Too old school for a widescreen TV and my shows are cropped

[rocknxj]

Admittedly, I'm a huge fan of TV. I fondly recall the black and white days of TV, and the evolution to shows that were advertised "in living color." Remote controls evolved from using your little brother to change the channnels, to a tethered clicker, to a fully functioning IR remote control with more computer power than NASA had available with the Saturn V program.

The 80's brought televised broadcasts "in stereo" with the catchy little icon on the bottom right corner of the screen announcing the same. TV shows were crap, but they were broadcast in full color with stero sound. Things were swell.

Television continued to evolve through the 90's and widescreen become the buzz. Today, high definition widescreen format seems to be the rage. I am noticing the emergence of more and more widescreen broadcasts to satisfy the wide format television owners and to prepare for the impending age of digital broadcast.

Here's my beef. I am old school. I own a largely functional and beautiful 36 inch Sony Vega TV, which I do not wish to replace. The beast weighs over 220 pounds and I am too old and weak to move it.

TV is broadcasting shows in wide format, which results in the edges being cropped. I hate that. It is becomming more and more noticeable, and I am becomming less and less tolerant of it. Words are cropped. Faces unnaturally framed. It is chaos.

I first noticed this three weeks ago with Saturday Night Live. Next I noticed other network shows being cropped. Last night I noticed a news broadcast with the edges trimmed like so many nuns in a bikini contest. I have also seen commercials so blatently cropped that I could not read the phone number to order the viagra, in which I so desperately need.

I am a consumer. I pay for 100% of the show, but only receive 60% of the material. I demand my entire show without having to cave in to The Man and simply roll over and buy a new TV.

All is not well in my house, let me tell you.

 

[kdailey4315]

I'm confused. You say you want to replace your Wega and then 3 paragraphs later you say you refuse to roll over for the man and buy a new TV.
BTW it doesn't get any better with a widescreen tv. I have a 42" LCD and watching shows in standard definitions sucks balls. Talk about unnatural framing.

 

[rocknxj]

Fixed. Poor editing, thanks.

 

[jeepboy381]

Once you get a HDTV you won't ever want to watch anything else that is not HD. Just go buy one and you will enjoy it! Especially when the price of blueray players drops dramatically and they are not a rip off!

 

[Ivan]

Sadly, it's called progress... Eventually, you will cave in and run with the masses.

Much like you did when you replaced your rotary pulse phone, with a push button tone phone, next to a cordless phone; and more than likely, you now also have a cell phone.

I'll betcha all your previous phones worked fine, at the time you replaced them. You did mention you were "old", but I'm assuming you never really got the chance to deal with a crank phone, so that part of phone evolution was not included :roll:

 

[RichP]

I actually had a great aunt in upstate NY that had a wall mounted crank phone that she used up until she passed away in 66. We had a party line in north new jersey till 64.
My grandfather got one of the first Zenith color televisions with 'wireless remote control' it used tuning forks that you pushed a button on the remote to change channels and a small hammer would hit the appropriate fork. You could turn it on, off, up channel or down channel. Big deal, in Newark NJ in 58 you only had channel 2, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 11 and they all went off after midnite, grandpa controlled the remote. If the volume needed to go up or down I or one of the other family members became the remote with legs.. My great grandfather could click his false teeth and change the channel which used to drive my grandfather nuts...
We got our first wireless phone in 83, it was a 'piere cardan' that I got from renting cars from National, it had the same ring tone as the nuclear spill alarm on my submarine only I did not know it...yet. The first nite it rang when I was just falling asleep in bed, I about gave my wife heart failure, I was up, had my pants, sneakers and shirt on and was hollering 'I need my mask' as I headed out the bedroom door for missile house where I would put my radiation suit on. I was on the spill team. That phone got dropped off at my parents the next day. I could almost swear she left finger and toe prints in the ceiling over the bed...
I love new technology, big TV's are still too much money, maybe next year.

 

[Bent]

My grandfather got one of the first Zenith color televisions with 'wireless remote control' it used tuning forks that you pushed a button on the remote to change channels and a small hammer would hit the appropriate fork. You could turn it on, off, up channel or down channel.

Each ring of the phone would turn ours on - off - on - off ...

 

[Ramsey]

You old people have funny stories.

 

[Rob Mayercik]

My great grandfather could click his false teeth and change the channel which used to drive my grandfather nuts...

I bet he would have had a blast with The Clapper.

We got our first wireless phone in 83, it was a 'piere cardan' that I got from renting cars from National, it had the same ring tone as the nuclear spill alarm on my submarine only I did not know it...yet. The first nite it rang when I was just falling asleep in bed, I about gave my wife heart failure, I was up, had my pants, sneakers and shirt on and was hollering 'I need my mask' as I headed out the bedroom door for missile house where I would put my radiation suit on. I was on the spill team. That phone got dropped off at my parents the next day. I could almost swear she left finger and toe prints in the ceiling over the bed...

ROFL! Now THAT is funny.

 

[SCW]

I have a $200 Sharp 27" CRT that I picked up about 5 years ago. I haven't seen a network TV show in 2 years, but I did have a bad head cold the other day and slept in front of some old recorded Get Smart episodes..... Missed it by that much!

 

[SteveT]

Get one of the HD converters. I'm still a rabbit ear guy (young, but cheap). With the government coupon, run you about 10 bucks.

It'll letterbox the programming for you, and give you way better picture.

 

[Bent]

I'll be an old people and have funny stories too.

Fickseded for you.







:kissyou:

 

[DrMoab]

Fickseded for you.
:kissyou:

Unless he decides to die a Martyr before then.

 

[Ramsey]

Only if I'm running at your door