Sky News

What a fúcking ridiculous thing to say. Widescreen is one of those developments that isn't at all necessary. The justification for its existence (because our scope of vision is naturally broader than 4:3) is questionable. And I could afford a widescreen TV, but I choose not to buy one, because I have a perfectly decent 4:3 set. I have nothing against widescreen, but its introduction should be gradual, not forced upon people.

Widescreen is a development that has taken 15 years so far, since the introduction of PAL Plus on Channel 4 in 1991! Even now, we have far too many channels and programmes which are produced 4:3 for varying reasons. A lot of these are then made to look widescreen by cropping the top and bottom of the screen to produce a 14:9 image.

Widescreen has been gradual. HDTV is going to be widescreen by default, so get used to it. Just think, a lot of films today are produced in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, which comes out around 21:9. Just think how wide THOSE tvs would be.

It's time that this 4:3 safe / 14:9 safe area concept was abandoned.

Yeah, I agree. I actually quite like the look, they should make more use of it. In fact, they should go so far as to personalise the aston for each strand they do, i.e. World News Tonight, Sunrise etc. And maybe make the aston translucent and less white. Maybe I'm just being picky.

It's introduction should be gradual!? For God's sake it has been gradual - and now it is complete. How many programmes are still in 4:3? Hardly any. Therefore it's all the people who've STILL got 4:3 tellies that are behind. How long do you suggest we wait for you to catch up?

i agree completely - not to mention the fact it does actually look very good as well, makes use of that blank little box thats always there. maybe they should consider a small unobtrusive logo in there as well for things like teh sky report and world news tonight. thats another issue though.

they should start abandoning the 4.3 safezone soner or later though, cus it holds the peopel with widescreen back as well. having to design things so 4.3 viewers can see em as well...

lol sometimes i wish the weather presenters would bugger off to the side of the picture as well like they feel the urge to, rather than trying to cater to both!

Until my TV breaks beyond repair, is the simple anwer to that question.

The introduction of widescreen is by no means complete. It may be complete in the industry, and in the shops, but the reality is that there are still millions of 4:3 TVs in people's homes. 4:3 sets will remain as people's second and third TVs for many years to come. And what in God's name do you mean by "behind"? It's not a race.

Really, I have nothing against widescreen, but it's just not necessary. It doesn't improve the viewing experience to any great degree. I have no problem with TV programmes being produced in 16:9, and I actually prefer to watch some things in letterbox format. But your argument for the ditching of safe areas is just wrong. Until ownership of 4:3 TV sets has diminished significantly, they must be catered for.



Thank you for patronising me, but I am perfectly "used to it". I just don't think it's worth buying a new TV for. I'm not living in the stone age, just the real world.

Oh well if the Active bug , the FTSE bug and the whole right hand side of the ticker isn't "abandoning the 4.3 [sic] safezone" then I don't know what is. In fact the FTSE bug finishes so far off the left it's starting to overlap into the overscan zone.

Having to make graphics and visuals 4:3 safe has been the name of the game for years now and until HD technology becomes the norm, it's going to be the name of the game for a while longer I reckon. Not all 4:3 TVs are capable of producing a picture in letterbox mode that's comfortable to watch - quite a few 14" ones make the Sky News ticker hard to read comfortably.

Yes, I basically feel the same.

I used to hire a widescreen TV but then chose to buy a 4:3 set, although quite a large one. I prefer 4:3 myself as I find the width of a widescreen broadcast a bit weird.

I already experience various graphics etc being lost outside the edge of my 4:3 screen on various channels, but I'm not particularly bothered by that. If the programme provider isn't caring if I can see it, then I'm equally unbothered about it. Such missing details generally are not that important to the understanding of the programme anyway.
If I want to look up or learn specific data I'll use teletext or the internet. All I really care about on my TV is that I can see and hear a clear picture without noise or interference.

Watching Steve Dixon is, at the best of times, like watching a laminated mannequin, but this morning he seems even more of a zombiefied automaton than usual.

Well just seen him at 7.45 this morning and he seems wide awake and full of life. I actually like watching Steve Dixon and feel he'll get better and better over time.

he must have woken up a bit. I suppoose the first hour must be a killer.

how can you complain about the ticker being on the right side of the screen? It's a ticker! It moves into your view if you haven't got widescreen!