[robergec]

I just picked up a used unit and I'm hoping that it's not busted. Please help me out if you can. I have a DTC100 being used to send a signal to an LT150 (DLP projector) via VGA. I am using a 16:9 screen. I think that I have the settings correct on the DTC100, but I'm seeing some funky things happening (all with OTA signals--no satellite hooked up):


(1) on standard TV signals, I do get a 4:3 image with the gray bars on the side, but the left gray bar is about 1/4 the thickness of the right gray bar, with, as a result, the image shifted to the left.


(2) on 4:3 digital TV signals, I see something similar to (1).


(3) on 16:9 HDTV signals, I get an image that fills the 16:9 screen, but it looks like I'm seeing an image comprised of an approximately 4:3 source stretched to 16:9. As a result, people have the "Family Circus" oval heads, and the CBS logo is cut in half at the right edge of the screen.


(4) during 16:9 HDTV broadcasts, 4:3 standard definition commercials show up right justified, in an aspect ration tht looks halfway between 4:3 and 16:9.


Before I got this used unit, I "borrowed" one from Best Buy, and I don't remember any of this happening with that one. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[RScogland]

If you are also using it for DirecTV, you will eventually get the newest software upgrade (if you dont have it already). This allows you to better center the image (I centered my image using the controls on my VGA-to-componant transcoder). Go to the menu and select "16:9" (assuming it is currently showing "4:3") and below it, choose "standard" (instead of "fill") to avoid the wide-bodies. Many people (including me) didnt notice that this was a changeable setting. My explanations here are breif, but a search will turn up most of this more detailed.


------------------

Rick W. Scogland


My Email Address:
[email protected]


My Home Theater:
The Scogland Home Theater

 

[robergec]

OK. I think that I fixed the problem (no thanks to RCA technical support!) In case this turns out to be the correct solution, I'll post it here for future search hits. (Note that the aspect ratios are rounded because of limitations of tape measure!)


Originally, these were the aspect ratios I was getting:

(1) 4:3 STV--1.4:1 (off center)

(2) 4:3 DTV--1.4:1 (off center)

(3) 4:3 material in 16:9 DTV--1.6:1 (at edge)

(4) 16:9 DTV--1.8:1 (with about 15% image cropped before stretching to fill.


Then after digging deeper into the menu system, I noticed that the retrace timing wasn't at its default. It was at short retrace (EIA770.3) instead of long retrace (VESA). I restored the default, and voila! Things look much better:


(1) 4:3 STV--1.3:1 (centered)

(2) 4:3 DTV--1.3:1 (centered)

(3) 4:3 material in 16:9 DTV--1.4:1 (at edge)

(4) 16:9 DTV--? (can't check until tonights CSI airing. Damn this limited OTA HDTV schedule!)


So this looks good! Everything checks out with only HDTV left to test. I'm sure that it will fill the screen. I'm cautiously optimistic that it won't look cropped. Thanks for the help!