[inaka]

Hi all,


I have the Sony Wega XBR400 TV and the Sony HD-100 as my HDTV tunder/decoder. When viewing shows shown in 16:9 (The Tonight Show, Dark Angel, Just about anything on CBS, everything looks GREAT!)


However, when viewing 4:3 material, the XBR400's auto 16:9 enhancement kicks in, and creates a black window frame around the entire picture. (Black bars on top/bottom created by the XBR400, and black bars on the sides created by the HD-100.)


Is there ANY way to correct this? Please help, thanks.


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Mike McGee

Oakland, CA

 

[cmcjo]

Quote:

Originally posted by inaka: Hi all, I have the Sony Wega XBR400 TV and the Sony HD-100 as my HDTV tunder/decoder. When viewing shows shown in 16:9 (The Tonight Show, Dark Angel, Just about anything on CBS, everything looks GREAT!)However, when viewing 4:3 material, the XBR400's auto 16:9 enhancement kicks in, and creates a black window frame around the entire picture. (Black bars on top/bottom created by the XBR400, and black bars on the sides created by the HD-100.) Is there ANY way to correct this? Please help, thanks.

I have this combo. It's the best as far as I'm concerned. I tried other STB's, but this match is great. Set the HD100 to variable mode and you will see 4:3 as 4:3 and 16:9 as 16:9, It's that simple. When the wega detects HD, it will lock in 1080 16:9 mode, when 4:3 is detected you will see 4:3. Your going to get those black bars all around on some OTA channels.


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Joe C
MY HT/Gameroom


[This message has been edited by cmcjo (edited 06-08-2001).]

 

[inaka]

I think you are misunderstanding my complaint about this combo.


Please don't get me wrong, I think that this is the ideal combo for DVDs, and HD content, but I think it's a bad combo for 4:3 content thru the HD-100. My only problem is with the picture frame effect (black bars on every side) that occur when you view 4:3 material from "some channels." Here in the Bay Area, "some channels" is more like "nearly all channels." http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/frown.gif


(Just for reference, I do have my HD-100 set to show my TV display as 4:3 mode.)


I understand that the default aspect ratio for HDTV is 16:9, however, the fact that the XBR400 locks into the 16:9 mode when viewing any signal in 1080 seems like a huge mistake. Why not allow us to override this?


Is there was some way to get around this and have 4:3 material fill the frame instead of having letterboxing on all sides? Changing the mode from "Variable" to "480i" does nothing to solve the picture frame effect on the channels I'm concerned with. (Sorry, I don't have a better term than "picture frame" for it.)


Any ideas?


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Mike McGee

Oakland, CA


[This message has been edited by inaka (edited 06-07-2001).]

 

[tburton]

Mike:

I have the XBR400 and using the Hughes box. I get the same "picture frame" effect. I think it might have to do with how the networks are broadcasting. Have you noticed that when you're watching an HD show, the 16:9 looks normal, but when it breaks to commercial, you get the "picture frame" effect? Could it be that the "picture frame" effect is 4:3 content? When the HD show comes back on, the "picture frame" goes away and it looks "normal" again, back to 1080I?. I'm kind of lost on this one too, but wish it didn't work like this. It is annoying.

Tony

 

[David Ortiz]

I too have the XBR400/HD100 setup.


There is a way to watch a 1080i broadcast of 4:3 material without black bars all around.


Choose 480i output. Go to menu and choose 4 TV Properties.


Make sure that Aspect Ratio is Standard 4:3 and Screen Format is Pan/Scan.


You will have to be in 480i output for the picture to fill the screen.


This is useful for stations broadcasting in 16:9 but showing mainly 4:3 programming.



David

 

[RZ]

I have the same setup and get great results with DVD/DirecTV HD/OTA HD. "Regular" DirecTV doesn't look as good, but that has to do with the DRC circuit on the XBR and the compression of the signals via DirecTV. The local channels look the worst--the PPV channels look the best(could it be, you get what you pay for ?). The HD100 has had(has) some problems, but overall it's a fine receiver.

 

[Ten Midgets]

this may be obvious, but make sure you have your HD100 set to 4:3 ratio!

 

[DeanS]

I have this combo also, and have had no problems, really! The advice from cmcjo is correct. You should be aware, however, that any 1080i signal received by the XBR400 will trigger 16x9 mode which, by the way, is the "default" aspect ratio for all high definition broadcasts (OTA or DTV). You may find the need, on occasion, to select 480i output on your remote control if you want to view HD material "full frame" on your XBR. I sometimes do this for HBO-HD movies that are on the high definition channel (509) but are only 4x3 "upconverts." Thankfully, I have seen less and less of this on HBO-HD. Play around a bit,and you will find what works best for you. This combination of equipment provides a great deal of input/output and display flexibility!

 

[inaka]

David, thank you very much! This was exactly the information I was looking for!


This may have been common knowlege to most, but I didn't understand how to do this, since leaving it in the "Variable" mode made me unable to adjust the TV's aspect ratio.


Thanks again!


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Mike McGee

Oakland, CA

 

[cmcjo]

Quote:

Originally posted by tburton: Mike: I have the XBR400 and using the Hughes box. I get the same "picture frame" effect. Tony

TONY: I had the Mits box, same as your Hughes. The only problem I had with this was, The STB would display ALL channels, HD, Non HD, & OTA as 16:9. This was because the Mits & HUghes would upconvert all Non-HD to 1080i- 16:9 ratio. This was unnaceptable to me since I have a 4:3 TV. THe only way to bypass this was to connect your STB to your TV via "S" video and Component. This became an issue surfing the guide, from HD to non HD channels you needed to also change video input on the TV.




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Joe C
MY HT/Gameroom