I just got Directv today and I'm having issues with the format options. Whenever I select the 16:9 I can't use the stretch/crop options. But if I select 4:3 I'm able to cycle through the format options. I have tried selecting /deselecting 480i-1080i without any luck. Is this user error or a problem with the receiver? I currently have an HD H21NC-200 reciever using an HDMI cable to a 50inch plasma.
Directv Hd Receiver Format Issues
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Are you trying to do that on a HD channel since you can't change the aspect ratio on a HD channel, only SD channels?
This is only for my locals. I was told my locals come through as HD and SD(depending on how they're being broadcasted) on the same channel. This happens to every show and every local channel regardless of SD or HD. The ones that are in HD came through in windscreen. The sd are in 4:9 and can't be streched/croped.
Channels are either HD or SD, not HD part of the time and SD the rest of the time.
Now a HD channel can show a SD program but as far as the receiver is concerned it's still a HD channel and the format button won't do anything on a HD channel.
Now a HD channel can show a SD program but as far as the receiver is concerned it's still a HD channel and the format button won't do anything on a HD channel.
That answers some questions but I don't understand that if I switch to 4:9 I then can stretch or crop.
If you have a 16:9 TV set, what are you going to stretch it to?
When you select 16:9 on the receiver, it tells the TV that the signal is 16:9, regardless of what the format of the program is actually in. It can be 4:3, 1:1, 2.4:1, 16:9, or whatever. Doesn't matter. As far as the receiver is concerned, it is 16:9 because you said so. You can't stretch a 16:9 signal.
I'm not trying to strech 16:9 but 4:3. It says in the manual that came with my receiver that if a non HD prgram comes in 4:3 that it can be stretched or cropped. When I select crop or stretch it doesn't change a thing unless I switch the HDTV option from 16:9 to 4:3.
If you have a 16:9 TV then set the receiver to 16:9, that's the way it should be set up. Then as I said before, if you watch a HD channel, don't care if it has 4:3 programing on it or not, you CAN'T change the aspect ratio of it, the box doesn't work that whay. The only time the format button will change the aspect ration is when you have an actual SD channel on, not a HD channel with a 4:3(SD) program.
Sorry to be a pain but you're telling me that there's no way to change aspect ration on an HD channel even if its a non HD show. That completely sucks!!! Why would they not broadcast all of the content on an HD channel in16:9 when 100% of the new TVs are widescreen?
Yep, that's what I'm saying, you can't change the aspect ration on a HD channel. As for your 2nd question there are two camps on this subject, the ones that say don't stretch 4:3 content and those that want it. Check out some of the old 4:3 shows on TBS or TNT which does the change in the aspect ratio for you, many folks don't like that the picture is either chopped off or distored to fill the screen.
Thanks for your help. Now I need to decide if I'm sticking with DirecTV or going back to the basic package from Dish Network and external antennae for HD locals. $90 a month seems a little steep if they can't get the HD content to display properly on a widescreen TV.
Stations broadcasting in HD add the pillar box when they are showing 4:3 content to fill the 16:9 frame. It is not added by the receiver, which is properly showing the content which is broadcast. Some channels add color to the pillars, but many just make them black. A few channels will stretch 4:3 programming to fill the screen, but that distorts the picture.
You could select the receiver to send 480i to the TV and then use the TV's ratio/format to stretch the content. My RPTV won't allow a stretch if it's receiving 1080i content (even if it's 4:3 imbedded in 16:9). But, if the TV is receiving 480i, then I can do the stretch and crop etc.
"Properly" is in the eye of the beholder. My own preference is to see programs displayed as they were originally shot, not distorted by some computer algorithm that doesn't know people aren't supposed to be squished and can't magically recreate scenery that was off the edge of a 4:3 camera's view.
Just because 100% of the new TV sets are built in 16:9 format doesn't mean that all of the programming available is in 16:9 format.
Although I hate them, I would rather see a picture with bars on the sides that a picture that is distortes just so it can fill my screen.
It does display properly -- just sometimes not the way you would prefer. It has nothing at all to do with the service provider. They merely pass on the signals that are sent to them. If you watch something on CNN (or FOX News) that originates in their studio, it is in 16:9 format, yet, when they switch to a remote feed or show a tape it is in 4:3 with bars on the sides. You see that whether you watch it on DirecTV, Dish Network, or cable.
If you watch CSI on Thursday night (OTA), it is shown in 16:9 format, yet if you watch a 1 year old rerun on the same channel at 1:30 in the morning (OTA), it will be in 4:3 format.
If you expect widescreen format on 100% of the programming, unfortunately you are going to be disappointed wherever you go.
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