Page 1 of Buying my first WIDESCREEN TV - any recommendations!!??

Hi - after saving up my pennies, I am now going to buy my first widescreen TV. I don`t know much about them, so any information/recommendations/help will be appreciated!

I have a maximum of about £800, and the set must have a 32" flat screen and be NTSC "friendly" to play US videos and DVDs. I am not too bothered about the sound - NICAM will do.

Also, are there sets available where you can "enlarge" the picture for 4:3 broadcasts to fill the 16:9 screen? (obviously losing some of the picture!)

I`ve also got quite a few non-anamorphic widescreen DVDs - how do you play these on a widescreen TV?

THANKS!

hi hulk

most widescreen tvs will have an auto or manual picture aspect selection.

this means set to auto, 4:3 broadcasts will appear in 4:3 with black bands to l and r of picture, any other format will be picked up as the signal is received so widescreen will appear full screen when present.

when in manual mode you can set the aspect to any size you like a 4:3 picture will stretch horizontally to fill the screen (this looks rubbish though) better use zoom to fill screen although obviously this will clip top and bottom edges of screen (no good for footy obviously) most stuff is broadcast in w/s now though. check the tv can support at least 4:3, 14:9, 14:9 zoom, 16:9 and 16:9 zoom and you can auto or toggle manually easily. This will ensure you get the best of your non - anamorphic titles, but they will just have black bands top and bottom in `normal` widescreen mode (16:9), like you`re used to on your 4:3 tv, except they won`t be as big as they are on a 4:3 screen.

most tvs will support NTSC via PAL60, just make sure your VCR and DVD support NTSC playback and you should be fine.