Ben, I don't think this is cropped. From the screen shot above, it definitely looks like they just opened up the sides of the frame to fill the 16x9 screen. It was likely shot at 16x9 with a 4x3 "safe zone" they monitored while filming. While showing the 16x9 version will have its own share of problems (poor composition, possibly distracting elements out of the main 4x3 zone, I think it's preferable to chopping the top of people's heads off, or stretching a 4x3 picture to 16x9.
Seinfeld was shot on 35mm film which is close to 4:3. You can only get a widescreen view if you crop the top and bottom. You would get the most area from 35mm if you crop to 4:3 and not 16:9.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
Ben, I don't think this is cropped. From the screen shot above, it definitely looks like they just opened up the sides of the frame to fill the 16x9 screen. It was likely shot at 16x9 with a 4x3 "safe zone" they monitored while filming. While showing the 16x9 version will have its own share of problems (poor composition, possibly distracting elements out of the main 4x3 zone, I think it's preferable to chopping the top of people's heads off, or stretching a 4x3 picture to 16x9.
Seinfeld was shot on 35mm film which is close to 4:3. You can only get a widescreen view if you crop the top and bottom. You would get the most area from 35mm if you crop to 4:3 and not 16:9.