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In this report: TV types; Image quality; Screen size; Screen shape; Connections; Features

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February 2006

Screen shape: Choose a squarish or wide screen

While almost all regular TVs have a fairly square screen, most HDTVs have screens that are wider than they are tall. A few HD sets-mostly picture-tube and LCD models-have squarish screens.

	Regular screen. The familiar squarish shape (like the TV you grew up with) has an aspect ratio of 4:3, meaning it measures 4 units wide for every 3 units high. Most TV programming is formatted for 4:3 screens, but there's a growing amount of programming shaped for wide screens, and that is expected to increase as time goes on.
	Wide screen. Shaped more like a movie-theater screen, this type of screen has an aspect ratio of 16:9, or 16 units wide for every 9 units high. (Some wide-screen sets have an aspect ratio of 15:9.) Most cinematic movies on DVD and a growing number of HD programs are designed for wide screens.

Content that's formatted for one type of screen has to be modified to fit the other, so you may see bars to the left and right or top and bottom of the image. You can stretch or zoom in to make the image fit the screen, but it may distort the picture somewhat in the process. Keep in mind that more TV programming is expected to move to wide-screen formatting in the next few years, so a wide screen may be the better choice if you expect to keep your TV for some time to come.

Wide-screen sets come in different sizes than you may be accustomed to. For example, wide-screen picture-tube sets usually measure 26, 30 or 34 inches diagonally, rather than 27, 32, or 36 inches, like regular screens. Wide-screen models generally cost more than similarly sized 4:3 TVs.


	STEP 5:	Connections