HD 4:3 stretch work around

2137 Views 26 Replies 18 Participants Last post by rudeney, Aug 6, 2008

IcedOmega13

Discussion Starter · Aug 2, 2008

If any of you out there tend to watch hd channels on your D* you may notice once and a while it will not be filling the entire screen. Generally this is because its a 4:3 program that is being broadcast on an hd feed. If you press the format button you still can't manage to stretch the screen.

The fix for this start by going to your menu and then parental, fav, and setup. Go to the HDTV settings and change your tv resolution from 16:9 to 4:3. (yes I know your tv is widescreen and it makes absolutely no sense) From there exit out and go back to your 4:3 hd show and you'll find that the format button now changes the screen size with ease. Don't fret as the 4:3 setting change has absolutely no effect on hd shows filmed and broadcast in widescreen, just press the format button until you get back to screen unaltered 1080i (or whatever format you prefer)

to make things easier remove all of the other resolutions besides the one you plan to use.

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veryoldschool

· #2 · Aug 2, 2008

IcedOmega13 said:
If any of you out there tend to watch hd channels on your D* you may notice once and a while it will not be filling the entire screen. Generally this is because its a 4:3 program that is being broadcast on an hd feed. If you press the format button you still can't manage to stretch the screen.

The fix for this start by going to your menu and then parental, fav, and setup. Go to the HDTV settings and change your tv resolution from 16:9 to 4:3. (yes I know your tv is widescreen and it makes absolutely no sense) From there exit out and go back to your 4:3 hd show and you'll find that the format button now changes the screen size with ease. Don't fret as the 4:3 setting change has absolutely no effect on hd shows filmed and broadcast in widescreen, just press the format button until you get back to screen unaltered 1080i (or whatever format you prefer)

to make things easier remove all of the other resolutions besides the one you plan to use.

This isn't quite "new".
With 16:9 the format options work for SD and with 4:3 they work with HD. You would need to change the format to stretch to remove the letterbox for HD on a 16:9 TV.
Newer HDTVs can change format for HD resolutions, negating the need to change the DVR TV settings.

rudeney

· #3 · Aug 4, 2008

veryoldschool said:
This isn't quite "new".
With 16:9 the format options work for SD and with 4:3 they work with HD. You would need to change the format to stretch to remove the letterbox for HD on a 16:9 TV.
Newer HDTVs can change format for HD resolutions, negating the need to change the DVR TV settings.

I find using the TV's reformatting annoying because it also affects the HR2x's on-screen displays. At least if you have the HR2x do the reformatting, it's smart enough to keep it's OSD's correctly match to the physical TV aspect.

SPACEMAKER

· #4 · Aug 4, 2008

Why on earth would anyone voluntarily stretch 4:3 programming?

dcowboy7

· #5 · Aug 5, 2008

SPACEMAKER said:
Why on earth would anyone voluntarily stretch 4:3 programming?

+1 (what was that word for the biggest # ever ?)

Quadrillion it is.

Jeremy W

· #6 · Aug 5, 2008

IcedOmega13 said:
The fix for this

I wouldn't call it a fix, it's more like intentionally distorting video that was being displayed correctly.

spartanstew

· #7 · Aug 5, 2008

Jeremy W said:
I wouldn't call it a fix, it's more like intentionally distorting video that was being displayed correctly.

Yep.

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armophob

· #8 · Aug 5, 2008

SPACEMAKER said:
Why on earth would anyone voluntarily stretch 4:3 programming?

cause I like it more. Wanna use all my screen. Stretch armophob.

Grentz

· #9 · Aug 5, 2008

ugg, I cant stand stretched content.

and whenever I install systems for people or setup their TVs they want the picture filling the whole TV and dont seem to care! I hate watching people with fat heads and everything stretched beyond belief!

Jeremy W

· #10 · Aug 5, 2008

armophob said:
Wanna use all my screen.

WHY??????????????

MartyS

· #11 · Aug 5, 2008

2

armophob said:
cause I like it more. Wanna use all my screen. Stretch armophob.

OK...

HEre you go...

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rudeney

· #12 · Aug 5, 2008

SPACEMAKER said:
Why on earth would anyone voluntarily stretch 4:3 programming?

Actually, if I have to watch 4:3 content, I prefer zoom (a.k.a. crop) over stretch. In fact, I really like the way TLC and Discovery manipulate their 4:3 content - they do a combination of zoom, very small pillar bars and a progressive stretch. It's just enough of all of those things to not be annoying.

dcowboy7

· #13 · Aug 5, 2008

MartyS said:
OK...

HEre you go...

classic ! :lol:

Michael D'Angelo

· #14 · Aug 5, 2008

I am with armophob on this. I still use SD programming when the HD channel is not in 16x9 so I can stretch the picture because I hate the bars. I want to use the entire screen. For some reason the bars pull my eyes away from the picture.

dcowboy7

· #15 · Aug 5, 2008

Michael D'Angelo;1717618 said:
For some reason the bars pull my eyes away from the picture.

for me the stretch pulls the eyes away from my head....ooowwww

armophob

· #16 · Aug 5, 2008

MartyS said:
OK...

HEre you go...

See, not bad at all, and the whole 6x9 area is being utilized.:lol:

nowandthen

· #17 · Aug 6, 2008

rudeney said:
Actually, if I have to watch 4:3 content, I prefer zoom (a.k.a. crop) over stretch. In fact, I really like the way TLC and Discovery manipulate their 4:3 content - they do a combination of zoom, very small pillar bars and a progressive stretch. It's just enough of all of those things to not be annoying.

I can live with this. But please don't stretch 4:3! HGTV uses a nonlinear stretch so you can't undo it properly. :nono2: So I always watch the SD version of HGTV. My fear is the SD version will go away and we will be stuck with the stretch-o-vision version.

MartyS

· #18 · Aug 6, 2008

armophob said:
See, not bad at all, and the whole 6x9 area is being utilized.:lol:

Yeah, but you got pixelated 'cause the aspect ratio is screwed up.

gully_foyle

· #19 · Aug 6, 2008

armophob said:
cause I like it more. Wanna use all my screen. Stretch armophob.

Someone buy the man a round screen.

Jeremy W

· #20 · Aug 6, 2008

Michael D'Angelo;1717618 said:
For some reason the bars pull my eyes away from the picture.

And stretching makes me want to pull my eyes out of my head. They're just black bars! There is a bunch of space around your TV that is probably a lot more busy than a plain black bar, how are you able to put up with that? What about stylized bars instead of plain black bars?

1 - 20 of 27 Posts

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