16:9 TVs Showing 4:3 programs
For a wide screen 16:9 TV showing a standard 4:3 TV program, the program is too tall to fit the screen. Your choices here include:
Pillar box
Here the 4:3 image is shrunk until the entire height of the program fits on your TV. Since the aspect ratio is maintained, the image is no longer wide enough to fill the screen, so gray or black bars are seen at the left and right edges. To change the bar color, access the HDTV screen in System Setup as described above, then select the desired bar color option under the TV Ratio tab.
Stretch
In this setting, instead of adding bars to the sides, the 4:3 program image is stretched horizontally until it’s wide enough to fill the screen. Your entire screen will be full, but the images are a little stretched to compensate.
Crop
This format crops (cuts off) the top and bottom of a 4:3 frame, keeping the 4:3 ratio intact.
Only Pillar Box shows the entire original 4:3 image without distortion.
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