Explain Why Old 4:3 TV Shows Can't Be Made Into True Widescreen DVDs

[EdwardGein]

Would appreciate an explanation here and I'm not even sure the premise is correct, just would like some background on this for my understanding. I just rented "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (Great Show) Season 1 on DVD. When I put this on, I found a common problem I've had with recordings several years old- Specifically in the Standard Widescreen Mode on MY Widescreen HDTV the picture looked a little distorted, same with the Zoom (expand setting) & only looked normal & decent when I watched it on the 4:3 mode. Will this happen with say any TV show that was originally shot in 4:3 or is there a way to convert this properly to full widescreen for the manufactured DVD without the distortion which I imagine is from a stretched image? I know when I see old TV shows on TNT in HD, the picture is horribly distorted and I can't even watch these shows. In a way it reminds me in the 60's of reprocessed stereo records where they tried to make a mono recording electronically stereo and sounded awful.

Also as an aside, are DVD defaults on 5.1 Dolby Digital Sound or does one always need to go the menu to set things up. I noticed lately that the DTS option was gone as well as several audio options in the past & I'd like to just skip that part if I know it is automatically set for 5.1 sound (assuming it wasn't recording in 2 channel sound).

[markw]

Unless someone can come up with a way to synthesize what was never recorded in the first place to fill in the additional width of the picture, you're SOL. IOW, you can't put back what was never there to begin with.

FWIW, I agrree that those "stretched" images look horrible. I suggest you choose which bothers you less. The vertical bars or the stretched image. IMNSHO, much as I prefer mono to synthesized stereo, I'll take the black bars any day.

[kexodusc]

A lot of sets have a stretch mode that expands the corners of the set a bit. The main focus is preserved. To be honest I find this very well executed, I rarely notice a distortion or fake appearing stretch effect. Rarely. And I prefer it to watching 4:3 with the black bars. You generally concentrate on the center 2/3 of the screen anyway. If your set has that, try it out...it's pretty good.

Other than that, there's nothing you can do. If it wasn't recorded by the camera, you can't add on to it. Might as well add on to the Mona Lisa...who knows what was there in the surroundings?

[EdwardGein]

On my 34" Panasonic, a 4:3 picture from DVD looks pretty good