Optimizing your HDTV Experience

If you want the ultimate viewing experience, HDTV is where it's at, but you need to consider a few things to get total satisfaction. There's no use having the best TV money can buy if it isn't giving you the best possible picture, if it's frustrating to use, or if you're missing out on some cool features. Here are some factors to consider:

• Managing the Aspect ratio
• Getting the right accessories
• Tuning and Adjustment

Managing Aspect Ratio
Aspect Ratio is the ratio of the screen width to the screen height. A 4:3 set could be 40 inches wide and 30 inches high, and a 16:9 set could be 32 inches wide and 18 inches high, for example. Most HDTVs (and every HDTV on FlatHDTV.net) fit the new 16:9 "widescreen" format, but a lot of the content available today is still in the 4:3 format.

If the content format doesn't match the TV format, then it's simply the wrong shape- it's like trying to put a square peg in a rectangular hole- and some adjustments will be necessary. First, make sure the format of the video source (DVD player, cable box, game console, etc.) matches your TV's format. The picture still might look distorted, though. Here are some common issues and their solutions:

Letterboxing:You may see vertical black bars on either side of the picture if the source is 4:3 format. You can use the zoom control on your TV to enlarge the picture, which will fill the screen, but will cut off the top and bottom of the picture. You can also use the stretch feature to fill the screen, but the image will be stretched horizontally.

Windowboxing:You may see a black "frame" around the picture. Again, use the zoom or stretch control to get the best possible picture.

Leaving the picture as-is will give you the sharpest and most dimensionally accurate picture, and since most HDTVs are very large, it might be best to just get used to the black bars when watching non-widescreen content. However, some of the plasma sets have a problem with "burn-in" when the same image is continuously displayed in one part of the screen during the first hundred or so hours of viewing. With a plasma set, then, you would want to adjust the picture to fill the whole screen, at least for the first hundred hours.