# Why do wide-screen viewers insist on using fat-face mode? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561 "2010-01-04T01:25:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/41 "2010-01-05T02:48:56Z")
I bought a Blu-Ray player simply because it could identify between 4:3 and widescreen. And it does very well. (edit: and it was 78 bucks and a blu-ray player) ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/42 "2010-01-05T02:55:32Z")
> [@Dante](#): > > It’s actually a function of the phosphors in the black areas getting less use. See here: > > [http://www.plasmasaver.com/burnin.html](http://www.plasmasaver.com/burnin.html) Uh…but I hope you note that that site is trying to sell you a product (“Plasma saver DVD”) to reduce or eliminate the burn-in. If burn-in doesn’t happen, they have no sales, so I think they have a bias to tell you that. Besides, they are only talking about plasma displays, not other kinds. ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/43 "2010-01-05T02:57:42Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Can someone please explain this to me? For me it goes back to letter box mode and not the best eyesight. I hate letterbox because it actually shrinks the image, making it harder to see and seeing the space around the viewable image bugs me when I’m not seeing the image as well as I could otherwise. I can see more of something I can’t see as well which isn’t a tradeoff I prefer. > [@lissener](#): > > Do you hate the matte that you see between a drawing and its frame? Actually, yes, when I notice it which I will fully admit but never realized is extremely weird. > [@lissener](#): > > Do you understand that there have been a huge number of different screen ratios? Do you have an expectation that the physical shape of the TV screen should change to accommodate the changes in a film’s shape? Yes, and sorta. When I learned why they made movies that way I wondered why they didn’t make tv’s in that shape and now they do. I didn’t say that the shape of any individual TV screen should change but you didn’t ask me that. 😉 > [@lissener](#): > > And even imagine that’s possible, for a sci-fi moment: if the actual plastic frame of the TV screen were to change every time the program’s ratio changed–which is the only way I can imagine you can both get the original ratio and avoid black space–even if you could make that happen, there would still be space around the screen. It would just be open space. In other words, with the black bars, all you’re missing the view of the wall behind the screen. No, I wouldn’t watch movies in letterbox. I never did. I don’t have the hatred of the bars aound non HD channels on my HD tv because it doesn’t shrink the image and I’m quite used to this now. I will admit to playing with the stretch thing for a couple of days but except on accident, I haven’t stretched anything since then. > [@lissener](#): > > In OTHER words, do you understand that not liking the bars is 100% a psychological thing? Yes, and I hate bars. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/44 "2010-01-05T03:03:02Z")
The hating bars thing bemuses me. I’m certainly not going to tell folks how to watch stuff on their own TV, but when I hear about how people just hate bars, I have to wonder how they feel about the physical frame around the screen. Does not being able to show images on that upset you as well? ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/45 "2010-01-05T03:08:28Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > The hating bars thing bemuses me. I’m certainly not going to tell folks how to watch stuff on their own TV, but when I hear about how people just hate bars, I have to wonder how they feel about the physical frame around the screen. Does not being able to show images on that upset you as well? Nope, that’s the expected boundary. I do maximize all my windows on the computer too. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/46 "2010-01-05T03:14:43Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Can someone please explain this to me? > [@](#): > > In OTHER words, do you understand that not liking the bars is 100% a psychological thing? I think you explained it yourself. Yay! I’m human with what some people think is a psychological flaw. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/47 "2010-01-05T04:00:49Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Uh…but I hope you note that that site is trying to sell you a product (“Plasma saver DVD”) to reduce or eliminate the burn-in. If burn-in doesn’t happen, they have no sales, so I think they have a bias to tell you that. > > Besides, they are only talking about plasma displays, not other kinds. Be that as it may, the explanation is correct. If you require a cite with a pedigree, I’m sure you can find one. And you’ll note that I mentioned that I have a plasma TV. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/48 "2010-01-05T04:13:22Z")
> [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](#): > > Nope, that’s the expected boundary. I do maximize all my windows on the computer too. Well, that I can understand. Before I got a widescreen monitor, I maximized all my windows too. (After getting the widescreen, maximized windows were more of a hindrance than a help.) The difference between computer windows and the TV, however, is that you don’t get any extra information on the screen with the TV. I maximize a window on my computer, I can see an entire graphic versus only part of it, or I can fit a paragraph into five lines instead of ten. I stretch a 4:3 image to 16:9 on my TV, I get no extra information, just a distorted image. I get that you have a need to use all the available space. I’m just baffled that you’re willing to tolerate a stretched image for it. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/49 "2010-01-05T04:45:41Z")
If you’re watching a TV from a 30 degree angle, you’re not actually looking at a square screen, you’re looking at a trapezoid. Does your brain notice this? No, because it has lots of dedicated circuitry available to geometrically rectify images. It’s the same deal with stretched screens. If you’re consciously aware of it, it’ll bug the shit out of you but if you just let your sub conscious take over, it will quickly fade into the background. ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/50 "2010-01-05T05:28:58Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Well, that I can understand. Before I got a widescreen monitor, I maximized all my windows too. (After getting the widescreen, maximized windows were more of a hindrance than a help.) The difference between computer windows and the TV, however, is that you don’t get any extra information on the screen with the TV. I maximize a window on my computer, I can see an entire graphic versus only part of it, or I can fit a paragraph into five lines instead of ten. I stretch a 4:3 image to 16:9 on my TV, I get no extra information, just a distorted image. > > I get that you have a need to use all the available space. I’m just baffled that you’re willing to tolerate a stretched image for it. Oh, I don’t tolerate the stretched image. I just simply wouldn’t watch if there were bars before. I was simply commenting that I hate the bars not that I prefer stretched images. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/51 "2010-01-05T05:34:12Z")
