What's the difference between wide screen and flat panel HDTVs?

I don’t think there’s a distinction between those two. They are independent. All LDC TVs are flat screen. Most are wide screen too. One has nothing to do with the other.

If you go here, you can select between the two form factors on the left: Yahoo! Tech

@erichw1504 I’m pretty sure that’s just marketing mumbo jumbo. If you click widescreen, the first TV on the list is “Olevia 232V 2 Series 32” Flat-Panel LCD HDTV Television”. Notice that “Flat-Panel” in there? There are only two listed when you click flat panel, and they’re both 52”.

No difference. All LCDs are flat panels. All HDTVs are wide screen.

Ok, guys. Thanks a lot! I guess it was kind of a dumb question.

Not a dumb question, a dumb category for Yahoo! Tech to use.

@gussnarp Haha, that is true.

Wide screen refers to the shape of the screen (aspect ratio). Wide screen is 16:9.

Flat panel or screen has to do with whether the screen is convex (rounded) or not. Traditional screens/monitors are convex. Flat screens are flat (‘natch).

I think the distinction is there for computer monitors and not TVs. Flat screen computer monitors still come the square traditional format of 4:3. Not that this is any less confusing when your looking at TVs.

Widescreen is the way you view the picture, meaning there will be the two black border bars on the top and bottom of the picture. Fullscreen, the picture fills the screen. Flat panel is a type of television. It is the thin one, like a computer monitor, or one you could mount on the wall.

Flat screen: The screen itself is flat not curved like older CRT TVs.
Flat panel: The TV itself is flat shaped like an LCD computer monitor. The screen of a flat panel is always flat itself given the technology that is being used.

Note that flat screen and flat panel are two different things. Flat screen will take up much more space. A flat panel can have a flat screen but a flat screen may not necessarily have a flat panel.

Wide screen simply refers to the aspect ratio (ratio of height to width) of the TV. A screen that is much wider than it is tall will typically be called “wide screen”. Whereas, a TV that is square would not. I should point out that the square is the most efficient geometric shape so you actually get more screen area in a square TV than in a wide screen rectangular shaped one.