Is there an advantage to buying wide-screen format DVDs over full-screen format? Or t’other way around? I can see where wide screen may be better for a plasma set, but what is the advantage for a standard CRT set?
The only advantage for a CRT set is that you’re seeing the whole picture, the way the director originally intended it. For a 16:9 widescreen set (not limited to plasma sets, BTW), if the disc in anamorphic widescreen, then you get to watch the movie on the full screen, with little or no letterboxing.
If you ever purchase a widescreen TV in the future, you will be glad to have all those anamorphic widescreen DVDs in your collection! On the other hand, watching a 3:4 fullscreen DVD on a widescreen TV is painful.
The wide-screen (or letterboxing) vs. pan-and-scan debate is a legendary one rivaling Kirk vs. Picard or PCs vs. Macs. Ultimately its just you’re own preference.
Wide-screen is generally the cinema enthusiasts’ choice because you’re seeing the whole picture, not just what the technician who did the pan & scan transfer felt you need to see.
Average viewers sometime just feel that a third of their screen is being wasted (and in a way, it is) and prefer pan-and-scan.
Also, because movie buffs usually have big screen TVs, its still a big picture even with the letterboxing.