Is not important so much the tv because you settings to make the dvd look normally play. I have flat 4x3 but is option to play widescreen mode so is play anamorphics movies and make high resolution better. Is still black bars in the tops and bottom but is very nice picture. When is full screen play in a widescreen tv is still black bars in the sides so is the same. Is important not the tv but the dvd. If is to chose widescreen or full screen is the choice to be widescreen natural. When I see a dvd and is widescreen I shut up the lights and when is dark in not see the black bars is only the widescreen pictures to see and all around is the dark night for make the movie spooky for my girlfriend.
Just bought a 32" LG. Kind of regretting not paying an additional $200 for the 37" but I think I'll live. DVD player upconverts and looks great, especially newer movies like Black Hawk Down. Xbox 360 is connected via component cables. Can anyone attest to a huge leap in quality if the 360 was connected via HDMI?
Not on a 32". The leap in color saturation from composite to component is a bigger jump overall, in my experience.
I gave my Panasonic Superflat (4x3) to the guy who helped me install my 42" plasma. Obviously, I love my plasma. But I do miss the 4x3 for older 1:33:1 movies (as others have mentioned), and my laserdiscs looked way better on the Superflat. Hate the idea of re-buying movies. But c'mon...it was time to move forward. I was way overdue.
I've got a 46" Samsung A650 LCD and haven't looked back since. I see the difference all the time now when I go over to a friend's house and they have an old tube set.
I had issues on this poll, there should have been a 50/50 selection. You can't knock a good tube tv, especially the high def ones that allow 16x9 mode and have hdmi inputs. There are just too many fullscreen and non-animorphic releases out there to dispose of them. My bedroom is actually two rooms, movie room/memorabilia section and bedroom section. I've got a 40" LED 6000 Samsung flat panel in the movie room and a 32" Samsung hdtv tube set in the bedroom. The 40" LED flat panel is tops in quality for sure, but watching a non-animorphic widescreen disc, like Madman, is ridiculous on the set...this tiny rectangle in the screen's center. Unless I want to stretch it out, which looks even worse. Stuff like that, as well as fullscreen stuff always goes onto the HDTV tube set. Also, the added resolution of the LED set has taught me that some "good" animorphic dvd transfers weren't all that great after all. The tube set hides the flaws better so I still use the tube for some 16x9 discs as well.
You don't have a "zoom" function? That sucks. In my experience, some non-anamorphic discs look just as good as their anamorphic counterparts when zoomed in (and sometimes even better!). Anamorphic is certainly the most preferred option, but there are definitely exceptions to the rule.
I get what you're saying about non-anamorphic releases, but even full screen stuff like Night of the Living Dead looks fine on a 16x9 set, you just have the bars on the side instead.
Yeah, it does have zoom, but the image looks off to me (could be just me). The only way I like how non-anamorphic discs look is setting the tv to 4x3 mode, which gives me two different shades of black bars horizontal and vertical. But I am new to having a flat panel 16x9 tv. I'll tinker with the settings some more soon. I have occasionally watched full frame dvds on the set in 4x3 mode, they looked good but I prefer watching those on the old tube. The whole vertical black bar thing, too much for me, lol. I also prefer how CED, VHS & Laserdisc looks on the tube set. But in time I might change.
Ok, I discovered my issue by checking out the manual. What I said was "zoom" was actually "fit to screen" which is the only similar option for a 1080p source connected via hdmi. The true zoom feature is only available if I hook-up my old dvd player via component, which doesn't up-convert to 1080p. I'll do this as soon as I purchase another blu-ray player for the tube set. Maybe I'll get one of those new version 1.1 cheapos and do just that. I'd love to see my non-animorphic transfers (both US and import) fill the 16x9 screen!!
Most TV sets are this way it seems. I know mine is, at least. It's a bit of a pain, but you can still use the zoom feature if you're connected via HDMI by accessing your DVD player setup menu and switching the HDMI setup from "automatic" or "1080p" to "480p". Just remember to switch it back when you're finished watching. I should also say that it doesn't really matter to me how I set the HDMI setup on my player because my TV apparently upconverts the image automatically all by itself. I just like having the player set at automatic because then the menu screens will already be set at the proper ratio when I drop the disc in.
Ok, I tried it and ...it worked, it worked woohoo!! Thanks a lot for the info!! I just checked out my old copies of Slumber Party Massacre, Madman & The Boogeyman, it's as though their anamorphic!! Totally blown away. Now I'll be hooking up my Laserdisc player to the LED tv soon too!
I have been avoiding HD for so long now, but I saw some movies at a hotel last night and was kinda blown away. NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! I have over 2,000 DVDs at this point!!!!! How could I possibly replace them??? I haven't the money!!!
I've started to replace everything. Got rid of a bunch of DVDs intent on eventually getting the blu-ray. Got quite a bit of cash for 'em too. At first I only planned to replace my fav titles, but yeah I've started buying everything blu so...yeah LOL. ~Matt
Well, I've kind of done that. I've found movies that I haven't really watched in forever that are on blu and sold them. The way I see it, I'll eventually buy the blu if I really do like the movie a lot.
Yeah, expect to be disappointed with the Lasers. What you might find is that the full screen stuff (even with the bars on the side of the picture), and the 1.85:1 (which you can zoom to fit the screen) is pretty watchable. But when you try a scope movie, even zoomed, you'll be pretty dismayed. The other odd part is that discs that were mediocre to begin with, will still look the same on the HDTV. But LDs that you thought "Damn, this is just as good as the DVD" will suddenly show the limits of the format. And I don't anticipate re-buying all my movies. No way. Hell, even when I made the jump from LD to DVD way back when, only a handful of movies got re-bought. I don't even have a Blu-Ray player. Yet........
