I just got this new box, and HD looks awesome, but there's one problem. There are black bars on ANYTHING not HD. Now, this presents a problem; plasma's can burn in and these black bars don't help. Is there any way around this?

Set your TV or the cable box to stretch the image. I think that box's remote has an "Aspect" button on the bottom right.

Normally I'd say you should watch 4:3 content in that aspect because stretch is horrible, but I could understand a burn-in concern. Any plasma owners here could give feedback if they've had problems because of 4:3 content, but most say burn-in isn't (usually) a problem.

On the 8300HD which I used to have (just switched). It had grey bars (not black) on the sides. I used that box on the same TV for 2 years and haven't ran into any problems with burn-in. But I'm not sure if the black could cause problems for you, maybe some others can help with that.

Read the SA8300 threads in the HDTV Recorders thread for the FAQ on setting pass-thorugh resolutions to stretch 480i 4:3 programming.

I have a 8300HDC box which now has grey bars on the side, I also have a panasonic plasma and always set it to NOT stretch, I can't stand distorted images, I haven't had any problems with burn in although like the the other poster said black bars I'm not sure about. Most stuff I watch now is in HD anyway but there are a few like MSNBC which isn't yet in HD with my provider yet.

The bars on the side really do not cause that much burn-in. My SA8300 has grey sidebars and I've had them on for over a year now and I haven't had any problems. The majority of shows I watch are SD, so they are on alot. The edges do looks slightly lighter on white/light colored 16:9 pictures, but you'll get that effect anyway over time from the bars on commercials or SD programming on HD channels. Nothing is as bad as watching stretched/distorted picture.

wrong forum. This topic should be here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=42