Channel guide cut off on 721

[dbronstein]

I just got a 721 and the left edge of the channel guide is cut off, like it is shifted too far to the left on the screen, so you can't see the first digit of the channel numbers. Is this a common problem or is it something with my box?

Thanks,
Dennis

[Scott Greczkowski]

Its actually a problem with the Overscan on your TV set.

I have found that the 721 tried using the maximum space of the screen and on most TV's there are some parts of the menus or guides cut off.

Lets hope they add a feature so you can move the menus on the screen to fix this problem.

[dbronstein]

Is there anything I can do with my TV to fix it?

Thanks,
Dennis

[Scott Greczkowski]

Nope not really unfortunately, other other Dish Network receivers you can go to a menu and cetner the image to it better fits your screen. The Dish 6000 and the Dishplayer are two receivers I know of which offer this feature.

[Kagato]

Whoa, I wouldn't say there isn't anything you can do. Many times over scan happens because you're driving the TV way to hard.

TV sell better when they look brighter. TV's don't sell better based on how accurate the picture is. So, out of the box your TV is set way high on contrast and brightness.

Try adjusting Contrast and brightness down a bit. It may help somewhat.

It not a bad idea to buy or rent a Home Theater calibration DVD like Video Essentials.

Other than that, yeah, you're SOL.

[Ken Seeber]

Originally posted by dbronstein
Is there anything I can do with my TV to fix it?

Thanks,
Dennis

Dennis,

While there isn't anything you can do to fix the overscan, it should be relatively easy for a technician to adjust overscan for you.  It's simply a matter of entering the TV's service menu and using a test pattern to set the proper amount of overscan.  If your TV is small enough that it's easy to take to a local tech, it should be pretty cheap.  A housecall would cost a bit more obviously.  It can't hurt to call around. 

Actually, it would probably be pretty easy to find out the procedure to enter the service menu (it usually requires two or three key presses with the remote control), but I wouldn't recommend it.  If you don't know what you're doing, you could end up with an off-center picture that isn't in the correct proportions.

[dbronstein]

Thanks for the info, but it's not worth paying someone to look at. I'll try adjusting the brightness and contrast and see if that does anything.

Dennis

[Mike123abc]

You can also look on the internet to find the factory set up codes for your television. The service menu many times will allow you to adjust the picture size. The picture size is set artificially large on televisions because over time the television image will slowly shrink as the tube burns in and they do not want people calling about the picture not filling the screen any more. But, this could take 20 years if you do not leave the TV on 24/7.

[KEEFP]

If this is a problem with overscan on the TV, please explain why the TV works just fine with any other equipment including a PVR501, DVD player, 4000 and 3000 Satellite receiver, VCR etc. I don't understand why this cannot be fixed in the 721 if all this other equipment works fine.

[Doug E]

Ditto. My 501 and previous model receiver showed the EPG perfectly....that is, no bleeding wide and therefore obscuring the first numbers of the channel numbering.

I tried altering the contrast and brightness with no difference.

[dbronstein]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't understand why they can't fix this. The guide was fine on my previous receiver and my ReplayTV unit, it's only the 721 that it's a problem. And it's just the guide, the menus are fine. It's clearly an issue with the 721, not the TV.

Dennis