I have a Pioneer 5080HD, currently hooked up to an SA3200 via S-Video (HD Cable Box on it's way).

My question is with respect to watching shows and black bars. Why is that some when I choose "wide" on some shows the picture fills the full screen, but when I choose "wide" on other shows there are still black bars on the top and bottom?

Why is that some content in 4:3 only has grey bars on the sides, where as other content in 4:3 has grey bars on the sides and black bars on the top and bottom of the picture?

Will all of this change when I get my HD box?

Is this a way of life with HD sets, constantly hitting the "size" button to fill the screen?

MAny thanks

Detox

I have a Pioneer 5080HD, currently hooked up to an SA3200 via S-Video (HD Cable Box on it's way). My question is with respect to watching shows and black bars. Why is that some when I choose "wide" on some shows the picture fills the full screen, but when I choose "wide" on other shows there are still black bars on the top and bottom? Why is that some content in 4:3 only has grey bars on the sides, where as other content in 4:3 has grey bars on the sides and black bars on the top and bottom of the picture? Will all of this change when I get my HD box?

Is this a way of life with HD sets, constantly hitting the "size" button to fill the screen?Yes, with the advent of HD sets we have to now embrace the ASPECT or WIDE key on our remotes.

SD broadcasts are a mixed bag - sometimes the particular movie or commercial will have black letterbox bars top and bottom but pressing your WIDE key only stretches the image horizontally, leaving the letterbox bars intact. This is normal. If you want them to go away, you have to ZOOM the image instead.

The gray bars could be introduced by either the TV or the STB but it's hard to say without knowing how the original program or commercial is formatted.