[Folsom]

I am trying to talk to my father over the phone to help him figure it all out.

He has a 4:3 Sony TV with component inputs. He also had a surround sound reciever.

He got the HD receiver because it came free with the package that he got. The reason behind it is mostly because the component looks better and it has Dolby Digital so it will be worth watching movies.

However a few local channels he gets now have huge white bars on the right and left side. He can select normal or HD for a few channels. Sci-fi for example if he selects normal it came out in Widescreen format but that might just be because a movie is playing. However if he selects the HD one then it gives him the white bars on the side. It seems like the picture is shrunk in the middle.


I am not at his place so can not entirely solve this. Basically he wants to get rid of the white bars for fullscreen images. Also if it is not needed to be in Widescreen I am sure he would prefer fullscreen (I am sure he will get a widescreen TV some day but he really does not car, it is like a 36 inch so widescreen movies still look nice).

The receiver is set on 4:3 ratio TV. Right now he is using the S-video out (the guy installing only had one component cable and he needs two, one from DVD and one from satellite into the surround sound receiver, than one back to the TV, because the TV only has one input). Here is the thing, he can select different resolutions even though the S-video is only 480i. I imagine maybe the receiver does not know what is being sent out. It has options for crop, stretch, and letterbox for 4:3 TV's.

Are most things just broadcast in widescreen now or something? I do not own a TV or desire to ever have cable/satellite so I do not keep up on this, I just know everything has to switch over eventually.

[MaxCast]

have you tried setting the output to 6:19 and letting the TV do the scaling...like a dvd?

[Folsom]

Not yet, I would have tried everything in the book but I do not live there anymore. I guess I can suggest the idea to him.

[enrique]

I have a Panasonic 35" crt hd tv in one of my rooms so maybe i can help.Is his tv an hdtv or reg crt.To get HD he needs to connect component cables from the HD rec. to the TV not svideo(wont work).Set the HD rec. to 16:9 as well as the tv.Hope this works.Of course the tv needs to be an hdtv.

[satfrat]

Ok, he NEEDS a component video cable on the Directv receiver, s-video will not give him HD and he might as well throw that cable away. There's no compromise here. spend a couple of bucks and get him one. His DVD player COULD use the S-video cable but he'd be better off with a component video cable there also.

In the Menu button / Help & Settings / Setup / HDTV / Video / Native,,,, make sure that's on(click the box, you only have an on/off selection) This way whatever channel he selects, the resolution will automatically be set.

While he's in HDTV he should srcoll over from Video to TV Ratio and make sure he's clicked onto Widescreen 16:9. he can then scroll over to TV Resolutions and check off the 480p and 1080i. Leave 480i and 720p unchecked. Any standard digital channel that is in 480i will look better in 480p, trust me on this.


With the resolution in Native, if he's on a standard digital channel, he'll have a full picture. If he's on a HD channel, he'll either have a HD picture in letterbox format or if it's not a HD picture he'll have the white side bars which is actually a 4:3 picture in letterbox format but it'll still be a better picture because of it's higher resolution. Oh yeah, if he doesn't like white bars, he can change the color by going Menu /Help & Settings / Setup /  HDTV / Video / Bar Color / click the box for a choice of black, dark gray, gray.

This should straighten him out somewhat. 


Cheers,
Robin

[satfrat]

For as long as he has only an S-video cable, he should leave his Tv Ratio 4:3 but he will NOT get HD. Everything else I stated he can do. Bottomline, get the man a component video cable. Heck his recever should have come with one and he needs to use it.

[mgalusha]

My DirecTV HD box came with component video cables, not that I used them (HDMI) but hopefully he has a set. Hell, DoS if you want to pay the postage I'll send them to your father.

[satfrat]

My DirecTV HD box came with component video cables, not that I used them (HDMI) but hopefully he has a set. Hell, DoS if you want to pay the postage I'll send them to your father.

I can do the same if he needs a set for his DVD,,, no problem. Throw that S-video cable in the closet. 

Cheers,
Robin

[Folsom]

I just got around to looking to this thread. I think he already got the cables. Thanks for all the help. The native thing was what it needed!