I got a new Thomson 32" widescreen, but im not sure if its really in wide screen or not. If i set it to auto, where it selects the mode, the top and bottom of pictures are cut off, only a little bit, but still a bit, and this is for all programs, however if i put it on 16/9 mode then some pictures are full screen, while others have small black boarders, while if i have it on 4/3 it just bascially cuts off large tops and bottoms of most pictures.

I was wondering what one makes pictures that are widescreen, apparea as widescreen on the TV, as i thought that a picture appearing with boarders would be a widescreen signal, but i still get the boarders even when its on 16/9 mode. Its confusing me a bit. Any advice? Thanxs

[Kevo]

Have you read of the thread 'A Really Daft Question' in the Digital TV section of this forum.

What source are you using? WS anamorphic DVD, Digital TV etc?

If the source is in WS anamorphic then the TV will switch to the correct setting. If it isn't then, chances are it will switch to the wrong one, depending on how you've got it set it up.
Some TVs use a 'smart' mode for non-ws material where they basically stretch the pic at the sides and crop the top & bottom off. Nothing smart about that if you ask me.
You're best using the 4:3 setting for non-ws material.

I can never undserstand why some people have the TV stretch the pic and distort it just to fill the screen. It's kidology, they feel they're missing out on something if they leave it in 4:3 with black borders down the sides

I hate the stretch and crop modes too.

Mine stays in 4:3 mode unless it detects an anamorphic widescreen transmission or recording (or PAL+ in case of analogue Ch4) in which case i get the autoswitch to 16:9. This is really the only true way to appreciate the extra width.

Ive noticed it works now, keeping it in auto most screens stayed the same, but then i was watching a program on C4 which was widescreen and i noticed it changed for a split second, although it still has tiny tiny black boarders, not noticable though, thats probably what confused me. It works great for games as well, cos if they have boarders it stretchs the image to hide them, excellent i say!