Re: New LCD TV and screen network screen ratios?

On Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:33:32 -0500, "Mason Barge" <masonbarge@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:


"EGK" <me@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1ve2o4p7lgpc803c54lcctk53eor9bqlo9@xxxxxxxxxx
So I just bought my first HD LCD TV and am looking for some
advice/education. It's nothing fancy or expensive but the picture looks
good. It's a 26" AOC brand from Radio Shack and offers HD at 720. I
Don't have a HD cable box but am thinking of it. I just have SDTV through
cable.

Anyway, since it's my first wide screen I'm definitely noticing the
stretched look on most TV channels in SD. Tonight I watched Lost and
that
definitely looked like it was stretched and native screen size was 4x3.
I
left the TV in "wide screen" format anyway. I get the impression it's
just
something you get used to but this TV has 4 separate settings on the
remote.
"Normal" is 4x3 and puts the picture centered with black bars on the sides
if the programming is that size. Wide screen is 16x9 but then it has two
other options, Zoom which is understandable but also "Cinema" mode. I'm
not
sure what that is exactly.

Anyway, getting to the point, after Lost I watched Lie to me on FOX which
I
had recorded on the DVR. Suddenly the picture had borders all the way
around. I'm sitting there thinking, oh, man, something is wrong with this
already. But then the commercials filled up the screen so I figured it
must
have to do with Lie to Me's native resolution. I set the TV to use Cinema
mode and it filled it up and looked fine. Though now the commercials
looked
too big to fit the screen.

So, what's going on? Do some TV's automatically adjust for the resolution
of the programs or is this something normal from one network to another
and
even from one program to another?

Set the ratio on your input source, if available, to match that of your TV.
In order to fully enjoy the viewing of a widescreen TV, many video sources
(DVD player/recorders, game consoles, satellite and cable boxes, DVRs, video
iPods and computers) can be set to a ratio that matches your TV. Go to the
main menu for your video source and access the settings screen. Make sure
that your device is set at a ratio that matches your TV. In the case of the
widescreen, it should be set to a ratio of 16:9.

If the ratio of the input does not match the ratio of the TV, the TV will
distort the image somehow. If you use the Zoom, in the case of 16:9 TV, for
instance, it has to either stretch the image, resulting in a distorted
picture, or else do what "letterbox" used to do but horizontally -- trim off
the top and bottom of the picture.

Another frequent problem is that the picture will be shown in the correct
format, but with black bars on both the top and bottom of the screen, i.e.
it looks like you're looking at a much smaller television set.

Your cable provider should have online instructions in how to set up your
system so that the tv and cable are in synch.

Thanks for taking the time for this. I've been trying to find info online
about it and can't find anything about setting the cable box for this. From
what i'm understanding, the only cable boxes that have settings for screen
size are the HD boxes. I have an Explorer 8000 and it's not HD.

Also from what i'm reading on web forums, some people object to watching 4x3
programming that's stretched on a wide screen while other people don't even
notice or don't know how to set it up properly or simply get used to it.

I guess what surprised me was that Lost was obviously stretched from the
standard def of 4x3 when in wide screen. Setting it to normal I got the
black bars on the sides. Lie to me must have been being broadcast at 16x9
even on the SD box but I'm not sure. It was doing exactly what you said
above. Showing black bars on top and bottom as well as the sides. It made
me wonder if this is something that varies from one program to another.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: New LCD TV and screen network screen ratios?
    ... "Normal" is 4x3 and puts the picture centered with black bars on the sides ... if the programming is that size. ... Set the ratio on your input source, if available, to match that of your TV. ... In order to fully enjoy the viewing of a widescreen TV, many video sources can be set to a ratio that matches your TV. Go to the main menu for your video source and access the settings screen. ...
    (rec.arts.tv)
  • Re: Picture cut off
    ... am very new to HDTV and have a 37" Viewsonic LCD set. ... If I change the ratio to 4:3 I get ... all of the picture to appear on the screen. ... May be adjustable settings for the box. ...
    (alt.tv.tech.hdtv)
  • Re: Aspect ratio 16:9
    ... use Zoom and absolutely no picture information is lost, only the black bars on top/bottom and the side graphical bars are no longer displayed). ... don't yet have DVD or Blu-ray releases are still 4:3 aspect ratio. ... Newer programming may be 16:9 going forward, but the availability of widescreen TV's does not equate to the absolute end of 4:3 aspect ratio content. ...
    (alt.tv.tech.hdtv)
  • Re: resizing photo in exact pixels
    ... individual height and width settings, that is, the settings will ... always maintain the width to height ratio of the original picture. ... 2003 picture manager come out with 320 pixels wide x 240 pixels high. ...
    (microsoft.public.office.misc)
  • Re: Aspect ratio 16:9
    ... use Zoom and absolutely no picture information is lost, only the black bars on top/bottom and the side graphical bars are no longer displayed). ... Newer programming may be 16:9 going forward, but the availability of widescreen TV's does not equate to the absolute end of 4:3 aspect ratio content. ...
    (alt.tv.tech.hdtv)