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I've only ever seen a few decent-looking plasma screens and they all cost well over US$20000. Even units that cost well over $10K didn't look as good as a CRT. And forget about anything under $5K.

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You have the gamecube component pack, ive been trying to get one but they are damn near impossible to find for a reasonable price.

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It also lets you play some games in widescreen.

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The issue sin't the component pack, it's the games. Only some games have widescreen support

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Boy, I do wish Plazma had the legs to out last all the others.

Three big issues I have with any plasma display:

[blah blah blah]

3. Afraid of heights. Most plasmas still do not work well at high altitudes. The problem is painfully obvious in any consumer store here in Colorado. Walk into the plasma section, turn down any noise in the area, and you get a not so plesant buzz. Put one of those units in a house, and you have a buzz that cannot be covered up without raising sound volume of the content to police attracting levels. Why retailers even bother stocking plasma units with this problem here is beyond me, since almost all get returned when the issue starts up after a few days of operation.

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I know that my system didn't let me choose that option until I was using the component cables.

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This surprises me. I didn't think it worked that way. I wonder why this is the case?

Silly - It's Nintendo. They want to sell more cable kits! They've been playing these games for a long, long time.

-jk

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isn't like those gimmick games that require four GBAs

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Mario Kart is still 4 player on one console using split screen

Yeah, I think I figured that one out

I'm certain that the multiplayer Zelda game and the few other games that support it are just fine, but it creates more problems than it's worth. For one, I am the only person I know that owns a GBA, let alone someone my age. This creates the dilemma that I must find three other people to come over regularly, and only three other people, because who wants to play only part of an adventure game. It also means that, despite the fact that I would have paid immediately for a good single player version of Four Swords (hello, it looks like Link to the Past! I'm in heaven!), having played it it did not feel fun to play on my own.

The multiple consoles thing was just an addtion to the complaint. I shouldn't have made it seem like my main point or anything. Besides, I heard there are ways to even fool the Gamecube into playing Mario Kart online. I've never tried that, though.

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In regard to the aspect ratio, KKTV-DT always sends 1080i / 16:9. It was set up this way as not to burn bars in the sides of the viewers HDTV monitors.

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My main question is if a TV exists that is widescreen, but that forces 4:3 content to always be 4:3.

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they are removing control from the consumer watching their station

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Thankfully my unit does allow me to set 4:3 manually, thus returning the 4:3 content to a non stretched look.

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By what I can tell, the local FOX station broadcasts the proper aspect ratio and switches when the time comes. For example, during 24, I get a full 16:9 picture as intended. But when a commercial break comes on, I get the commercial in a pillar box format to ensure the 4:3 ratio is maintained.

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Well, 480p is a 4:3 picture, and is technically part of the HD specification. I don't know if anyone does it, oreven if it's possible for a single channel to switch back and forth, but it's vaguely possible that Tom's local Fox station does.

I imagine you're right, though, and that they pillar box the 4:3 picture into a 16:9 frame.

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John's TV, which is a CRT, blanks for about half a second on each switch. This gets annoying rather rapidly.

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My main question is if a TV exists that is widescreen, but that forces 4:3 content to always be 4:3.

No, the problem they're solving is the opposite of that. They're not sending a 4:3 picture. The channel is a 16:9 channel, period, they're sending a 16:9 picture.

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The reason I asked the above was to find out if a widescreen TV existed that didn't allow a consumer to stretch a 4:3 feed to 16:9.

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On the other hand, is this really something that you control on your TV and not on your HD receiver?

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The reason I asked the above was to find out if a widescreen TV existed that didn't allow a consumer to stretch a 4:3 feed to 16:9. I am aware they are doing the opposite, and that is what annoys me. So in a counter point to them, I want to point out that if they would send 4:3 content as 4:3, consumers could then stretch it as they please. Including using stretching methods beyond the simple expansion to fill the frame that many modern units offer.

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if they would send 4:3 content as 4:3, consumers could then stretch it as they please.

Yes, agreed. I would love it if they did that.

But as was pointed out later in this thread, switching the channel's "type" from 4:3 to 16:9 and back again has its own set of technical issues. So, from what I've seen, most stations that mix 4:3 and 16:9 content simply broadcast as 16:9 all the time with black pillar bars.

Nasty, evil, burn-inducing black pillar bars.

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because the local CBS station is the only station out of the 3 local and many satelite stations that I have to touch my TV remote to change aspect ratio.

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Nasty, evil, burn-inducing black pillar bars.

It's fine if you've got a 16:9 TV that doesn't burn in. It's preferable