Samsung picture size mode -- 16:9, wide, screen fit, totally confused

I'm sure I'm missing something here. I have a 58b540. I have the picture mode set to dynamic and the picture size set to 16:9. I watch mainly HD channels.

Sometimes my kids watch Nick or another non-HD channel and it's in 4:3 format with the black side bars. I've read a lot of threads about image retention, so I don't want them watching the tv that way.

I went into the picture mode settings, and I found the picture size selection. There are about 4 or 5 settings -- 16:9, zoom 1 and zoom 2 (grayed out), wide fit and screen fit. I figured screen fit would be the correct selection -- with 16:9 HD content, there wouldn't be any correction necessary, and with 4:3 non-HD content, it would stretch the picture to "fit" the screen. Well, long story short, screen fit doesn't seem to have any effect on 4:3 content and only a slight effect on 16:9 content. When I switch the setting to wide, it stretches the non-HD 4:3 content to fill the screen, but it also has a bad effect on HD channels.

On my Sony 46XBR6, there's an auto-wide mode that automatically detects non-HD content and stretches it to fill the screen, while leaving HD content alone. Is there any similar setting on the Samsung? Do I really have to change the picture setting every time I switch between HD and non-HD channels? That can't be right.

Oh, and by the way, I tried fiddling with the settings on my Comcast DVR cable box (as I had read about in another thread), but there was no setting available that would do what I want it to do.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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Thanks for the replies.

To the poster that commented on my use of dynamic mode, I guess I'm a bit confused. This is the setting that appeals to me the most. If I am damaging the set by using it, then maybe I need to return it and buy another set. I would have thought that Samsung wouldn't have put an option in the user menu settings that would allow the user to damage the tv, but perhaps I'm mistaken (I really know nothing about these things).

Based on the other responses, though, it appears that there's no easy way to set up the tv in the manner I'm accustomed to? It's just so strange because, as I explained above, my Sony does this automatically, and I previously had a 58s1 which also automatically stretched SD content but left HD content alone.

Does anyone else have any other ideas? Thanks for your help.

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Thanks. I have a Comcast HD DVR hooked up to the tv with an HDMI cable. I tried fiddling with the box settings, but there doesn't appear to be anything in the menu that allows me to change the way the content is delivered to the tv. When I set the picture size to wide mode, the SD channels do what they're supposed to do, but there's an significant adverse stretching effect on the HD channels as well.

Thanks. Helpful thoughts. The box is putting out a 1080i signal on HD channels. It says so on the info that appears on the screen when I turn on the tv, and it also says so on the box itself.

As for the HDMI input, I'd have to double check, but I'm pretty sure I'm using HDMI 1 and not HDMI 2. I didn't think that would make a difference. I'll try switching it tonight. Are you thinking that HDMI 1 is for something other than a cable box with a dedicated 1080p/i source?

That's what I'm trying to avoid by having the entire screen filled in when watching SD content, but not be distorted when I watch 16:9 HD content.

Like I said above, I like Dynamic mode. If I can't watch tv on this mode, then I can't own this set. I'm just trying to figure out a way to be able to switch back and forth between HD and SD without having to change the picture size.

I did some searching, and apparently there is a hidden cable box menu that can be accessed only with the cable box off (strange, I know). I'll try that when I get home tonight.

As for the kids, they're 7 and 9 and in school most of the day. They don't watch too much tv down there and they know they aren't allowed to watch a station with black bars on the side. As for the Nick logo burning in to the set, I would think the risk is just as great with the stations that I watch (like ESPN, the Golf Channel and Discovery) which continuously display their logos. I realize that doesn't make it right, but my point is that if I'm going to get bad IR or burn-in, it will most likely be my fault and not theirs. And this brings me back to my original premise -- if it's a bad idea to watch HD cable in Dynamic mode, then maybe I need to find me a different tv?

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That's the strange part. I haven't noticed a thing -- not a single instance of IR -- and I've been looking for it based on what I've read here in these threads, particularly in the first few hundred hours when the set is new.

Okay, problem solved.

I had to go into the "service menu" of my cable box. With the tv on and the cable box off, I hit the menu button on the cable remote. It's a very primitive looking menu (unlike a user menu). One of the options was 4:3 override -- on/off. It was set to off, and I switched it to on. With my tv set to 16:9, all channels are displayed in full screen. HD looks great, SD looks as good as can be expected.

Now, if I could just get rid of that annoying buzz . . .

Thanks for everyone's help.

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