Why are 4:3 SD locals upconverted to 16:9 HD?

[agregjones]

This makes no sense to me. I brought it up at AVS, but someone decided to go completely off-topic thinking it was a discussion about whether I wanted to fill the screen or not.

My concern is rather simple: by sending a 4:3 signal in a 16:9 format, it's like false advertising. Many of us have different settings on our displays for 4:3 vs 16:9 content and this completely bypasses the ability to use those.

For the many folks out there with 4:3 native projectors, it's worse. Their widescreen is letterboxed to show OAR (as everything should be, ahem). But this "upconverted" 4:3 content is still 16:9 according to the signal and gets relegated to only the center portion of the letterboxed area. This leaves the image with less resolution and size than it would have had originally.

 

[Ilya]

This is a decision made by your local broadcaster. HD channels are always 16x9. When broadcasters send 4x3 material, they can either stretch it to 16x9, add black bars on each side, or they can crop it at the top and at the bottom. Some choose to stretch, some choose to add bars, some even use a combination of the methods...

 

[cajun_100]

wouldn't the best PQ be the "add bars" option?

 

[Ilya]

wouldn't the best PQ be the "add bars" option?

For me, yes! That's how I prefer to watch SD programs on my GWIII.
But for those with 4x3 HDTV sets and for those who are concerned about burn-in, this may not be the best option.

 

[cajun_100]

I forgot about burn in.

 

[agregjones]

Yes, those are the options for sending 4:3 in a 16:9 format. That is my argument...just send me the 4:3 format as it was and let me deal with it as I please.

 

[Ilya]

...just send me the 4:3 format as it was and let me deal with it as I please.

I am not 100% positive, but I don't think they can do that! Looks like HD channels are always sent in 16x9 aspect ratio...

 

[agregjones]

I am not 100% positive, but I don't think they can do that! Looks like HD channels are always sent in 16x9 aspect ratio...

While it's sending 4x3 480i, it's not HD. And there are tons of examples of stations sending SD via ATSC.

 

[dankgus]

just send me the 4:3 format as it was and let me deal with it as I please.

I am with you all the way. I personally like to use my TVs "wide zoom" feature on 4:3 content.

Also, the TV manufacturers could give us the ability to manipulate the image (zoom, wide zoom, etc) even if the content is HD. There are sometimes film transfers from older movies that are in 4:3 even though they are HD. I don't like to think of myself as joe 6 pack screen filler, but I do kind of like the screen to be filled to put my mind at ease as far as burn in goes.

I am really looking forward to having ALL channels in HD and 16:9. Perhaps someday....

--Dan

 

[Ilya]

While it's sending 4x3 480i, it's not HD. And there are tons of examples of stations sending SD via ATSC.

Yes, those are digital SD channels and they are not the problem. You can adjust the picture mode for those in the STB settings.

I am talking about HD channels. Those that broadcast HD at least occasionally. I don't think the broadcaster can easily change the output resolution. If they are set to broadcast, say, at 16x9 720p, I don't think they can easily switch to 480i for certain SD programs. Instead, they continue broadcasting in 16x9 720p up-converting everything to this resolution mode.