I haven't spent tons of time with this stuff, but every time I have, I've been bewildered by why everything sucks so bad. I *thought* the whole point of DVI and HDMI was pixel-perfectness, and you get it with real monitors, but not with TVs. (And I also always wondered where 1366x768 came from, since it's not quite actually 16:9.) I've seen first-hand almost everything you're describing here. Being an anal-retentive neatnik this stuff *really* bugs me but I've somewhat accepted the fact that no matter what is set how, it really doesn't matter too much once you're across the room.
Also, I love 4:3 and hate 16:9 in the first place, but that's a whole other rant. (Short version: with a 4:3 screen, 4:3 content looks perfect, and anything else gets letterboxed to some extent. With a 16:9 screen, 16:9 content--the minority of what I watch--looks good (pixel accuracy notwithstanding) and everything else gets stretched, zoomed, distorted, cropped, letterboxed, or pillarboxed. Lovely. And on a computer, I want height, due to all the menu bars.)
Again, thanks for putting together a great post. Lots of good info in one spot--and a perfectly acceptable solution at the end. :-)
Awesome post, thanks.
Also, I love 4:3 and hate 16:9 in the first place, but that's a whole other rant. (Short version: with a 4:3 screen, 4:3 content looks perfect, and anything else gets letterboxed to some extent. With a 16:9 screen, 16:9 content--the minority of what I watch--looks good (pixel accuracy notwithstanding) and everything else gets stretched, zoomed, distorted, cropped, letterboxed, or pillarboxed. Lovely. And on a computer, I want height, due to all the menu bars.)
Again, thanks for putting together a great post. Lots of good info in one spot--and a perfectly acceptable solution at the end. :-)