So, is it time to stop protecting for 4x3?

Y

Yoyodyne

Active member
I was squeezing some logos and text into the " 4x3 title safe" area of an HD project and got to thinking... how many people are even capable of watching this content in 4x3? Let's ignore cable for a minute....

I realize that in the US a lot of DTV converter boxes were disseminated when analog broadcast channels were turned off so people could keep using their old tube sets, but with HD sets so cheap now....How many of those are still being used? The DTV transition deadline was June 12, 2009. That was about 13 years ago. How long can these old 4x3 tube sets hang in there? I sometimes see these things sitting on the curb with a "for free" sign taped to the glass.

I ask because that 4x3 title safe area is a pretty small square in that big 16x9 image.

It just seems odd that a technology that effectively died 13 years ago is still dictating the broadcast standards of today. I'm also curious as to how many people are still watching TV on an old 4x3 tube set?

so, anyone else ponder this or is it just me? Anyone know someone who is still soldering on with their old tube set?



FYI, Sony ceased production of the Trinitron (aka WEGA) in early 2008.
 
I had a spot rejected recently by a broadcaster for not having some titles in the 4x3 zone so it's up to them ultimately. Even regular title safe is outdated so I'm hoping these standards are updated soon.
 
I do a lot of large projector installs and the designers still like 4:3 because it covers a wider area, a lot of artist still love it over the squeeze of 16:9...... but for TV its pretty much done!
 
I delivered some stuff this summer and was told in the market the percentage of 4x3 was still well over a third.
 
4x3 is still the standard throughout the US and most of the world, in standard-def delivery. In the USA there's no such thing as 16:9 standard-def, it's all broadcast 4x3.

As far as protecting goes, though, it seems like the big networks don't give a flying hoot about 4x3 viewing -- I was stuck in a hotel room in Roswell for the last month, and while it had a 16x9 HDTV in it, the cable system would lock up on HD broadcasts so any time I turned it on I had to go to the SD channel, and the SD broadcasts were just chopped-off 16x9. No attempt to keep everything in the safe zone, they just lopped it off.

Would I "protect" for 4x3 for any TV commercials or whatever being produced today? Absolutely, because 4x3 broadcast (or cablecast) is still quite prevalent.
 
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