942 SD Picture Stretch

[CubsWin]

I have a 57" Hitachi widescreen HDTV with a 942 receiver. HD channels and widescreen DVD's look great on my TV, but anything that is broadcast in SD widescreen doesn't look right. Instead of stretching the picture both horizontally and vertically, it appears to only stretch the image horizontally and keep the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. What I end up with is then a slightly distorted picture with black bars on the top and bottom, instead of what ideally would be a non-distorted picture that fills the screen. Is there a setting that I need to change to fix how SD widescreen programming is stretched?

 

[MikeD-C05]

I use partial Zoom on my sd shows. I also have my 16 x 9 tv set for 4 x3 #1setting instead of 16 x 9. It seems to make the picture look a little less pixely. When it is set for 16 x9 it makes the picture strectch too much to the horizontal and the vertical is squished. When I use the 4 x 3 #1 setting I still get the proper aspects on my hd channels , ota channels and my sd channels from the satellite. I also have mine set for 720p and it seems to make the picture look less grainey on my Toshiba 57" hd tv. My tv is made for 1080i but I like the overall smoother picture I get when I use the 942 on 720p instead. Of course your experiences will vary depending on your tvs and personal preference.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

It's got multiple modes for 4:3

- Standard 4:3 with black bars
- Standard 4:3 with gray bars
- 4:3 stretched horizontally only [Stretch]
- 4:3 stretched horizontally and about half the height necessary to maintain a 4:3 ratio. You will have some of the top and bottom of the image cut off. [Partial Zoom]
- 4:3 zoomed so that it fills the screen horizontally and maintains a true 4:3 ratio. You will lose several inches of the image off the top and bottom. [Zoom]

So you have 5 options, 3 of which maintain the true 4:3 aspect ratio, one that alters it a bit, and one that changes it a lot (the Stretch mode).

I never use stretch, I think it is terrible.
I use partial zoom on programs that I watch casually.
I use zoom on shows where the loss of the top and bottom doesn't seem critical, which is about 30%-40% of the time.
And I use 4:3 Graybar whenever I feel it is very important to maintain 4:3 and I want the image quality to be as high as possible.

If I had a DLP or LCD, I would use 4:3 Blackbar pretty much all of the time. I don't like stretch modes and with these technologies, I wouldn't have to worry about screen burn-in.

With a CRT RP, you should always use the gray bars when watching in 4:3 mode. This will cut down on burn-in.

And, noticing now that you are talking about SD being broadcast in widescreen mode, you need to use the ZOOM mode, as that has been specifically designed to fill a 16:9 screen from a 16:9 image that is being broadcast within a 4:3 image. It won't be a very sharp image unless the channel is getting a lot of bandwidth, some of the Dish channels look pretty bad when Zoomed.

 

[CubsWin]

Thanks for all the info, that was helpful.

What determines whether the picture is 4:3 with black bars, 4:3 with gray bars, or 4:3 stretched? I have been playing with my settings and I can't figure it out. Earlier today I was using 1080i with 16:9 and it was stretching 4:3 images horizontally. After changing back and forth a few times, this same setting is now giving me black bars on the sides... how can I switch to gray bars or to horizontal stretch?

 

[120inna55]

Thanks for all the info, that was helpful.
What determines whether the picture is 4:3 with black bars, 4:3 with gray bars, or 4:3 stretched? I have been playing with my settings and I can't figure it out. Earlier today I was using 1080i with 16:9 and it was stretching 4:3 images horizontally. After changing back and forth a few times, this same setting is now giving me black bars on the sides... how can I switch to gray bars or to horizontal stretch?

1. Make sure you're watching 4:3 content. (just to make it more obvious as to what the format is doing to your image)
2. Press the "format" button on your remote ("*")
3. Keep pressing the button until you cycle through all the formats (normal, stretch, partial zoom, zoom, gray bar)

 

[long_time_DNC]

I might tinker with this some more, but I'm pretty satisfied with my 50" DLP in wide mode (16:9) and the 942 in stretch. Some channels (Travel, WGN, and a few others) look a little soft, but the rest look quite watchable. I may tinker a little more and see how it looks though. Just out of curiosity.

 

[ScottChez]

Every TV is different so try all the modes and find one that looks the best to your eyes. Here are some more options.

