Slightly confused on 4:3/16:9

[bighick]

I have a 32" dynex (yes it is cheap yes i know sony is better blah blah blah) and am a little confused about how the picture is supposed to be (4:3 vs 16:9). I have it hooked up to an OTA. I am going to use fox channel 42 for this to make it easier. On channel 42 it will stretch the analog screen to 16:9. On channel 42.1 it will not stretch the digital screen to 16:9. If it is a HD signal (?) like the national news and sports it is full screen. Should it be stretching all of my digital to 16:9 like it does my analog?

When i press display it shows the signal type so i went threw them
1920x1080 boxed -most like this
1920x1088 boxed -1 like this
1280x720 boxed/full -1 like this it had the boxed picture but in the blank black area it said Call letter-DT

 

[Pepper]

A digital HD channel is always 16:9, however when they show 4:3 content you'll see black bars on the sides, this is normal.

 

[bighick]

Thank you sir.

 

[Ilya]

Most TV sets can stretch picture on SD channels (if you choose so), but cannot stretch HD channels. This is most likely the case with your TV set.

 

[HD MM]

I have a 32" dynex (yes it is cheap yes i know sony is better blah blah blah) and am a little confused about how the picture is supposed to be (4:3 vs 16:9). I have it hooked up to an OTA. I am going to use fox channel 42 for this to make it easier. On channel 42 it will stretch the analog screen to 16:9. On channel 42.1 it will not stretch the digital screen to 16:9. If it is a HD signal (?) like the national news and sports it is full screen. Should it be stretching all of my digital to 16:9 like it does my analog?

When i press display it shows the signal type so i went threw them
1920x1080 boxed -most like this
1920x1088 boxed -1 like this
1280x720 boxed/full -1 like this it had the boxed picture but in the blank black area it said Call letter-DT

Required reading. This article will explain a lot....

High-Def FAQ: Why Don't the Black Bars Go Away? | High-Def Digest

 

[toto]

There have been 54 aspect ratios in film over the last 100 years. The most common from 1954 until 2000 was 1.85:1. 16:9 is 1.78:1 not by accident. HD pictures are of specified resolution and normally original aspect, if film based. There can be pillar or letterbox bars if the original film aspect was different. many of todays wide screen moies are 2:1 and 2.25:1. I think "Hogan's Heroes" was shot at 14:9 (1.54:1) Standard definition may be 16:9 or 4:3 but is at a lower resolution.

 

[Kevinw]

A digital HD channel is always 16:9, however when they show 4:3 content you'll see black bars on the sides, this is normal.

Except for those odd times like on Sci-Fi where it is window and letterbox.