> The lack of black bars at the top and bottom of the screen on my 
> grandparent's 4:3 CRT. Maybe they were there and I just didn't notice?

Oh, on my Sky box if you tell them that you have a 4:3 device connected it 
chops off the sides to make a 4:3 picture from a 16:9 one.  Some programs 
that I see (I think that Snooker might be one of them) keep all the 
important detail (ie the scores, any graphics etc) in the central part of 
the picture, so that those watching a 4:3 chopped image don't miss anythign 
important.

> Certainly when you watch a 4:3 signal on a 16:9 screen that's errantly 
> configured to distort the image, it's pretty damned noticable!

I have never noticed this, either my Sky box is zooming 4:3 streams to fill 
the screen, or it's just there are no 4:3 streams that I watch.  BTW, it's 
quite common that 16:9 streams have black bars top and bottom as well to 
give an even wider aspect ratio, don't assume the presence or absence of 
black bars says anything about whether it's widescreen or not.

> Yeah, well, that part of the show was *sliiightly* tenuous at times. But 
> the whole concept of "OK, we need to mash together a machine to do X... 
> how the hell do we actually do that?" was really neat.

Yeh it was cool to watch them making things, I really like that sort of 
stuff.  Just a shame I don't have room at home to make a nice workshop, one 
day though :-)

> Unfortunately the show slowly drifted from being about the science to 
> being about the personallity clashes, differences of opinion, mutinies, 
> etc. that I don't give a damn about. Why is it that today everything has 
> to be about "reality TV"? Just get on with the engineering!

Agreed, although haven't watched it recently so it might be worse now than I 
remember!

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