[swayzak]

please excuse the rather noddy question:

I 've just bought my first dvd player (pioneer 444) but have a 4:3 tv.

Do most people watch widescreen films with the dvd set at 16:9 (with complete, but vertically stretched, picture) or 4:3 (with a more marked "letterbox" effect) ?

I know this probably depends on personal taste but is there a generally accepted setup ?

cheers

swayzak

Do most people watch widescreen films with the dvd set at 16:9 (with complete, but vertically stretched, picture) or 4:3 (with a more marked "letterbox" effect) ?

The 16:9 mode on the dvd player is meant for widescreen televisions or 4:3 televisions with a 16:9 mode.

You are not meant to view 16:9 on a 4:3 set in 4:3 mode!!!

So, you have to decide to watch it either as 4:3 Letterbox or 16:9 and press the 16:9 button on your tv. If you cannot tell the difference in the picture quality, then stick with 4:3 letterbox.

[swayzak]

My tv's a 6 year old Panasonic - so 4:3 mode it is then !

Is 4:3 pan 'n'scan better than normal 4:3 mode.

[LV426]

In most cases it won't make any difference.

The Pan&Scan mode is there for those 16x9 DVDs (which are few in number) which have a special Pan&Scan code added to them. This enables the player to pan&scan the (wider 16x9) image on the DVD and output it as a full screen 4:3 image ie cropping the left and right edges to make it fit.

As for whether it's better - if you prefer to see only part of the picture yes (although, as I say - it only works on very few 16x9 DVDs)

If you prefer to see the whole picture, reduced in height, with black bands top and bottom - then no.