[usaf64]

I will paste the text of my e-mail msg to Spectre Tech Support below. I just got this unit today and am a little perplexed about displaying 16:9 Widescreen inputs, especially when I have that kind of input and when you depress the "aspect" button on its remote, it gives you 4:3 options... Any way, if one of you kind folks can help me solve this small item, I won't need to take it back. Now to paste the e-mail:.............


Dear Tech Support: Just received the above HDTV this afternoon and am in the process of checking it out. There are many features that I think are well thought out; however, I seem to be having difficulty in the 16:9 Aspect Ratio auto selection feature




Currently I have a DirecTV SD D-10 Receiver connected to this unit via S-Video/Composite cables. The D-10 Receiver is set to 16:9 Widescreen. The several channels I selected, then using the ASPECT button on the controller only gave me the three Source 4:3 Wide Normal and Zoom options. (even though some were letterboxed




I was caught off guard while using the X32's set up menu as it didn't allow me to select the 4:3 or the 16:9 Aspect Ratio. Then on Page 89 of the X32's Manual, it stated, The TV will display the TV's channels signal format automatically. It further stated that if you are watching a widescreen movie in 1:85:1 or 2.35:1 ratio, you will still get black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. So I tested this out.




I connected my JVC DR M-10 DVD Video Recorder using component video and composite audio cables. I got out my DVD of Disney's Monsters, Inc. and selected its Widescreen Version 1.85:1 Enhanced for 16X9 Televisions




--When I punched info on the remote for this 1.85:1 DVD, it displayed YPbPr1 720X480P.




--I didn't get Black Bars on the top or bottom.




--I didn't get any 16:9 options when I depressed the Aspect button on the controlleronly the three source 4:3 Wide Normal and Zoom.




The Burning Question:




Should the TV display the 16:9 Aspect Ratio when I have a 16:9 Source (such as the WS 1.85:1 DVD I used above)?

Should the Remote's Info button display SD for a 720X480P DVD Input signalit did! I thought 720 might be High Def?



So, did I miss something that is causing me not to get 16:9 or HD to display when I actually have that kind of input? Sure hope you can guide me here.


Thanking you in advance

 

[pegisys]

HD is 1280x720(and up), 720x480 is SD


DVDs are not HD, and your player most likely only outputs SD.


720x480 is not really a widescreen resolution and the tv could be thinking it's a regular 4:3 source


but if the picture takes up the entire screen you are getting 16:9 video, since you didn't get any bars even though the movie is 1.85:1 you may have enabled pan and scan, I'm not familiar with the tv but it maybe one of the zoom options, though they may call it something else. was the video stretched or distorted in any way?


I don't have the same directv box but the one I have just stretches the UI when in widescreen mode so it doesn't look distorted


it doesn't do anything for the video, and if you have SD service it's only going to output 4:3. even with letterboxed video it's encoded in 4:3 with the black bars, but the tv should have a zoom feature that will handle that

 

[usaf64]

pegisys: Thanks for the reply. That clears up one question for me, i.e., DVD's at 720X480P are SD and not HD. With that in mind everything else makes total sense. Do you have a HD receiver or cable service that contains HD channel's? And if so, do they display as HD and if it was a 16:9 presented program, would you get the 16:9 aspect ratio choices and not the 4:3? I love the price point on this thing and once I know that HD programming thru a Sat HD Receiver will display as such, its gonna stay in my humble home. Thanks again for the time and effort of your reply.

 

[pegisys]

I had some hands on with this TV recently, it seems to call every thing that is not 1080i or 720p SD and you only get the, 4:3 ratio zoom options even if the source is 16:9


I think there are only 3 options, 4:3 regular, 4:3 wide, and 4:3 zoom. 4:3 wide just stretches the image the width of the screen, 4:3 zoom is pan and scan, which should come in handy for letterboxed SD content, and regular displays 4:3 video with pillarbars


so for your dvds set it to 4:3 wide and it will display correctly


and yeah it should just pick up and display HD cable/sat just fine, it does pretty good with the vga input as well but it also calls it SD no matter the resolution


I wouldn't really worry about what it calls the video though, it does display everything correctly, and for the price I think the not so good labeling can be overlooked