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View Full Version : New HD Channels w/Pillar Box

SoCool
10-04-07, 06:04 AM
All of the channels that we have gooten look great so far. I was wondering why some of them are broadcast in a full widescreen and some of them have the pillar box format. One of the channels has pillar box and letterbox at the same time. Will this stay this way, or will they all eventually be full screen?
jdspencer
10-04-07, 06:13 AM
The content supplier is still sending it formatted for 4:3 TVs.
vertigo235
10-04-07, 07:02 AM
I like to call this windowboxing. Looks like the broadcast channels aren't quite ready yet so they are uprezzing the SD feed.
jeff125va
10-04-07, 07:21 AM
It has nothing to do with the "new" channels, it just depends on whether the show was produced in HD. Turn on CBS on Thursday night, and you'll see Survivor with pillar boxes from 8-9, then CSI and WAT in full-screen HD from 9-10 and 10-11. It also depends whether they re-format the show into stretch mode or not. TBSHD does this with Seinfeld and Friends. When I watch Seinfeld and Friends on my local Fox HD channel, they just show them with pillar boxes.

I should note that it's not precisely correct to say that it depends whether the show was produced in HD. HDNet showed repeats of Hogan's Heroes for a while in HD. These were converted to HD from the original film, from what I understand, so they were in full HD widescreen but were neither stretched nor up-converted.
Stuart Sweet
10-04-07, 07:43 AM
I would much rather have the content provider put in pillars than crop or stretch the content.
Mixer
10-04-07, 08:55 AM
I would much rather have the content provider put in pillars than crop or stretch the content.

Me too but I would like to have the ability to stretch it if I choose. My TV does a pretty good job on the stretch but with HD channels if they are pillar box there is no way to stretch them unlike SD channels where you can pillar box or stretch as you choose.
Sintori
10-04-07, 10:33 AM
Me too but I would like to have the ability to stretch it if I choose. My TV does a pretty good job on the stretch but with HD channels if they are pillar box there is no way to stretch them unlike SD channels where you can pillar box or stretch as you choose.

AMEN! It makes the picture look tiny, I would like the option to choose to stretch or not to. If I didn't like the stretch, I could go back to pillar.