Does anyone know which brands of widescreen TVs can automatically switch aspect ratios based on the program?

On some of my DVDs the menus are anamorphically enhanced, but the programs themselves are not (Looney Tunes box sets and some movies that were made in 1.33:1 are examples)

What exactly are you asking for?

1. You want the TV to adjust and display things in their proper modes. For example, on the Looney Tunes sets, after the menu is displayed in 16x9, you want the cartoons to be shown in their proper 4:3 ratio (with bars on the sides) automatically, so you don't have to set the TV to 4:3 mode on your own.

or,

2. You want all material to automatically just fill the screen with a stretch mode.

I don't know either way, but I can tell you that an upscaling player should correct the issue if you want #1. My projector does not automatically switch modes, yet when I watch DVDs on my HD DVD player (which upscales), it will show 4:3 material properly pillarboxed with no intervention. On the PS3 however, which does not upscale SD material, I have to manually switch to 4:3 mode when watching 4:3 SD material.

However, with non-anamorphic widescreen material, you'll just have to zoom if you want it to fit the width of the screen, because a TV and/or disc player has no way of knowing whether it's letterboxed or not.

My Toshiba 51H83 has a menu setting that automatically switches based on the source. With your example: The Looney Tunes menus were proper 16x9 and the 'toons themselves were proper 4x3.

However, that's the only choice you have, you can't change it to go into any of the stretch modes if it's set to auto.

First choice,

My first portable DVD player (with a Widescreen display) didn't do that automatically and it drove me nuts having to constantly switch back and forth on some titles (like Looney Tunes) Now I have a Toshiba portable DVD and it does the switching automatically. So I'm looking for the same thing in a widescreen TV.

My Sony SXRD TV displays the correct ratio automatically. I think most TVs do these days.

Where on the menu can you do this? I was recently tweeking my friend's SXRD (He recently purchased the 70" version) and to display the correct aspect ratio I had to adjust both his cablebox (Comcast HD) and Oppo 981 to automatically adjust for the different ratios. In short if the TV was left on "Wide","Full" or "Panoramic" (can't recall what these options are named on the Sony so I'm going by what I have on my Panasonic) the SD channels were stretched when watching TV. Only the HD channels broadcasted in the correct aspect ratio. Going into the HD box's secret menu corrected this problem. On the DVD player I had to make sure the SQZ/Widescreen option was used for the picture to display in the correct aspect ratio whether it be 16x9 or 4x3. The TV didn't do it automatically.

If I leave the SXRD in Full, the aspect ratio is correct with DVDs and over-the-air broadcasts.

That's odd because I had to adjust things in both the player player and HD box. The TV isn't connected to any OTA antenna. That is something that hasn't been tried.

I have an Oppo DV-981HD connected through HDMI. Before that I had an older Sony DVD player connected via S-video and it wasn't a problem either. Both players, of course, were set to output a 16:9 picture, so I don't see how the TV would misinterpret the signal.

Eventually I will be adding a Dish Network HD receiver/DVR, again using HDMI, but for now I don't know how it will be handled.

I think that is what I am trying to convey. The player or box has to be set to 16X9 because the TV won't do it automatically and that was what the OP was searching for.

It shouldn't matter. If your DVD player is connected to a widescreen TV, sett it to 16:9 and leave it there. The correct aspect ratio should be displayed regardless. I have all the Looney Tunes sets, and the menus display in 16:9 with the cartoons in 4:3, just as they should.

On the Oppo you have to specifically set it to output Sqz/Widescreen to display the proper aspect ratio. Leaving it in Widescreen will show 4x3 material stretched.

The TV doesn't do it automatically; which is what the OP asked for.

This is not true with my setup, and as I said, I have an Oppo DV-981HD.

You should never have to change your DVD player's output from 16:9 to 4:3 when it is connected to a 16:9 TV.

I think the OP needs to clarify exactly what problem he is experiencing, what his equipment is, how it is connected and what his settings are. He should not be seeing 4:3 material stretched, regardless of what TV he owns.

I meant that in the set up menu of the Oppo there is a setting called SQZ/Widescreen that when activated will automatically detect whether the material on the DVD is 4x3 or 16x9.

Since I'm the OP I will clarify

I am currently looking to purchase a Widescreen TV. My breakroom at work has a Panasonic widescreen plasma TV that does not have automatic aspect detection (It stays on whatever aspect setting you have selected regardless of the source material)

Since I am looking to purchase a widescreen TV of my own (got a good tax refund this year) I wanted to find out if automatic aspect detection was even a possibility.

That setting does not exist on the DV-981HD. The setting on the 981 is "16:9 Wide/Auto," which I guess is the equivalent. Using this setting, I have never had to mess with aspect ratios with DVDs, and the TV seems to do a good job taking care of other sources.

Yeah that's definitely possible. My TV has an auto aspect ratio setting (not sure of the exact name), but (and this is key) it won't work unless your input device sends a signal telling the TV what aspect ratio to display.

For example, I don't have to change the aspect ratio when I use my DVD or HD DVR, but I do when I play a game on my Wii.

Quick Update, I just bought a Toshiba 32HL67 and it does everything I want it to do. It's AWESOME!!!

My mistake. I have the 971 and my friend has the 981. Same settings; different names.