The results are not that surprising though. And in all honesty, it’s really no different now than it’s ever been with any piece of technology. Most people don’t want to know the details, they just want it to work. Even back in CRT days, the extent to which people researched before buying a TV was to ask “what’s a good brand name” and to look at the price and the picture in the store. Industry badges and buzzwords might help sway the decision ( “Wega”, “1080p”, “HD” etc) but I’m not sure most people know or care about what they really mean. And if it works for them it’s fine with me.
The one thing that does drive me bonkers is the shocking number of people with brand new 2000 dollar TV’s with a crappy stretched out picture that “gets rid of those black bars”. I have made it my personal crusade to educate my family and friends on the basics of aspect ratio and to set up their sets to automatically switch.
I am EXTREMELY tech savy (i'm a electrical engineer) and even I can't stand the black bars when viewing a 4:3 source on an HDTV. I set my TV to "Just" aspect ratio which means it stretches just the outside edges of the picture and leaves the center alone. It actually looks pretty good. I've tried "Zoom" mode (my dad uses this one) which just zooms in on the 4:3 source, chopping off the top and bottom, but I'd rather see the whole picture with the sides slightly stretched, than miss the top and bottom of the picture entirely.
I'm sure someone who is also tech savvy who can't stand the stretched 4:3 picture (even in "Just" mode) would look at my setup and assume I didn't know what I was doing not knowing that I chose the "Just" aspect ratio intentionally fully aware of what it means.
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Great picture!
The results are not that surprising though. And in all honesty, it’s really no different now than it’s ever been with any piece of technology. Most people don’t want to know the details, they just want it to work. Even back in CRT days, the extent to which people researched before buying a TV was to ask “what’s a good brand name” and to look at the price and the picture in the store. Industry badges and buzzwords might help sway the decision ( “Wega”, “1080p”, “HD” etc) but I’m not sure most people know or care about what they really mean. And if it works for them it’s fine with me.
The one thing that does drive me bonkers is the shocking number of people with brand new 2000 dollar TV’s with a crappy stretched out picture that “gets rid of those black bars”. I have made it my personal crusade to educate my family and friends on the basics of aspect ratio and to set up their sets to automatically switch.
I am EXTREMELY tech savy (i'm a electrical engineer) and even I can't stand the black bars when viewing a 4:3 source on an HDTV. I set my TV to "Just" aspect ratio which means it stretches just the outside edges of the picture and leaves the center alone. It actually looks pretty good. I've tried "Zoom" mode (my dad uses this one) which just zooms in on the 4:3 source, chopping off the top and bottom, but I'd rather see the whole picture with the sides slightly stretched, than miss the top and bottom of the picture entirely.
I'm sure someone who is also tech savvy who can't stand the stretched 4:3 picture (even in "Just" mode) would look at my setup and assume I didn't know what I was doing not knowing that I chose the "Just" aspect ratio intentionally fully aware of what it means.