I just received History channel and noticed one thing, everything shown in hd is actually just wide screen pillar boxed. and i got a wide screen tv.....and properly set up. Is it normal for the programming on history channel to be like this, it is also like this on A&E HD, which i know History channel is owned by them.

Nope...just bad timing...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=906685

Well according to the article it sounds like i should be seeing this in full screen and not pillar boxed...because pillar boxing would only happen if it was a 4:3 program well i was watching a 2 16:9 programs and they was pillar boxed. Or am i wrong about this assumption?

Not all the programming you see is HD. Most of it is upconverted SD programming that is expanded to fill the screen. You can expect to see more of the same as new channels are added because there is limited HD content currently available. E* has nothing to do with the content. D* will see the same when many of the new channels go live.

You dont understand, the sd programs say they arnt hd but the programs i know which are hd dont show in hd....Such as Modern marvels episodes from 2007 and alot of the shows 2006-2007 was actually shot in hd. None of the programming is expanded to fill the screen as of now.I stretch the image myself to take up the whole screen it does not distort the picture. if its in wide screen.

There was a fire in the uplink facility for History Channel HD, A&E H, YES Network and NFL Network. Here is the link:

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6477667.html

It may be a little while until they are back up.

FYI ... There was a fire at the uplick facility for History Channel HD (also A&E-HD, NFL-HD, & YES-HD).

http://www.tvpredictions.com/firetwo091207.htm

They are currently upconverting SD on the HD signal.

Hey, did you hear there was a fire.....

He'll be all right, just roll him around a little bit. :)

I have been watching the History Channel HD for over a week on Dish Network. I have observed that all shows are widescreen but only a few are in HD. The rest are lettterboxed with bars on all four sides. I can do a zoom on my Dish Network STB and make it fill the sreen but it is obviously not HD.

If it is not HD but it is widescreen why can't they upconvert it at the source. However I actually suspect that it is available in HD but they do not have it set up for HD transmission as yet.

I hope this is temporary. I really want to see the Star Wars story in true HD.

Rick R

The history channel is back to running like normal its now full screen.

I watching Mega-Disatsters and it's letterboxed. It's full-width but the you can see that it's 16x9 but vertically compressed? I've seen this with other HD programs. I have no idea why HISTHD is showing its HD programming in such a brain-dead manner.

I'm currently watching Mega Disasters, and its stretched letterboxed. It does take up the full screen across, but there are black bars left at the top and bottom (the same as jabbathespud is describing).

However, Modern Marvels was just on before this, and it was properly broadcast as HD 16x9.

I noticed that the commercials suffer the same fate as many TNT commercials: if they are originally letterboxed in 4x3 format, they stretch to 16x9 but leave the black bars. Such a pity..

I am currently watching "The Universe" the mystery of the moon episode and it is being shown letter boxed, even though the program guide says it is to be HD. I flipped back to the SD History channel and it looks identical. Since I received this channel today I have not seen one show in HD, filling the screen in a 1.78:1 ratio. I read above about the fire, but is my Comcast screwing up the feed? Or is it just that rare to see an actual HD show on History HD?

Or is it just that rare to see an actual HD show on History HD?
It is rare. History and A&E are garbage, just like TBS.

Or is it just that rare to see an actual HD show on History HD?Correct.

Alot of the times i tune into history channel they are showing something in hd.

History channel is not even as bad as Discovery and Animal Planet... hardly anything on those 2 are ever HD... it mostly is like a stretched SD pic... with two small bars on left and right...

Or is it just that rare to see an actual HD show on History HD?Not at all rare, History has tons of HD shows (including The Universe). About 1/3 of the total programming is HD, more than most channels. If you're seeing The Universe in SD, your provider is screwing up the signal.

The problem with History HD isn't lack of content, but poor conversion to 720p. For example, if you look at the CGI in most episodes of the Universe, the judder is so bad it can give you a headache. When History aired the 300 show, the CGI was equally juddery.

It is rare. History and A&E are garbage, just like TBS.The only similarity between History and TBS is that they both stretch SD. Unlike TBS, History has quite a lot of HD content. History is not "garbage" at all.

Unlike TBS, History has quite a lot of HD content.
I guess I just never catch it.

I guess I just never catch it.
I watch History HD very often, and I agree with nm88 that it does have quite a lot of HD programs. The fact that you "just never catch" any HD programs on the channel strongly suggests that you just don't watch the channel much at all. And if that's the case, then you're simply not in a good epistemic position to claim -- as you did -- that it's rare for the channel to show true HD programming. You're mistaken about that.

(Of course, earlier this fall, both History and A&E HD were really bad about showing the HD programs correctly. In my estimation, there has been a great improvement over the last month or so, such that, now, most -- but not all -- of the shows that should be in HD are being correctly shown. (Moreover, when some HD programs are incorrectly displayed as stretched letter-boxed, much of the blame should be placed on Ascent Media as opposed to A&E.))

I watch History HD very often
Is that because you work for them, or a company affiliated with them? Wow, I admitted I was wrong. Get over it.
when some HD programs are incorrectly displayed as stretched letter-boxed, much of the blame should be placed on Ascent Media as opposed to A&E.
A&E gets the blame, because they're the ones who contracted with Ascent Media. If they can't do the job properly, it's A&E's responsibility to find someone else who can.

I guess I just never catch it.If you have D*, look at the guide. The HD labels for History are actually accurate, and there's a lot of HD stuff.

The HD labels for History are actually accurate
It's sad that we actually have to be skeptical of the guide data now.