16:9 versus the Std 4:3 recording?
 

Exactly a week ago I bought my first wide screen lcd-tv.. a Sony M-Series class Bravia 32 inch. It dawned on me or should I more accurately state the fact that it was discovered by surprise that the GL-2 can also record in 16:9 mode.

Hence the launch of this new thread as this may open new opportunities and horizons.

1) With this parameter enabled will the resulting footage completely fill the screen?

2) How will it look when displayed & played back on the Bravia as the max spec of the LCDTV also is 720p? Will it look nice? Is grain a factor or will it have a stretched and thin look?

3) How will the GL-2 16:9 natively shot footage quality directly compare to standard 4:3 footage which I've been shooting for about 6 years? The same, better, slightly less or significantly and noticeably less?

4) Is is possible to upgrade/upconvert existing 4:3 video to a 16:9 aspect ratio so it will fit on and display properly with comparable quality to the original?

Or is trying to upgrade from 4:3 to 16:9 a waste of time due to loss of quality?

I have various versions of Premiere. Maybe there is a excellent stand-alone app that works.

Bottom line is I'm wondering to stick with the customary 4:3 mode or to go with 16:9 mode in the future?

Thanks all for your valuable thoughts, insights, instruction and suggestions on this topic.

Bruce,

I shoot with a gl2 and an xl2, primarily in wide screen, progressive. I have a 54 inch plasma screen.

What I do these days is I shoot the gl2 with 4:3 with the wide screen guides on. then in post I change the 4:3 to wide screen. In Premiere I just crop it, in Vegas you just make the aspect ratios the same (if I recall correctly, I forget the exact term for it). When I play the mixed footage on my tv practically nobody can tell the difference between them. Your tv can usually adjust your screen size, if you enlarge it to much you will start to see more grain and it also crops picture out. I personally have not had some of the problems others have mentioned along these lines.
If you do a search you may find some of the prior discussions along these lines.