Now, with your new HDTV in place, you need to tell your DVD player that you have a widescreen display. Press the Setup or Home button on the player's remote control and look for a TV Shape or Output option. Use this menu to indicate that you have a 16:9 TV.

You'll want to instruct your HDTV to display anamorphic DVDs in the Full or Wide mode (whatever your HDTV calls it), using the screen option described in the previous tip. Standard, nonanamorphic DVDs (usually TV shows or pre-1953 movies) should be displayed in the pillarboxed 4:3 ratio.

If your DVD player is connected to the HDTV via component video or HDMI, it will be able to tell the television whether a disc is anamorphic, and the TV will adjust itself automatically every time you load a disc.

If you have an upscaling DVD player or a Blu-ray player, no tweaks for the HDTV are necessary--everything the television gets from the player is in 16:9 HD. Any adjustments you need to make will be in the player's menu.