All HD providers should do this..

[CalmWind]

I have checked several channels, including the WX channel and they transmit quite a bit of content with black bars. I feel strongly any channel broadcasting in what they call HD, should at least use colorized backgrounds or pillars to fill in the black space. Several channels do this and ESPN is one that seems to do a good job.

This is because of burn-in on my TV, and the picture cannot be stretched to cover the entire screen. Hopefully this is part of the growing pains and will change in the near future

[wilbur_the_goose]

How old is your TV? If it's current, you shouldn't have burn-in.

[Tiebmbr]

How old is your TV? If it's current, you shouldn't have burn-in.

If you have an LCD, you should never have that problem.

[rynberg]

If you have a CRT or plasma, you should watch a variety of programming to prevent UNEVEN WEAR (not burn-in). A properly adjusted display (as in contrast turned down) shouldn't really be that subject to burn-in.

My CRT has a stretch mode even in 1080i, but I never use it. I just mix up SD, HD, and DVD viewing and don't worry about it.

[bwaldron]

If you have a CRT or plasma, you should watch a variety of programming to prevent UNEVEN WEAR (not burn-in). A properly adjusted display (as in contrast turned down) shouldn't really be that subject to burn-in.

Correct.

Also many recent plasmas do have aspect ratio modes that allow for adjusting HD channels as well (stretching 4:3 or overlaying gray bars over the black).

[Talos4]

How old is your TV? If it's current, you shouldn't have burn-in.

TV's are like PC's lately

What's "current" / "old" today?

I guess my Mits 48413 CRT would be considered old. (holy cow I just realized it's 4 yrs. old already!)

I do mix up the viewing so I don;t have to worry about "burn in" I also have mine set up to do black bars instead of grey, the black is supposed to be a little easier on the display.

I still think it has a better picture than my plasma. (although it is a 720p display)

[CalmWind]

I also have mine set up to do black bars instead of grey, the black is supposed to be a little easier on the display.

Grey bars weren't on the original boxes, but were added later to help the burn-in problems. Some providers have now gone to colorized bars, although I don't believe either the TVs or STBs have done that. Bright white can be bad also, thus you see some translucent logos.

If you have an LCD, you should never have that problem.
Maybe not completely true, but will take a longer period to show up. I believe the only type that doesn't have some problem is a DLP, but not completely sure.

If you notice the pillars on ESPN or the translucent logos on some channels, those are because of burn-in complaints. I didn't have my TV for even an month when I started noticing the problem. Newer TVs are certainly better in most cases, but mine isn't new(5 year old rear projection CRT). My suggestion is valid and should be considered since it would not be a detriment to TVs that do not exhibit this condition.