Question about HDTV

We've had a flatscreen for a few months, and today I finally picked up the HD converter box from the good people @ Comcast. Two issues:

1. The box itself appears to have a glitch, such that it completely powers down when it's shut off for any period of time. By "completely," I mean that it needs to go through the entire 10-minute reboot sequence when you turn it back on. We've gone through this four times today, so I'll be returning the box tomorrow for a replacement.

2. The HD channels look pretty good, but now all of the standard channels are squished into a square as though we're using a conventional CRT television. The TV is set for widescreen format, but the channels still come through in this odd aspect ratio, and everything looks kind of attenuated. Is this normal, a sort of sly incentive to get you to watch only the HD channels? Or is it another glitch?


Any guesses?

you fill out the screen.

Your TV may have a "movie mode" that expands the picture without distortion but loses some of the top and bottom.

Yesterday morning, before I picked up the HD receiver, the "standard" channels filled out the screen just fine, at least the shows that would appear to be letterboxed on a conventional CRT TV. But as soon as I hooked up the new receiver, all of the standard channels were squished.


I'll look into that "movie mode" setting. Thanks!

screen size with.
Of course it will not be marked with any understandable words like 'screen size.'

or it looks too stretched on regular HD channels. I just got used to it.

It makes no sense to me that I'd get measurably better reception from the less sophisticated receiver.

When properly configured, normal NTSC programming should look like this on a widescreen display:



It's called pillarboxing and it's bascially the opposite of letterboxing:

But the current setup has a distinctly squished appearance (horizontally), as opposed to simply being a regular, pillarboxed NTSC feed.

or something like that. It might be on some default setting that fills the screen rather than boxes it

Have Comcast remote control at the ready

Turn off cable box and leave the TV on

Simultaneously hold the INFO and GUIDE buttons on the front panel of the cable box

When the on-screen guide appears, choose "A" from the remote and go into the HDTV setup

Most likely, your cable box resolution is fixed at 1080i and only 1080i. Go through and select each format (including 480p letterbox), not just 1080i.

This will help some but not all standard-def programs - some will be stretched/cropped a bit to fit your 16:9 screen, some will stay in 4:3 format, but will have smaller pillar bars.

One thing, as you switch channels and the format changes (say from 720p to 480i), your TV might take a second to re-sync. This is normal.

On edit - the ratio 16x9 appears as 16(DU smiley face)


mikey_the_rat

I'll try it after I've swapped out the box @ the local Comcast office.

A: A/V geek, several years as IT lead at MediaOne (bought by AT&T then Comcast), and too much time spent with cable and satellite equipment.

mikey_the_rat

Thanks again for the tip!