921 aspect ratio screen shots

[Scott Greczkowski]

Ok a few of you have asked about the aspect ratio control on the 921.

Below are some pictures from my 921 and my 16 x 9 TV. These pictures would look better if the room was dark and the tripod was level.

I paused the screen on BloombergTV and then flipped through all the aspect's by pressing the * key.

 

[jsa_sf]

Maybe I'm being stubborn on this issue...

Most HDTVs I've evaluated do various stretch modes, anti-burn-in options, and methods of taking advantage of genuine anamorphic sources.

Even standard-def EDTVs will take an anamorphic image and do the letterboxing itself better than the DVD player to take advantage of the enhanced resolution.

I might be missing it... Why would a manufacturer like Echostar wish to put image stretching in the receiver? That seems utterly redundant and prone to issues like clipping on certain displays... Like a DVD player, the receiver, when receiving 16:9 images, should either "do it's own letterboxing" for 4:3 televisions or output anamorphic images, and for standard-def input, it should just pass it through.

I'm trying to think of an example of a television owner who would benefit from the stretch modes in the receiver versus the TV... Was there a slew of HDTVs released years ago without stretch modes?

-j

 

[jsa_sf]

And I meant to say...

Not "standard-def EDTVs" but "4:3 EDTVs."

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

On my old 6000 when you stretched the picture everything was still on the screen. Not the case now on the 921.

I don't even believe this to be a case of overscan to be honest with you.

My wife likes having the 4x3 stretched to fill the 16x9 screen, she says that what good is a big screen if there is not a picture on the entire screen.

 

[jsa_sf]

Stetching is great...

Stretching is great, all I'm saying is that since the 16:9 televisions do that stretching very well, why would I want the receiver to do it?

I'm sorry, I'll drop the subject...

 

[slusig]

If you use component or DVI cables, the TV can't do the stretching. The receiver has to. At least that is the way my TV works.

 

[BarryO]

I don't think any TV will do stretching when fed a 1080i or 720p signal. Therefore, in order to use the TV stretch mode, you have to use an SD input and an SD signal.

Given that alot of TV's don't have discrete codes for selecting various inputs (and I don't think there are discrete codes for SD/HD switching in the receiver, either), this makes it difficult to integrate into a home theater system that's easy to operate. Thngs are much easier when you use just one input on the TV.

Also, many front projectors don't take SD inputs.

The 6000 ratios worked well; E* needs to make the 921 ratios work like those.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

The 6000 ratios worked well; E* needs to make the 921 ratios work like those.

You said a mouthfull!

 

[baloo75]

I don't know if this is what E* is doing in the 921 but most of the higher end HDTVs have a new stretch mode that basically does a non-linear stretch horizontally and a slight stretch vertically. This allows most shows where the center of the screen is the focal point to look non-stretched. It looks like E* is doing a linear stretch both horizontally and verically. This is better than just the normal horizontal stretch because people look less "fat" while being stretched. Of course you don't want to use this form of stretching on programs where you want to read the ticker at the bottom of the screen.

Most HDTV's don't stretch anything but 480i/480p. I have a higher end Mits and it does do a linear stretch to remove the black bars on 1080i inputs. This is the exception and not the norm however.

 

[ScottChez]

Over in the HDTV Direct Tivo forums the beta testers are having the exact same stretch mode issues.

Must be a common problem with this type of device.

 

[BobMurdoch]

If you use component or DVI cables, the TV can't do the stretching. The receiver has to. At least that is the way my TV works.

My Sony defaults to Full on DVDs but I programmed it to do that. I believe I can still use zoom or wide zoom.

My XBox is also on component video and I can change the modes also.

 

[jsa_sf]

Stretch Modes...

I agree with what everyone is saying, I guess I've been looking at more recent release HDTV models which seem to offer modes for component and DVI inputs. However, excellent point: If you're TV can't do it, well then Echostar has a good feature for you there. I admit, I'm also a purist, I hate monkeying with the image unless it was intended to be monkeyed with.

On my Sony 50WE610, I can do Normal (untouched), Full (really for anamorphic), Zoom and Wide Zoom. I believe it's Wide Zoom that seems to work perfectly for letterboxed shows on SD.

Yesterday I came into my livingroom to find my wife watching a letterboxed Warren Miller ski video on "Wide Zoom," as it was letterboxed on the source. I admit... an awesome feature.

Different stretch modes are interesting to me... Really the Sony doesn't do them, just zooms, for SD input. However, I can use any of these options on all the varous interfaces.

Within the next month I'll have two 921s and two HDTVs of different manufacturers operating... I'll do some experimentation and post the results.


-j

 

[A_Noland]

Scott, is your TV 1080i or 720p, because my 6000 over streches. Example. On Headline news, the word "news" above the ticker on the right side is up against the edge of my TV. Unstreached, there is (on my TV anyway) several inches of white bar after the word news. I would say it over streches 30-40%. I usually watch stuff with gray bars because of that fact.

 

[cjsmigelski]

I might be wrong but, I thought 1080i & 720p were a natural 16x9 format... and doesn't need to be stretched.

 

[cjsmigelski]

sorry, 720p

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Mine is 1080i.

The overscan has been properly set by Gregg Lowen via an ISF Calibration.

 

[A_Noland]

I wish there was an easy way to find an ISF calibrator here in Tulsa. I've seen several guys from "out of state", but would like to find someone local.

 

[BobMurdoch]

I might be wrong but, I thought 1080i & 720p were a natural 16x9 format... and don't need to be stretched.

They don't ... they are talking about 4:3 content which is 98% of the channels you can watch.

For letterboxed shows such as ER the Wide Zoom on my Sony works great as it chops off most of the black bars without zapping that much horizontal content.