[tcatdbs]

Just got Dish and my 722 today. Once I figured out that HD resolution was set to 480p by default and I changed it to 1080i, I am now VERY happy! I do believe the quality is slightly better than TWC.

In that menu you can change the resolution and TV aspect (16:9, 4:3-1, 4:3-2). It's on 1080i and 16:9 (plasma). I tried changing this from TV2 (a 4:3 TV), but it changes the main TV. I guess there is not an independent setting for TV2? The picture on TV2 looks better when changed to 480i and 4:3, but I don't want to have to keep changing it back and forth...

What's the best way to set up TV2 if it's just SD (and most all my channels are HD)? I'm not too concerned since it's a guess TV, but be nice to have it set up correctly.

 

[Ken Green]

Just got Dish and my 722 today. Once I figured out that HD resolution was set to 480p by default and I changed it to 1080i, I am now VERY happy! I do believe the quality is slightly better than TWC.

In that menu you can change the resolution and TV aspect (16:9, 4:3-1, 4:3-2). It's on 1080i and 16:9 (plasma). I tried changing this from TV2 (a 4:3 TV), but it changes the main TV. I guess there is not an independent setting for TV2? The picture on TV2 looks better when changed to 480i and 4:3, but I don't want to have to keep changing it back and forth...

What's the best way to set up TV2 if it's just SD (and most all my channels are HD)? I'm not too concerned since it's a guess TV, but be nice to have it set up correctly.

You can use the "#" button on your TV2 remote to quickly change/toggle through the available aspect ratios, but changing the resolution in the menu will effect both TV1 & TV2.
You may want to try 720p, and see how that looks on your SD TV2 and HD TV1.

 

[tcatdbs]

Thanks. My TV2 is a 19" 4:3 tube. If I were to replace it, will it really make a difference whether it's a 4:3 or a 16:9 aspect? Does HD 16:9 content stay 16:9, it's just is 480i rather than 1080i? Or does something squish it to 4:3?

 

[tcatdbs]

Man, I just bought a 22" LCD 16:9 TV for TV2, what a mistake... Looks "OK" for SD content, but when you watch an HD channels, you have to hit the format (*) button to put the 722 in Letterbox mode... THEN you have to zoom the TV to fill the screen. Looks "OK", but what a pain. And when you're watching and hit guide, it's zoomed, so you can't see it all. I may take it back and use my old 4:3 TV... Sure seems there should be some TV2 menu items to adjust aspect to fit screen, so you don't have to mess with the TV remote.

Am I missing something?

 

[tcatdbs]

OK, took the LCD back (was a 22" Zenith, not great PQ), but wish I'd done more experimenting while I had it. I normally keep my TV1 on "Dual" so TV2 can watch what they want. I was just playing with Single and Dual settings, and watching what happns to an HD movie on TV2. It appears that in Dual mode, when you press the aspect button you get either "Normal" which appears to be the correct ascpect but with the sides cut off (on my 4:3 TV2), or you get "Letterbox" which appears to be the full picture (fairly small on a 20" TV).

In Single Mode, the Movie is playing on TV1 and TV2, so when you press TV2 remote's aspect"*" button, you cycle through all options (normal, stretch, partial zoom, zoom, gray bars, normal), but none of them will letterbox on my 4:3 TV. Normal looks skinny; Stretch looks correct, but sides are cut off; zooms are just too big. Seems there needs to be a "Shrink" mode in the options to get it letterboxed.

In conclusion, it appears a 16:9 TV2 is probably a better choice than a 4:3, at least in Single mode. In Dual Mode it doesn't seem to matter much, although a widescreen is probably a better choice in either case.