[bvbull200]

I could be going crazy, but I swear that a week ago I didn't have this problem. One of my favorite shows is "Frasier" and I record it every night on my DTV HR21-700. It is connected via HDMI to my Panasonic TH50PZ700U. I record it off of the "HD" UPN, though the show is not in HD. I used to switch my TV to the "Just" aspect to eliminate the black bars on the left and right side. Now, when I go through all of the aspect settings on my TV, NOTHING fills the screen. In fact, "Just" moves the picture in slightly. This is true of all HD channels that are showing anything NOT in 16:9. What gives? I will look once again and post all my settings:


Satellite box (DTV HR21-700):

Native: Off

Screen Format: Stretch

Bar Color: Black

TV Ratio: Widescreen 16:9

TV Resolutions: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i are all selected


TV (Panasonic TH50PZ700U):

Aspect: I have tried Full, Just, Zoom, 4:3, and Full looks the best, but all have bars on the sides. I am certain that I used to be able to use Just to fill the screen in a way that I found acceptable. What is wrong?


P.S. I did search, couldn't find this particular issue.


*EDIT: Hell, now this other show (Comics Unleashed) is in letterbox, so I have a tiny rectangle in the middle of my screen, with black bars all the way around it.

 

[joed32]

Some broadcasts are not meant to fill the screen. If you put on a channel that broadcasts HD it will fill the screen without stretching. Big screen TVs are not the best way to watch SD so it's a compromise, I watch SD on a 32" CRT, but most people don't want 2 TVs in the room. Just watch and enjoy, more and more broadcasts will be HD as time goes on,we are still early adapters to HD.

 

[bvbull200]

I understand that. This is my 2nd 50"+ HDTV, been watching for about 3 years. This is the first time that I haven't been able to take a 4:3 image and make it fill the screen. I'm just looking for what setting needs to be adjusted. I must have changed something, because the same program (still on my DVR) won't expand to fill the screen, when last week, it would. SD on this TV is pretty damn good looking too. Much better than the 720p DLP I used to have, so I don't feel it's a compromise.

 

[NetworkTV]

Have you been tuning to the analog station before? A lot of times, the HD channel (even when showing 4:3 SD) can't be stretched or zoomed. However, the analog station can.


The reason is, the TV and reciever see it as a 1080i or 720p signal. The black bars on the sides are actually part of the video stream at that point, so the TV and receiver think it's HD. As a result, you can't zoom or stretch the video. On the other hand, the black on the sides of the analog station is actually empty space - there's nothing there, so the TV and the receiver see it as SD 4:3 video.

 

[bvbull200]

Fixed it. I use a Harmony 880, so there are a few buttons on the DTV remote that I don't readily come across. When I cycled through the "format" button, I got to 1080i Stretch, where it was previously on 1080i Crop. When I changed it to stretch, the HD channel still had the black bars if the TV is in the "full" aspect. But when I go to H-Fill or Just, it fills the screen. H-Fill is a standard stretch and Just is a progressive stretch (less towards the middle, more towards the edges). Apparently, somewhere along the road, I switched from 1080i Stretch to 1080i Crop without realizing it, hence it going from working, to not working.