Why do I even have a big screen TV?

[SatNoob]

I don't understand the new HD channels. It's already squished down when I watch 4:3 on my big widescreen. Now the HD's make it even smaller. I end up with a tiny 30" screen in the middle of my 60".

It doesn't make any sense to me.

[JDubbs413]

It is because not all the new channels are broadcasting HD content all the time. Eventually almost everything if not everything will be broadcast in HD. D* is just a step ahead of the game and you will have that issue with any provider.

[davring]

I think it is time to check out the TV manual:) The new channels are no different than the old, I am sure it is just the programming as all shows on HD channels may not be true HD.

[JLucPicard]

I would much rather have the SD program be 30" on my 60" TV than to have the 30" SD program stretched to fill my 60" screen.

Though now that I think about it, I'm hard pressed to think of an SD program that I would be watching now. Hmmm...

[coit]

Even if it isn't fully HD (and hardly any programming is 100% HD just yet), content that is not HD still looks better if it is transmitted as HD by the provider.

Even content that isn't recorded using HD cameras will have more than 480 lines of resolution. Therefore, you don't lose this by transmitting it as an SD picture in 480i.

When stuff has been letterboxed, I just use my TV's zoom feature to fill the screen. Still looks better than SD to me.

[cygnusloop]

I don't understand the new HD channels. It's already squished down when I watch 4:3 on my big widescreen. Now the HD's make it even smaller. I end up with a tiny 30" screen in the middle of my 60".

It doesn't make any sense to me.

What you are seeing is a letterboxed SD program. On top of that, since it is SD, either the broadcaster, the receiver, or your TV is adding pillarbars (in the case of the new HD channels, it is likely the broadcaster). This leaves you with the black border around the entire frame that you describe. This will be the case for a while as broadcasters work towards more and more true HD content.

Some HDTV's have a zoom mode that will allow you to make the letterboxed/pillarboxed frame fit your full screen. Some (many) HDTV's only allow this for 480i/p programming, but not for 720p/1080i programming. Play with the format modes of your TV, or wait for more HD content.

[TriggerDeems]

I don't understand the new HD channels. It's already squished down when I watch 4:3 on my big widescreen. Now the HD's make it even smaller. I end up with a tiny 30" screen in the middle of my 60".

It doesn't make any sense to me.

I agree, but I guess it is better than a very tiny 15" screen in the middle of a 30" tv:lol: