If you have a wide-screen TV, full mode will show 16:9 programs in the correct aspect ratio. In full mode, 4:3 programs have black bars on the left and the right and have the wrong aspect ratio, while wide-screen programs are shown in full, but the aspect ratio is incorrect (it's squished in from the left and sides). Zoom displays 4:3 programming with no black bars and in the correct aspect ratio, and displays the wide-screen programs without distorting the image, but the left and the right sides are cut off.
On a standard 4:3 analog TV, letterbox "windowboxes" 4:3 content (puts black bars on all four sides) and properly letterboxes wide-screen 16:9 content (puts black bars above and below the image). The TB100MW9 has three main settings for aspect ratio: letterbox, zoom, and full. We definitely prefer the Dish Network TR-40 CRA's EPG, which shows much more program information at once, or even the somewhat limited "What's Next" screen on the RCA DTA800, to what Magnavox offers. This design is pretty limited, as it doesn't give you enough information on a single screen-you have to scroll to see the next 2 hours of programming on NBC (for example) or what's on a variety of stations at 8 p.m. Pressing the EPG button, the TV100MW9's remote brings up current information about the program playing, and pressing "right" on the directional pad will show information about programs coming on in the future. The Magnavox does technically include an EPG, but it's one of the most basic we've seen. If an easy-to-use remote is a big priority, make sure you check out the competing RCA DTA800. That might seem like a lot of complaining over a remote, but if this is the main way you watch TV, it's something you'll use all the time. We were also disappointed to note that the remote can't control a TV, so you'll need to fumble with two remotes. It's also missing a button to toggle between different aspect ratios-you have to jump into the setup menu to do this. The other keys are all tiny and similarly-sized, including even the important channel up/down buttons. There's a directional pad in the center, but it breaks the standard convention of including the "OK" button in the middle and instead places it off to the side, which caused us to hit the wrong button several times.
We'll admit to being sticklers about good remote design, but the TB100MW9's clicker is bad by almost any measure.
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