My macbook's display is Widescreen, so why not my display it on my TV?

Question

I just got an Insignia 19" HDTV (LCD) and has good resolution, i'm going to it via mini-DVI to VGA adapter.
The thing is, I can't get it to display widescreen on the HDTV. It is a perfectly square picture, I don't understand why. I try changing the settings on my TV to Wide but it just stretches everything. I want a non-stretched widescreen image on my HDTV. I have the resolution set at the max for the TV (1024x768) that the macbook has to offer. Why something relatively close to widescreen?
Please help.
MacBook   Mac OS X (10.4.10)   60 GB, 1.25 GB RAM, 1.83 GHz

Answer 1

Yeah, that was a lot of gobbledegook to absorb. "Aiming at brevity, I become obscure." Sorry for that.
Anyway, download and install SwitchRes X using the previously provided link. Be sure and download the Control Panel version, not the full version. Control panel is an unfortunate moniker because it is actually a stand-alone OS X application and not a control panel as in the yesteryears of Mac OS 9 and before.
Anyway, once it is installed, connect the TV to the MacBook if it isn't already and double-click on the SwitchRes X icon to run the app. It should open into its main window. At the top of the window will be a pop-up labeled "Settings of:" where you should make sure you have selected the TV and not the built-in MacBook display. Then, in the selection bar below with choices for Display, Active, Common and Custom, make sure that Display is selected (highlighted). On the right you should see a button labeled "Export DDC". Clicking on it will cause a standard dialog box to pop up asking you to choose a location to store the file being created. Take note of where the file is being sent and also the file name. Click OK. Next, find the file and open it with TextEdit. Copy and paste the file data in a reply message to this one and I will help you read the data.
EDID is just driver data. In the Windows world the display driver, which is just simple software, would typically be included on a CD or else something a user would download from a website and install. But the Mac takes a slightly different approach, and lately Windows has also been using the Mac approach, whereby the driver data is taken directly from the attached device (monitor) over an imbedded data channel in the video cable. But TVs don't necessarily use EDID, or if they do, the implementation sometimes leaves a lot to be desired. Without and driver data, the Mac is at a loss how to treat the display, so often you just get very generic resolution choices within Display Preferences since that Mac lacks having any good information about the attached display. I'm suspecting that is what is going on here...the TV you own probably has a lame EDID implementation. But the good news is, since the manufacturer claims 1440 x 900 support, this EDID limitation should be something that can be overcome.