WOW when did this happen?
Very recently, I think. The programming is stretched, but not "Stretch-O-Vision". It' can be corrected simply by changing the pixel aspect ratio on the TV. "Stretch-O-Vision" does irreparable damage to the picture.
When the new HD channels were first turned on, I was in my office, so I was looking at them on a 4:3 monitor fed from a 622 on the other side of the house. I was surprised that Cartoon Network looked totally normal. Cartoon Network was simply changing the pixel aspect ratio, and my monitor was changing it back.
The next day, I flipped to TBS and was surprised to see Family Guy stretched the same way. Also, last night I turned on The Office on TBS, which has been shown in 4:3 Stretch-O-Vision in the past...however, it was in true HD last night. During the commercial breaks, most of the commercials were also in HD, and those that weren't were stretched evenly.
I just turned on TNT...there was one commercial that appeared to be in Stretch-O-Vision, but it's possible that they may have "pre-stretched" their commercials and haven't corrected them all yet.
TBS is showing Home Improvement. It looks pretty normal when unstretched. I almost seem to be catching some slight distortion right on the edges, but it might be the monitor I'm watching on.
IF they are using Stretch-O-Vision still, they have dialed it way down to a level that's acceptable to me personally. In the past, I could tell within seconds that it was unevenly stretched, and I simply couldn't watch it.
I went through last night and locked out the SD versions of channels that I don't plan on ever watching again. I left up the Scripps channels and a few others that still use Stretch-O-Vision, but I killed the SD versions of the Turner channels. I've been very vocal about the poor quality of the Turner channels. I would now rank them right in the middle...a solid C+.
I would now rank the Scripps channels worst, since they actually lowered in quality. Many people rank A&E channels as one of the worst, but I have seen true HD on all three the past few days when sampling, and those programs that weren't in HD were stretched evenly.
Bottom line, as long as the picture is stretched evenly, your TV can fix it and it looks GREAT in comparison to the SD version. If Stretch-O-Vision is used, it is simply unwatchable.