As I have explained earlier that in 1995-1997 there were plenty of Widescreen TV's (Non-HDTV ones) available in Jakarta-Indonesia but it died out and today I can hardly find a single shop selling those kinds of TV's. Recently I did find out that even in Philipines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore the market for Widescreen TV's did not work out.

We do have plenty of Plasma TV's (16:9) but it's just too costly for a Home Entertainment, LCD's (16:9 and 4:3), Projections, and HDTV's (4:3) Tube and Projection TV but no 16:9 TV's anymore. It really confuses me to think how to change the standard from 4:3 to 16:9 when the product is scarce to find so I really doubt that the 16:9 will ever replace the 4:3 standards Globaly.

I myself would like to buy a HDTV 16:9 if it was readily available here.

I got a 55-inch JVC widescreen in '95 and then replaced it with 55 Mits HDTV last year. Now I'm looking into a projector to get a real big screen experience.

WHAT!!! A HD Widescreen TV, and no interests of getting a DVD Player?

I'd paid: $ 2,500.00 for mine, and that's including tax, for the same make, and model that Karnblack is referring to.
They might be a little cheaper a the present time.

Not yet because I do not have the room.

Here's kind of an interesting comparison of 4:3 and 16:9:

http://homepage.mac.com/hdtv_guide/

This is NOT true! The majority of HDTV's (worldwide) are in the 16x9 aspect ratio. Even in Europe that doesn't have HD they are selling mostly 16x9 TV's of which many are HDTV's with the rest being 480p 16x9 TV's. All manufacturers have dwindled their production of 4x3 HDTV's down to one or two models with the remainder being 16x9 and priced at nearly the same cost. Mitsubishi and Pioneer have eliminated 4x3 HDTV's all together knowing it is a format that is now relagated to the analog SD world!

The future is here with WS DVD's and quite a bit of HD content. To invest in the old 4x3 aspect ratio is a unwise endeaver unless you watch no DVD's, have no interest in HD. In that case this type person should just stick with a analog TV and VHS which are made for each other!

I picked up a 30" widescreen set (Philips) at cost ($1600) a few months ago and love it. I didn't have the room for anything bigger in a tube model, and have no interest in a rear projection model at this time, so I went ahead since I could get it for such a discount. DVDs look amazing when they are 16X9 enhanced; truly miles ahead of the same discs on my 27" 4X3 set.

When watching TV, I use the 27" as I refuse to crop or stretch the image to fit the screen. The 4X3 mode is fine; the black on the sides doesn't bother me but I don't use that much since there is a 4X3 set in the next room. With letterboxed movies on TCM or shows broadcast wide like ENTERPRISE, ANGEL, etc you can zoom in so it fits perfectly without cropping the actual picture area.

In a nutshell 16X9 is way to go if you are into DVD more than TV,
and since more and more of the newer shows are wide/HD anyway. I think I might like to have a 4X3 set around the house in the future also though, for older movies and shows.

I'm also enjoying DVDs and HD programming on a 55" Mitsubishi.

ive got a question, suppose i get a 4x3 hdtv, would the picture on a dvd be better this way using component, or just getting a regular tv using component. also, will i get black bars on the top and bottom of most tv shows in the hdtv format using the 4x3 hdtv? thanks.

Component connections are going to make a big difference in video quality on both sets. If you have a progressive scan DVD player, then getting an HDTV will improve the image even further.
Without a progressive scan player, the video quality between the two sets connected via component cables is minimal.

IMO, if you are going to stick with a 4:3 set (and don't have a PS player), you'd be better off getting a regular TV w/component inputs. The price difference between that and an HD set, doesn't justify the marginal improvement.

Personally, I don't see the purpose of a 4:3 HDTV set....but that's just me.

Yep - Toshiba 50H81 - since Aug. 1st, 2001.

Sample digital images

Page 1 - taken Aug. 2nd. 2001, w/less than 10-12 hours of use - consider the pic's right out of the box.

