480i Rentals

[JPT]

Has anyone rented a movie with a 480i 4:3 TV? I am kind of scared to spend money on something when I am not even sure it would show correctly on my TV.

And please do not get into the whole "480i is not supported and doesn't show correctly". I already know that, and local movies work just fine!

 

[Grunch08]

I rented Ronin on a 480i 4:3 TV (non-widescreen, just anapomorphic) and it was perfect, just like a dvd.

 

[toddngina]

You need two things: component or HDMI inputs, and a anamorphic mode for your TV. I have a 36" Sony HDTV, 4:3, and it has a widescreen mode. When it senses an anamorphic input, it automatically compresses the 480 horizontal lines to a smaller portion of the screen, allowing all the detail of the picture through and still keep the aspect ratio. Here's a good test. If you can hook up a DVD player to component inputs, set the DVD PLAYER'S output to "16:9" instead of "4:3", and everything looks good on your screen (not stretched vertically), you should be good to go. IF your DVD player is set to 4:3, then it is actually removing lines of resolution to keep the proper aspect ratio. This is something ATV does not do, hence the requirement for a "widescreen" tv.

Hope that helps.