There is absolutely no reason why you cannot transmit full height anamophic 16:9 images on a analog Tx, however anyone with a 4:3 TV (guess most with analog will have those old things) will see everyone tall and skinny, and no way to fix it, however those with 16:9 TVs will see everything ok.
With digital its possible to transmit full height anamorphic and have the STB manipulate the image for 4:3 TVs to either LetterBox so you see the full and correct 16:9 image within a 4:3 frame, or centre cut (yuk) when a 4:3 centre image out of the transmitted 16:9 image. Naturally if you have select 16:9 on the STB the image is sent untouched to the display for correct portrial.
Note SD TV has no 16:9 frames in its standard, it only knows of 4:3 frames, therefore 16:9 full height anamorphic is the only way to transmit 16:9 images within a 4:3 system (analog or digital) for correct display on 16:9 displays.
So the end result is yes you can transmit true full height anamorphic 16:9 images on analog, however there is a functional aspect that is lacking that would p1ss 99% of analog views off, so they dont do it.
Only HD TV specifies 16:9 frames, which means they have true square pixels, SD full height anamorphic whilst gives correct 16:9 aspect ratio within a 4:3 frame the pixels at some point are rectangular.
They can do it, its just that most people still have 4:3 tvs so would be left looking at tall skinny people since almost all 4:3 sets dont have a 16:9 mode on them. But with the number of people that are happy with short fat people on their widescreens then its clearly of little concern to the general population.
Whats annoying me is that they are partially letterboxing things for no good reason. All tv shows are made with 4:3 in mind and the extra little inch that it adds on widescreen shows is not worth it.
cyril7: Note SD TV has no 16:9 frames in its standard, it only knows of 4:3 frames, therefore 16:9 full height anamorphic is the only way to transmit 16:9 images within a 4:3 system (analog or digital) for correct display on 16:9 displays.
Anamorphic is only truly applied to film where the lens has a different curve in the 2 axis to stretch the image. On video it mearly declares a different pixel size which has the end result of changing the image size to be wider or not. Its just the term got used early on by film guys working with video and has stuck.
Some hdtv resolutions have gone to square pixels, but there was no reason to other then the fact that comptuters tend to work with square ones so its easier for them to share display panels etc. 1440x1080 is a common hd resolution, used on HDV cameras and some other dtv networks, its still widescree just with non square pixels.
Ah OK, that explains it. I must have got confused when you've explained this before Cyril, but makes perfect sense now, especially given the lack of ability to adjust your picture on those old TV's. So I don't think anyone can knock the networks for not broadcasting in 16:9 on the dying Analog network.
As for the issue about 14:9 on Analog, I believe it is a compromise as some TV's (my 4:3 Sharp for example) seem to loose the outside small percentage of the display when a 16:9 image is shown as 4:3 (ie: setting Sky box to Centre Cut), that is why you see graphics on the bottom of the screen on some stations seem to sit up so high on most TV's, it's to accomodate those TV's like mine that seem to always be zoomed in a little more than most. So if the 16:9 image was sent out over Analog I would miss some of the graphics (not that I watch Analog). That is why I have to set me Sky box to letterbox, so I can always see everything. Time to upgrade me thinks (but I'm waiting for HD TV's to come out later this year with built in Freeview tuners for NZ).
Yeah, some old crt's are really bad for overscan, but really thats a problem with the tv, not one that the broadcasters should be pandering to by the partial letterbox.
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