How long do posters here think that this'll be protected? Virtually all large screen tv's are 16:9 now. When will the older tv and portable viewers be deprived graphic content on their screens so that 16:9 viewers can get more comprehensive information.
I'd say start of Digital Switchover proper would be a good time to remove it.
Yes but many widescreen TV's are not set up correctly and conflicts with digital devices mean some are nigh on impossible to get functioning properly!
Another thing is I have seen some graphics go right to the edge of widescreen shots and, to be honest, it doesn't look right for some reason. Maybe it will take some getting used to but the limit of the safezone seems to naturally work well in most cases.
Saying that, some programmes are ignoring the safezones already, especially BBC Sport. Try watching the end of a snooker programme on a 4:3 TV (preferably on mute so you don't have to hear the god awful remix of the music) and you'll see what I mean.
I have seen some graphics go right to the edge of widescreen shots and, to be honest, it doesn't look right for some reason. Maybe it will take some getting used to but the limit of the safezone seems to naturally work well in most cases.
As you imply the problem is mainly one of familiarisation -- most US programmes made in widescreen ignore the 4:3 cutout and I can't say that I find the effect unpleasant.
I do think that the phasing out of the safe zone should start very shortly. I find a lot of graphics rather silly looking when they start half-way across the screen, and I don't see why the majority should lose out to the minority for ever. As the number of 4:3 sets diminish, so should the safe zone.
It has to be said as well that a lot of the "4:3 safe" material out there is nothing of the sort. It's 14:9 safe, but try watching some material in 4:3 and some of the information is still lost, so what's the point?
The whole thing kind of reminds me of our old Ferguson Colourstar TV we had in the early 80s. It dated back to the early 70s, and hadn't been set up correctly when it had a new tube put in (tellies needing new tubes, and actually being repaired? That's something you don't see anymore!!). When Countdown first came on air, the TV missed the first and last letters, and for some time we were convinced it was YTV's fault....
GM
nodnirG kraM
I'm speculating wildly here, but aren't graphics still black-and-white safe? Or is standard PAL 4:3 now the lowest common denominator?
I do think that the phasing out of the safe zone should start very shortly. I find a lot of graphics rather silly looking when they start half-way across the screen, and I don't see why the majority should lose out to the minority for ever. As the number of 4:3 sets diminish, so should the safe zone.
Well, isn't the proportion of 4:3 sets as a whole being kept up by the number of
secondary
sets which are 4:3? (i.e., sets outside the main room of a house, either reused ex-primary sets or portables)
jason posted:
It has to be said as well that a lot of the "4:3 safe" material out there is nothing of the sort. It's 14:9 safe, but try watching some material in 4:3 and some of the information is still lost, so what's the point?
Hey, I have trouble convincing my parents that watching 16:9 material as 16:9 on a 4:3 TV isn't cutting off the top and bottom of the picture, and that chopping it to 4:3 isn't the better option (and, judging from my experience on forums like this, I'm not alone in this, not by a long shot). People Are Oblivious.
And aren't BBC regs (notwithstanding the N24 fiasco, where they didn't even bother to check the 16:9 safe areas, never mind the 4:3 safes) that all graphics must be 14:9?
The big problem is that Sky engineers (at least the official ones over in my neck of the woods) will not set 4:3 TV's to 4:3 Letterbox when they install it. They probably assume that people will complain and play it safe. Obviously more savvy people will switch it to letterbox themselves, so it's fair enough i suppose.