Problem with 6000 aspect ratio

[wysocki]

I have a Dish 6000 going to a Sanyo XP21N front projector. The SD mode is fine, the HD mode has a problem with both the VGA and component cables.
The Sanyo is a 1024x768 (4x3) LCD projector and it displays the output of my PC fine, completely fullscreen image. My problem is the 4x3(2) mode of the Dish. It doesn't fill the screen with a 4x3 broadcast.

The Dish HD mode does not fill more than 80% of the screen vertically no matter what the Dish setup settings are nor the "*" button on the remote. I've called Dish, and they've now sent me my THIRD replacement unit, with the same problem remaining. The Sanyo techs say their pj only displays what it's given (which is why my PC displays properly) so it can't be the culprit. Does ANYONE have Dish 6000 HD into a pj with 4x3 and 16x9 filling the screen properly??? Here's an illustration of the problem:

[Ken_F]

wysocki,

You probably noticed that no matter what setting you are in, there are black bars on the top and bottom of the screen for 1080i. Upon detecting a 33.75khz 1080i (widescreen) signal, is fairly common for older 1024x768 LCD projectors (and some of the first HDTV displays on the market) to automatically enter widescreen 1024x576 mode with bars on the top and bottom.

When the 6000 is set to 1080i 16x9 mode, it adds bars to the right and left side of a standard 4:3 channel. But it does NOT add bars to the top and bottom. Your projector is doing that. You'll have the same problem with other set-top boxes that upconvert standard channels to 720p or 1080i. In order to get around this issue with your projector, you'll need to see if there an option that lets you disable the vertical compression mode for HDTV. Alternatively, you will need either:

1) to switch between the SD outputs and HD outputs depending on what content you are watching, or buy a receiver with simultaneous HD and SD output, connect them both, and switch between inputs on your projector; or

2) a set-top box that can output all native; that is, output 1080i as 1080i, but output 4:3 480i channels as 480i or 480p, all through a single connection. By using 480i/480p for standard programming, your projector's automatic widescreen mode for HDTV should not engage for those channels.

The 6000 cannot output SD and HD signals at the same time, although the 921 will. There are several DirecTV receivers that will do #2 above; it remains to be seen whether the 921 will also offer that functionality.

[Ken_F]

Another option....

If your projector has a service menu, you may be able to adjust the 4:3 image size to fill the screen. Hell, you might be able to do this with the standard settings on the projector, I don't know.