For my 65" Sony RPTV HDTV

SD looks the best if I se the 942 to 4x3 #2 mode and 480i this allows the TV to do ALL the work stretching and converting. For my TV the Sony seems to do a better job than the 942.

My next choice for SD is to let the 942 do all the work so I put it in 16x9 at 1080i or 720p (when watching sports) and then I use the 942 partial zoom mode, it is almost as good as having the sony do the work.

Note I swwitch between 720P and 1080i depending on the type of show. This makes a difference also on HD content on my TV.

Trail and error till it looks the best to your eyes not mine . . . .

 

[long_time_DNC]

I tinkered around trying various modes on my TV and 942 and eventually came back to 16:9 on the TV and stretch on the 942. Partial zoom on the 942 and 4:3 on the TV just looks weird to me.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

The 942 "Stretch" mode significantly distorts a 4:3 image. It maintains the height while applying a constant 33% stretch across the image. So every person/object is shown 33% wider, but no taller, than they should be.

If you watch SD via your s-video connection, then your TV may employ different stretch modes. Many of them will slightly zoom the image, so you lose about an inch off of the top and bottom, then apply a progressive stretch, where the sides are stretched more than the middle. Because of both the progressive stretch and the slight zoom, the center of the screen is not altered too much. Many people focus their attention to the center and don't even notice the aggressive stretching on the sides.

These more advanced TV stretch modes are better to most eyes than the modes built-in to the 942. Many HDTVs disable their own modes when the TV is connected via HDMI, DVI, or component, which leaves you with only the 942 modes to select from.

 

[long_time_DNC]

I'm running component from my 942 into the 1080i input of my Sammy. SD does appear a little stretched, but not so much that it's annoying and the picture (depending on the channel) is generally clear and easily watchable. I can't complain, really.

Having everything in HD would be fantastic, but that's a dream.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

The 942 stretch mode will look the same on every HDTV, at least in terms of how its aspect ratio is affected. It's a straight 33% horizontal stretch. It makes every one, every face, fatter. I find it completely unwatchable. It is the worst possible way to watch a fullscreen 16:9 image. Partial Zoom I can watch, usually.

As I said before, if I had a DLP or LCD, I would watch all 4:3 in 4:3 w/black bars. Why pay $2000+ for a TV and then distort the image to where it is much worse than a $200 27" 4:3 TV? It is interesting that many people have so little tolerance for black bars that they would rather watch a significantly distorted image.

I can better understand it if they use a TV's custom stretch mode, as I described before, which does better preserve the aspect ratio of the center portion of the screen. Although this too is less than ideal.

TNT uses the more complex stretch algorithms when they air 4:3 HD content in their 16:9 Stretch-O-Vision mode. Many HD people complain, and rightfully so, about S-O-V, but even it is far superior to the 942 "stretch" mode.

 

[waltinvt]

The 942 "stretch" mode is only good for one thing - watching 4:3 SD through a composite / S-Vid connection. It allows you to keep the 942 set to 1080i 16:9 and just switch inputs on the tv for SD vs HD.

I agree with Tom, the 942 "stretch" mode is terrible if used when watching through a HD connection but it works totally different through the composite connection when using the TVs zoom / stretch modes.

With my particular 16:9 HDTV there's a special "cinerama" mode that does a combination slight zoom and stretch only at the sides that looks real good. No visible too fat or too tall effect. However for some reason all my TV's modes are messed up when the 942 is in 1080i 16:9 mode but pressing the "*" key to "stretch" gets it all to work right without having to change the 942 settings.

 

[Thor263]

All this is why I wish the 942 would have something like native resolution preferences, so it would automatically switch to the mode you want for SD and HD viewing. It would definitely increase the wife acceptance factor for me -- "Honey, why are you in the setup menu again?"

 

[waltinvt]

All this is why I wish the 942 would have something like native resolution preferences, so it would automatically switch to the mode you want for SD and HD viewing. It would definitely increase the wife acceptance factor for me -- "Honey, why are you in the setup menu again?"

I agree but Dish is sometimes a little short-sighted in this regards. They'll save a couple bucks in hardware / software design time and pay for it untold times over in increased customer service and churn.

 

[SimpleSimon]

I agree but Dish is sometimes a little short-sighted in this regards. They'll save a couple bucks in hardware / software design time and pay for it untold times over in increased customer service and churn.

Truth. Penny-wise and pound-foolish.