widescreen VS. letterbox

[matt8085]

who makes the call on whether an HD program is show in widescreen or letterbox? Is it the cable co. or is it the actual network? I would think that most HD tvs are widescreen.
I find myself switching from the HD channel back to the standard signal because I absolutely cannot stand the black bars on the sides.

On another subject, I was in best buy recently and saw a dvd player with a "DVI" output. the cable looked like a computer cable. Is this a better video input than component? I have an input on the back of my tv that looks the same but it's labled "VGA" Are these 2 totally different inputs? any help would be great. I have a mits ws48511

[57U]

1. Widescreen is letterbox. (you thinking of fullscreen or pan&scan?)

2. All HD programmes are widescreen 16:9. Some movies may be shown in their Original Aspect Ratio of 2.35:1, in which case you'd see some black bars above and below the image, like on the same OAR DVDs.

3. If there are black bars on the sides, you're seeing a 4:3 upconverted programme, not HD. There is nothing wrong with watching these programmes on the SD channel like you do, that's what many of us do.

4. There are several DVD players with DVI outputs and although they are like a computer cable, I don't believe they're identical. There are several different "models" of DVI cable and you must get the correct one for the application. See the FAQ on "cables & connections" for more information.

5. Whether this is a "better" connection depends more on the DVD player and the TV than the cable itself. A good DVD player connected by good component video cables will probably look just as good.

6. All the DVD players with DVI outputs provide an extremely poor component video signal (probably concentrated on the DVI).