Prolly a stupid HD question

[Sensei_Fu]

If you're playing Halo 2 or another HD game on a 4:3 aspect ratio HDTV, what happens to the picture?  Is it stretched by the TV or are there vertical bars or does it depend on the tv?  

[Tynstar]

I believe the games support either. Plus what is you XBox set to?

[phoenix1967]

16:9 multiplayer splitscreen would kick ass on an HD Plasma! Anybody have one?

[Izret101]

in order for you to get the aspect ratio to work correctly don't you have to pick up a special HD set of AV cables?

[Sensei_Fu]

I believe the games support either. Plus what is you XBox set to?

I don't know yet.  I'm debating on whether to buy my nephew a 26" Wide Screen or a 27" normal and I wanted to have some idea what would happen in most games with both.  

[Izret101]

I would suggest just getting the 27 inch for Max.
Widescreen sux for gaming.
I was painfully reminded of this after i had already posted here.
We have a wide screen in my living room i hooked Xbox up to it changed the resolution in the Box's settings and it looked like shit.

All the weapons were elongated. It ruined gameplay.

If he is going to watch alot of movies on his TV i say go for the WideScreen but it seems that he does alot more Halo2ing on it.

[Tynstar]

Widescreen sux for gaming.

And you set your Xbox to 16:9? It looks fine on my screen. Did you try the different aspect ratios on your TV? I use Full Screen. Some of my other settings make the game look messed up.

[s1lence]

Ok, since I have both a 16x9 tv and a 4/3 both HD I'll answer the questions. No you do not need a special cable to run it in widescreen. It looks fine on a 4:3 tv and if you set the box to 16:9 on a widescreen tv it looks good to. The special cables just increase the resolution that you get in the games. If you switch the mode in the system from 16:9 to 4:3 it will change how the split screen works as well, which is good because top/bottom split on a widescreen sucks. Any other questions  |D

[Sensei_Fu]

Ok, since I have both a 16x9 tv and a 4/3 both HD I'll answer the questions. No you do not need a special cable to run it in widescreen. It looks fine on a 4:3 tv and if you set the box to 16:9 on a widescreen tv it looks good to. The special cables just increase the resolution that you get in the games. If you switch the mode in the system from 16:9 to 4:3 it will change how the split screen works as well, which is good because top/bottom split on a widescreen sucks. Any other questions  |D

Yeah, so If I'm getting him this to primarily play games one, which format should I get?  

[s1lence]

I would get the 16:9 if you have the cash. For the new systems thats the way to go. For the older ones it streeches the screen, but they are still very much playable.  :rock:

[Sensei_Fu]

Anybody else have an opinion of which to buy?  I'm going to buy one in a couple hours.