viewing area, 36(4:3) vs. 34(16:9)

[tansu]

How much difference, if any, is the viewing area between the 36" 4:3 tv's and the 34" 16:9 tv's when watching a 16:9 HD "movie"?

[jayn_j]

Using simple geometry, I come up with a screen area of 493.9 sq in for the 34" 16:9 set and 466.56 sq in for the 36" used in 16x9 mode.

I calc the width of the 36" to be (36/5)*4= 28.8"
width of 34 is (34/18.36)*16 = 29.63"
Then use simple rule of proportions on 16:9 triangles to get height and then area (h*w).

Given this, the 16x9 set is about 6% larger on hdtv material.

However on 4:3 material the 36" 4:3 yields 622 sq in while the 34" 16:9 yields 370 sq in. Thus the 4:3 set is 68% larger on 4:3 material if you don't use tricks of geometry. Even if you use the tricks, the 4:3 set is still 26% larger.

That's why I bought the 36XBR800.

[Chris Blount]

Here is a web site that allows you to plug in the numbers for comparison. Hope it helps:

http://www.cavecreations.com/tv2.cgi