Originally Posted by evildick

Only if you watch regular channels (non HDTV). And even then you can just set the TV to display regular 4:3 material in its native format, meaning the picture will look normal but there will be black bars on both sides of the screen. Some sets also have a stretch mode that doesn't distort images in the centre of the screen as bad, it does most of the stretching in the outer portions of the screen where you don't notice it as much.


If you watch HDTV channels or widescreen DVD's, then you will get the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen with both those sets. You also lose a lot of the picture if you plan on running a high def game system like the Xbox360 or PS3. Widescreen really makes a big difference on those systems.

edit: if you have no interest at all in picking up a HD receiver or game system, then I guess a 4:3 set might be better suited for just watching regular cable.