Do You 'Hide' The Black Bars When Watching Full Frame / 4x3 Material?

[bubba-b]

Was wondering if anyone here uses a widescreen panel exclusively to watch full frame / 4x3 material. If so, do you 'hide' the black bars on either side of the images?

Basically, I still (and will always) have dozens of dvd's with o.a.r. of 4x3 (old concerts/tv shows/etc.). But watching them on my 16x9 panel drives me batty because of the grey bars on either side.

My plan (aside from going back to a tube/crt display) is to get a 1080i widescreen display and then head over to the local hardware store to see if they have black strips made of vinyl, plastic, or other material. Then I was planning to place the black strips over the sides of the screen so as to make a (somewhat) dedicated full frame / 4x3 panel.

Has anyone here tried/attempted this? If so, any suggestions on materials used to cover the sides of the panel?

Thanks!