Page 2 - About 2-weeks later, after I worked up the courage to perform the Service MODE 56-pt. Convergence Process

Page 3 & 4 - Sept.

Page 5 - Oct.

**NOTE: Because my website is 'free', hosted by GeoCities, if too many HT enthusiasts visit, GeoCities will shut it down for an hour or so because it exceeded the specified 'freebie' Data Transfer Rate. Sorry about that, just bookmark it and visit my site an hour later or when everyone has gone to bed!

Phil

I love my 51" Sony HDTV 16:9 tv :D

added a progessive scan dvd player and i am rewatching all my anamorphic dvd's :)

would there be an improvement in regular tv quality also with a 4x3 hdtv.

...with a regular NTSC tv signal there might be if the TV itself has progressive scan circuitry. (I think all HDTVs do)

IMO, you'd have to have the world's greatest cable TV signal to justify the added expense of an HDTV set. (to see a difference in quality of regular tv)

well, forget about that then. my cable connection is far from perfect. im just wondering in case digital tv's are manditory in a few years.

My wife and I have recently purchased a Mitsubishi 65" widescreen HDTV for our 700sf loft that we are converting into an entertainment room and a 43" Sony 4X3 HDTV for our den downstairs. We would have gone with a Toshiba 42" widescreen downstairs if it had been 1" narrower in width.

We also purchased a 43" Sony 4X3 non HDTV four our Daughter as an early Christmas present at the same time because CC gave us 15% off the sale price on both 43" sets for purchasing them at the same time.

Sears has a fantastic price ($1,099.97) on the Sony 43" 4X3 non HDTV we purchased for our Daughter. We paid $1,190.00 just two months ago for hers and four months ago they were selling for between $1,599.00 & $1,799.00. I highly recommend this set to anyone who doesn't want a HDTV and doesn't have room for a larger TV.

Sony KP-43T90 43" non HDTV

How big of a difference did you see by upgrading to progressive? I don't want to spend the money if it's barely noticeble (ie: the wife had better be able to tell). I have a 55" Mits.

as the previous poster before me asked, how much quality are we gaining from a 4x3 hdtv over a regular 4x3 tv in terms of dvd quality.

To :Rypro 525, If you hook up a dvd player to a 4:3 tv non hdtv through composite cables, (the red, white and yellow ones) and do the same thing with a 4:3tv hdtv, you won't get a big gain unless certain brands like Sony that of Drc( digital circtuitry that make the picture look better, but if you buy a hdtv and it has componet inputs buy a progressive scan dvd player and hook it up through the compoment cables, you will have a hugh difference. But why would you want to buy a 4:3 hdtv is beyond me, HDTV is broadcast in 1:78.1 which is the same a widescreen tv, so in about 6 or 7 years every one that still has 4:3 screen and what to watch hdtv will have balck bars on the top and the bottom of their screens.

i dont mind the black bars on the top and bottom of my screen (thanks also since i was wondering if 4x3 hdtv's had black bars or not.) another reason is that i do not like bb on the sides of my screen and i have alot of non anamorphic and full frame oar dvd's. thanks for the help everyone.

Yeah I hear you about alot of full frame dvd's because alot of the tv dvd's that are coming out are full frame, so what I decided to do was buy a 47" Panasonic or a 50" toshiba widescreen and then just watch my full frame dvd's on my 32" Panasonic in my living room. All I am going to watch on the widescreen tv is anamorphic dvd's and when it is availble in my area HDTv.



On a side note has anyone seen HDNET running on a HDTV this channel is owned by Mark Cuban (also owns the Dallas Mavs.) I love Mark Cuban he is such a pimp, if I could play basketball, I would play for no other coach. But anyways the quality of these sports games are incredible, the only bad thing is now I don't want to go see real games at the stadiums anymore.

I have the 57" Sony WS and my standard cable looks very good. I was actually very suprised at how good it looks.

As far as DVD's go, as previously stated, it's breathtaking.-wink-

Nice site...sure makes a strong case for a 36" 4:3 High-Definition TV over a 34" 16:9 High-Definition TV.