[atdauph]

I tried searching for this issue, but really guys, that 80+ page thread is out of hand, so I'll just post here.


I have a 16:9 TV, so I set my TS160 likewise, and I like my 4:3 content to be viewed with bars on the side (burn in is not a problem), so I set the TS160 to put bars. I DESPISE, CONDEMN, and WILL not watch a zoomed or stretched image. It makes my head hurt.


Here is where the problem occurs. When viewing SD TV, the right side of the screen is being lopped off, by about 7%. The stock indices on certain channels are getting cut off, MSNBC was one of them, I think. A whole number and the little green arrow (red recently) is cut off.


Normally this wouldn't bother me, but it skews the whole picture. The size of the image is 4:3, (actually, the image is a litte wider than 4:3, the bars are narrower then when my HD channels broadcast the bars.) and since 7% is being wacked off the right side, everthing looks a LITTLE out of 'ROUND'. Like when the HBO logo comes up on HBO, the 'O' is more like an oval. Faces don't look quite right either, they look a little fatter than they should. I hooked up my other Sony receiver, as it only outputs 4:3 and everything is fine, and the bars produced by my projector are wider than the ones being produced by the TS160, when I go to Normal mode.


OK, that's the problem, but here's the kicker. When I press guide, and the little screen at the top left shows the current program, it's PERFECT. I can see the whole market indices, with daylight to spare. And the faces are nice and ROUND. The little screen is about 14" wide, and about 1" of that little screen is being cut off on the full screen version, so I figure that's about 7%, on one side.


I tried adjusting using the Monitor Setup, but all it does is moves the entire screen left are right. It doesn't actually adjust the displayable image, like it does when adjusting HD content. HD content looks great and the aspect ratio is preserved.


Has anyone heard or seen this problem?

 

[teekster]

I posted about this problem several months ago. I had posted pictures of the Samsung box compared to the output of a Sony DirecTIVO receiver. No one really seemed to care. There were very few people who seemed to notice, I guess because most are stretching the image. I agree with you. I can't stand the stretched image. I exchanged my unit and still had the same problem. I even pointed out this issue to a salesman on their demo unit. He stated that the picture seemed perfect to him (he admitted he was regularly a stretch mode viewer).


It gets worse. If you decide that the Samsung's picture is too distorted, and go for another DVI equipped unit, you will find that the Zenith/Sony box will distort in the opposite direction. It displays an image that is narrower than 4:3. I thought I could live with this, but I had to eventually return it.


I am currently viewing HD through a MyHD PCI card. It gives a perfect picture at less than 1/2 the price of the STBs ( I already had an HTPC). For SD DirecTV, I am still using my old DTIVO. I will be waiting for an HD DTIVO that works correctly.


It is curious that neither the Toshiba nor RCA unit has materialized. I wonder if their delay might be related to SD image quality?

 

[atdauph]

[rant]

This is absolutely stunning to me. I don't see how such a fundamental property of a receiver can get so screwed up, and it seems to be a problem across the whole industry.


For decades, pictures have been broadcast using the NTSC standard at a 4:3 aspect ratio. I purchase a brand new state of the art, ATSC, High Defintion receiver that's supposed to supercede everything before it, and make everything obsolete, but it can't even display a square that is exactly 1.33 times wider than an it is tall while not chopping anything off. When I know DAMN well it can receive the whole picture, because it's PERFECT on the program guide. You would think Samsung, who is such a 'leader' in the HD revolution would have mastered 4:3 SD content by now.


You know, the ONLY piece of equipment in my setup that has performed flawlessly (as designed), is my Denon receiver. That's it. EVERY piece of video equipment I have every purchased had some, quirk, and never operated as published. Unbelievable.


At least Samsung is sticking with tradition.


[/rant]


Thanks for listening.