same people would never dream of zooming a 2:35 DVD to fill the screen. Is there just as much likliehood of horizontal burn-in as vertical? Especially if you watch more DVD's than SD TV?

asabase

I leave my tv in stretch mode all the time. My voom receiver automatically senses if content is widescreen or not and adds the bars if needed.

kvrdave

I use a projector, so I don't really have grey bars to contend with. With no light going to the screen, it looks fine. So I go with OAR.

Spiky

Yes, burn-in has the same likelyhood anywhere on screen. The grey bars should remove the issue, though. That's why they are light grey. My source (HDTivo and DVDp) creates the bars and gives me the option of grey or black. I choose black and OAR.

Many people still think burn-in is an issue on LCD and DLP, too. Not even possible.

joshd2012

I stretch sports, but everything else is usually kept OAR.

chente

OAR for me.

bboisvert

It really depends what I'm watching.

HD material, movies, most TV shows are all OAR. But that Toshiba has a really good stretch mode (#1 on the options, I believe) that I would use for things like news programs, documentaries, some sports, and anything else that it looks good for. (I find that animated stuff -- Simpsons, Family Guy -- looks fantastic in mode 1.)


I would never stretch a movie or something "important"... but when it's just the news or something I'm just watching casually to pass the time, I stretch as long as it is not distracting. If I find it looks like crap, I go right back to 4x3. Easy-peasy.

matome

My Samsung DLP ahs a nice panorama mode, but I'd much rather have the side bars than the stretched edges.

nazz

It depends on what I'm watching but for most SD non-movie TV I do stretch it on my 65" Mits.

darkside

Definitely OAR for any DVDs I watch, but we do stretch it sometimes for regular non HDTV. I'm really not worried about OAR on TV I'm probably not paying attention to anyway. If its something I really enjoy watching though I will use OAR.

Red Dog

I don't like the stretch mode on my HDTV but I do like the stretch mode on my HD-box(DVR) - for sports only.