The camera adds ten pounds because I’m doing it on purpose! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/52 "2010-01-05T10:51:50Z")
I don’t like it stretched, but I don’t like the black bars either - however, I think the black bars are the lesser of two evils. I wonder if I should install curtains like they have at the cinema, that draw out further when the programme moves from adverts to the main feature. I’ve been having difficulties with my new widescreen set - some UK freeview digital channels broadcast 4:3 content in widescreen format with the black bars already in place (so it needs no adjustment), others broadcast it in full, leaving the set to adjust so as to add the black bars, but it doesn’t always work, and it’s a pain to keep switching manually (I’m not even sure where the button is on this remote, which is a replacement for one that broke - it’s the official branded replacement, but everything on it is different) Also, the ‘auto’ setting on the TV applies across all inputs and the one that works most consistently with TV input fails to assign widescreen view to the Wii (even though it’s set up as widescreen) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/53 "2010-01-05T10:55:27Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > If you’re watching a TV from a 30 degree angle, you’re not actually looking at a square screen, you’re looking at a trapezoid. Does your brain notice this? No, because it has lots of dedicated circuitry available to geometrically rectify images. It’s the same deal with stretched screens. If you’re consciously aware of it, it’ll bug the shit out of you but if you just let your sub conscious take over, it will quickly fade into the background. Certainly the perceptual apparatus in the brain can compensate for a lot of stuff like this, but it only goes so far - as soon as something appears on screen where the proportion is a vital feature (maybe an unfamiliar or uncommon object), the illusion is likely to break. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/54 "2010-01-05T13:51:11Z")
What about the horizontal bars at the top or bottom of the screen when a cinemascope-sized film is viewed? Would those with an aversion to bars prefer to increase the image vertically, resulting in a distorted, squeezed image just for the sake of filling the entire screen? I just can’t see how anyone would tolerate, much less prefer, to watch an incorrectly displayed picture. If your television displayed the picture upside-down, would you just “get used to it”? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/55 "2010-01-05T13:56:51Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > If your television displayed the picture upside-down, would you just “get used to it”? ˙ʎɹʇ noʎ ɟı ʎsɐə sı ʇı 'səʎ ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/56 "2010-01-05T14:41:19Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > What about the horizontal bars at the top or bottom of the screen when a cinemascope-sized film is viewed? Would those with an aversion to bars prefer to increase the image vertically, resulting in a distorted, squeezed image just for the sake of filling the entire screen? Those don’t seem to bother me at all, but the black bars at the sides do. I think it’s because the purchase of a new set with a wider screen was a conscious decision and in some way, it just seems wrong when the only bits of the screen that are physically different from the old set, are not in use. I try to watch whatever I’m watching in its natural aspect ratio (when possible - a couple of the digital channels do some weird letterbox-within-sidebars stuff sometimes that just makes it impossible), but the black bars at the sides continue to mildly annoy me - I have no real control over that. > [@](#): > > I just can’t see how anyone would tolerate, much less prefer, to watch an incorrectly displayed picture. If your television displayed the picture upside-down, would you just “get used to it”? I’m not saying it’s a good idea, but I think they would. I used to have a TV to the right side of my bed and got quite comfortably accustomed to watching TV lying on my right side - so seeing the screen rotated 90 degrees anticlockwise - I could read scrolling text on the screen and everything. I tried moving it to the other side of the bed (so I would see it rotated 90 degrees clockwise) and at first, I couldn’t even perceive objects on the screen properly (it was all disjointed, in a cognitive, rather than geometric sense). ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/57 "2010-01-05T16:40:27Z")
> [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](#): > > For me it goes back to letter box mode and not the best eyesight. See, I can understand that smaller = harder to see = pain, but it seems to me that making your brain have to re-render the troll people onscreen back to humans would be just as big a pain. That and stretching the image only expends it horizontally- the vertical is just as tiny as it would be without stretching. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/58 "2010-01-07T22:13:52Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > It’s not our fault for stretching out faces, it’s the broadcaster’s fault for not broadcasting proper HD content in the first place. True in some cases. I’ve seen television stations stretch out 4:3 content to 16:9; usually subchannels like RTV, Create, or a weather channel. Withh the exception of a few shows like Austin City Limits and Nova, the PBS station in Austin, KLRU, broadcasts the bulk of its programming as a 16:9 window inside a 4:3 area inside a 16:9 1080i screen, with the result being black bars on all four sides of the image. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/59 "2010-01-07T22:18:41Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > I just can’t see how anyone would tolerate, much less prefer, to watch an incorrectly displayed picture. If your television displayed the picture upside-down, would you just “get used to it”? With my neighbors next door back in Cleveland, the green gun on their CRT television expired, leaving everything looking purple-ish. They got used to it. Same thing with my parents, whose old CRT TV lost the red gun. Things looks sort of normal, but reds displayed as a pale greenish-blue. They never noticed until I bought them a new television. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561/60 "2010-01-07T22:59:24Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > ˙ʎɹʇ noʎ ɟı ʎsɐə sı ʇı 'səʎ ¿ʇɐɥʇ op noʎ pıp ʍoɥ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-wide-screen-viewers-insist-on-using-fat-face-mode/523561.md?page=4)