SD not able to be in 16:9?

[daemon]

I just had my 622 installed this past Saturday. I have it hooked up via HDMI to a Samsung 1080p DLP specifically a HlR-5668. I can not get the SD channels to stretch to 16:9. I went through the HDTV setup to no avail on the 622. HD channels display correctly. I know many people do not like a stretched version of SD... I am on the fence but my wife kind of got used to it. I was able to stretch on a 508.

Has anybody else noticed any appreciable difference between outputing 480p,720p and 1080i? It was set to the default 480p and the picture was amazing. I viewed the tv for about an hour late at night then I changed it to 1080i but did not see a dramatic change. Is the lack of dramatic change due to the TV's internal scalar/processor ?

[Neil Derryberry]

You should be able to use the zoom function on your 622 remote to stretch the picture to fill the screen.. of course depending on the scaler in your TV it might do a much better job.

[koralis]

I just had my 622 installed this past Saturday. I have it hooked up via HDMI to a Samsung 1080p DLP specifically a HlR-5668. I can not get the SD channels to stretch to 16:9. I went through the HDTV setup to no avail on the 622. HD channels display correctly. I know many people do not like a stretched version of SD... I am on the fence but my wife kind of got used to it. I was able to stretch on a 508.

Has anybody else noticed any appreciable difference between outputing 480p,720p and 1080i? It was set to the default 480p and the picture was amazing. I viewed the tv for about an hour late at night then I changed it to 1080i but did not see a dramatic change. Is the lack of dramatic change due to the TV's internal scalar/processor ?


SD channels have a given data density and your TV has a native output grid that it will fill.

Basically, if you output 1080i, then the TV just doubles it to 1080p (minimal TV conversion.) If you output 480p, then the TV scales it to 1080p. Either way, what's on the screen is 1080p of data at any given frame, the only dfference is which piece of gear is doing the conversion.

Most SD I think is 480i, so to output 480p, 720p, or 1080i will always require some processing. Having the TV process the signal again just seems likely to introduce additional error than doing it in one-shot (though since the TV doubles again to 1080p, I suppose you have 2 stages of conversion regardless.)

You can tinker with it and see if one seems preferable to you... I just keep my 921 in 1080i mode so that when viewing HD I'm definitely never downscaling the image and losing data.

[Rob Glasser]

You should be able to change the aspect ratio for SD and HD content. Where you hitting the 'format/*' button on the remote? You should be able to switch between Normal, Stretch, Partial Zoom, Zoom, and Grey Bars.

You say you could stretch with your 508, does that mean you are trying to use your TV's stretch options instead of the receiver's options? If so, then it could be your TV does not support Stretch for higher resolutions. For example on my TV if I'm at 480i/480p I can use all the Aspect Ratios, however if I'm at 720p or 1080i I can only use normal and a stretch option. Basically, try using the receiver's stretch options instead of your TV's and see what happens.

As for different resolutions, yes I notice a difference, especially between 480p and 720p/1080i. SD actually looks better at 480p but HD looks a heck of a lot crisper at 720p/1080i.

[daemon]

Thanks for all the replies. I have not been using the format or zoom functions.
Something to try tonight. Rob, I was using the combination of setting the 508 to 16:9 and setting my s-video to 16:9.

[SaltiDawg]

...

You say you could stretch with your 508, does that mean you are trying to use your TV's stretch options instead of the receiver's options?...

Rob,

I know he said that he stretched with a 508 ... I'm a little confused. My 508's into an SD TV have no stretch capability.

No hassle, just confused.

[silverback]

My TV will stretch a 480i signal but won't stretch 1080i, so I have to use the 622s stretch functions for the upconverted SD sent over component.

The upside is that doing all the decoding/upconversion in the receiver seems to cut down on distortion and artifacts significantly.

The TVs stretch modes were a bit better, the 622 lacks a stretch mode that leaves the center of the picture unmolested.

[Rob Glasser]

Rob,

I know he said that he stretched with a 508 ... I'm a little confused. My 508's into an SD TV have no stretch capability.

No hassle, just confused.

That's why I asked if he was using his TV, because 50x series receivers do not have any stretch options.