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[thorns]

I'm considering buying a new Tv, but I only have room for a 21"

Is it worth it to buy one that supports 16:9? Does anyone use their TV like this? How does it look on games?

 

[Naked Snake]

I have a 21" Sony that has a 16:9 anamorphic squeeze and I LOVE IT... It makes games that support wide screen look much more crisp, almost progressive like, but the you might not like losing the screen space on such a small TV, for example I prefer playing F-Zero GX in fullscreen on my TV because it provides a better sense of speed, but with most other games that support widescreen, I set my TV for 16:9 for the added image clarity and increased "image data" on the sides.

If you will be watching DVD movies on that TV however, having a 16:9 anamorphic squeeze mode is A HUGE PLUS... You'll be basically viewing the full resolution of anamorphic movies without losing any screen space compard to playing them in 4:3 letterbox. (Make sure to set both the TV and the DVD player to 16:9)

 

[Naked Snake]

I would like to add that not all 4:3 TVs are good with handling 16:9 squeeze mode... Two friends of mine have similar sized TVs (one Sony and the other Thompson I think) and another has a bigger Sony Wega (29" or 32" not sure) and when they activate the 16:9 mode on their TVs a bright white line shows up at the top of the "viewing space" even when the TV is not getting any video signal, which I find very distracting, effectively rendering the widescreen option of the TV useless... Luckly my TV handles it perfectly. So try to test the widescreen mode on the TV before buying it.

 

[thorns]

Thanks.. can you tell me what's the model on your TV? I'll try to look for one that has a good widescreen mode.

 

[Naked Snake]

Mine is a European model (with SCART sockets), if you live in America then the model of my TV wont be of any help to you.

 

[thorns]

I live in Europe too..
I was looking at this sony model kv-21ct or something like that.

Another plus would be if I could connect my laptop 's tv out to it (S-video), I have an adapter S-Video->SCART but it always results in a black and white image..

 

[Naked Snake]

I live in Europe too..
I was looking at this sony model kv-21ct or something like that.

Another plus would be if I could connect my laptop 's tv out to it (S-video), I have an adapter S-Video->SCART but it always results in a black and white image..

KV-21LS30E

It has two SCART sockets, RGB and S-Video... You have a bad adapter, I have a S-Video->SCART adapter and it gives a color image, I think I got it from www.liksang.com

 

[Shompola]

I would like to add that not all 4:3 TVs are good with handling 16:9 squeeze mode... Two friends of mine have similar sized TVs (one Sony and the other Thompson I think) and another has a bigger Sony Wega (29" or 32" not sure) and when they activate the 16:9 mode on their TVs a bright white line shows up at the top of the "viewing space" even when the TV is not getting any video signal, which I find very distracting, effectively rendering the widescreen option of the TV useless... Luckly my TV handles it perfectly. So try to test the widescreen mode on the TV before buying it.

sounds like the tv isn't properly calibrated. I think your friends have to tilt the screen a little. Just a few degrees if that option is there in the tv's menu. My 5 year old SONY WEGA has so those tv's should too.

 

[thorns]

I bought the Sony I mentioned, and a RGB cable (my previous TV had a broken SCART so the input was via RF through my old VHS player), and HOLY SHIT!! The increase in image quality is stunning and the games look absolutely georgeous in 16:9 mode. It's almost like progressive scan.

Also just the difference from Composite to RGB was also amazing.. So if any of you are STILL using composite it's time to upgrade!

 

[Deg]

get 16:9 more channels are using it now.

 

[Chrono]

increase in image quality is stunning and the games look absolutely georgeous in 16:9 mode.

Are you talking about games that support 16:9 or just normal games in 'stretched' mode? Also, does the TV you bought have the option to play in 4:3 (vertical bars on left/right) ? I'm thinking about buying a widescreen so any info is appreciated.

 

[thorns]

It's a 4:3 TV but I can play games in 16:9 mode also.. I've tried using Deathrow, PGR2, Splinter Cell and some other and they all seem to be supporting widescreen natively.. Of course a proper widescreen Tv would be the best but I only have room for a 21" right now and widescreens are at least 28"

I think my TV has the same tube with adelgary's and it does almost look like prog scan.

 

[Naked Snake]

Congrats on the new TV thorns!

Yes games in RGB look ridiculously good (and more so in 16:9), it's impossible for me to go back to composite, and I mean that literally... I simply refuse to play games at people's houses who still use composite video cables.

It's funny, because I praise the virtues of using the best connection your TV can offer (and if it doesn't offer at least S-Video, then it's time to retire it IMO) ALL the time, but most people seem to just not care and give me the lame "I'm not so anal about these things" or they pretend to be convinced/interested then forget about it the next day... But every time they come to my place and see a game or movie running on my TV, they're always puzzled why it looks so good, and I would be thinking "Well I told you a million times!"... The other day a guy said "Wow, since when do PS2 games look this good? What happened??" :lol

I can't wait to make the jump to component-powered progressive scan, I just can't afford it yet.