Still Confused on this pillarbox/letterboxing thing

[Diamond Dog]

I have an 811 revceiver hooked up to a Sony 51" widescreen (16x9) rear projection TV component connections

The 811 is set to 16x9 and 1080i.

I want the HD broadcasts to fill the screen and the SD signals to fill the screen without me ever having to "change things" every time. I cant figure a way to set the receiver for "HD Normal" & "SD Full" by hitting the page down and up buttons on the remote. It seems to only change the HD seetings but not the SD.

I dont want the HD broadcasts to be stretched as it distorts and the HD broadcasts should naturally and normaly fill the screen anyway. So I want those to remain "normal"

How to I do this?

I used to be able to easily change the aspect ratio of the TV (wide mode), but it seems like the 811 "hijacks" the TV so pressing the wide mode button on the actual TV no longer works. Why is it doing this?

I have read the posts, but am still confused.

 

[redline65]

My setup is almost the same as yours, but I have the 46" Sony. Are you connecting with only a DVI or component cable? Or do you also have the S-video output connected to your TV? I've heard some people hook up both, and when they want to view SD programming they change to the S-video input on the TV. I haven't tried it with S-video, but maybe the Sony will remember the wide zoom or zoom mode on the S-video input so you won't have to "change things" every time. The downside is you will have to switch inputs on your TV if you want to watch HD programming.

My Sony doesn't allow me to change the wide mode while receiving an HD signal either. It kind of makes sense though, because if you are receiving a native 16:9 signal, why would you want to zoom? Even when you are on an SD channel your TV is still receiving a 1080i signal from the 811 (if you aren't watching SD content via S-video).

 

[Diamond Dog]

Thanks for the reply.

When I watch SD, I thought its a 4:3 ratio. So I dont understand why I can not change the "wide mode" on my TV when watching SD channels.

Won't those pilar bars eventually "burn in" on a rear projection?

I could have sworn I used to not have to do all this switching and the HD signals would fill the screen (without having to zoom or anything like that) and so did the SD channels (by strectching the image)

 

[peid]

On a 16:9 HD Ready TV, if you have it hooked up by ONLY Component or DVI you shouldn't have any problems. HD stations will be widescreen (normal) while SD stations will be letterboxed (normal) or stretched to fill the screen. Each station has a memory of what it was last time it was viewed.

For instance, if you are watching boxing on Showtime HD and it isn't a widescreen broadcast, you will most likely stretch the picture to fill the screen. Next time you flip to Showtime HD, you may notice the picture is distorted. That is most likely because they are now showing a true widescreen program and you should change back to normal.

I only ever use NORMAL and STRETCHED on my 811 and never touch my aspect ratios on my TV. I let my 811 do everything.

Works out very well actually. You must have something different than I do or I am not understanding your problem, because my setup works beautifully.

 

[redline65]

You can't change the "wide mode" because your TV is still receiving a 1080i signal even when you are watching SD. I guess you could say the SD channels are upconverted to HD, and when the Sony gets an HD signal you can't change the wide mode. But as I said, a way around that would be to watch your SD channels over S-video, so you could still use your wide mode button. I just have the DVI cable hooked up to mine, and when I watch SD channels I change the zoom on the 811 remote to "Partial Zoom", and when I watch HD channels I change it to "Normal". That way I never have the pillar bars on the screen. Since the pillar bars from the 811 are black, I don't think they can "burn in", but I guess over time they could "burn out" (if that's the right term) if you always have a picture displayed in the center but never on the sides.

So basically your options are:
1. Use the format buttons on the 811 remote (page up/down) when going between SD/HD channels.
2. Add an S-video cable and switch inputs on the TV when going between SD/HD channels.

 

[ShadowEKU]

The HD and SD on the screne pertain to the output not the Source. as in the HD output (Component or DVI) and SD output (Composite and Svid)

that said.. change to a HD channel and make sure it says HD:Normal. now Change to a SD channel and change it to say HD:Stretch

Now when you switch back to the HD channel it should say HD:Normal within a second and should look like normal HD

Vice versa for SD. it is confusing but it is labled by output not source.

 

[n0qcu]

Here's how the aspect changes work on the 811. when on an HD channel use the page up button to set the aspect you want. (most likely normal).
Now switch to an SD channel and use the page UP button if you want to stretch the picture to fill your screen.
From this point on all HD channels will be normal and all SD channels will be stretched.
The page up button controls the DVI & comonent outputs.
The page down button controls the s-video and composit outputs.
That is what the HD and SD in the banner are refering to NOT the type of channel you're watching.

 

[ShadowEKU]

Here's how the aspect changes work on the 811. when on an HD channel use the page up button to set the aspect you want. (most likely normal).
Now switch to an SD channel and use the page UP button if you want to stretch the picture to fill your screen.
From this point on all HD channels will be normal and all SD channels will be stretched.
The page up button controls the DVI & comonent outputs.
The page down button controls the s-video and composit outputs.
That is what the HD and SD in the banner are refering to NOT the type of channel you're watching.

Echo...

LOL

 

[redline65]

From this point on all HD channels will be normal and all SD channels will be stretched.

My 811 tends to not do a very good job remembering to stay in Normal mode for the HD channels and partial zoom mode for the SD channels. As someone said previously it is supposed to have memory, but a lot of times my HD channels end up displaying in partial zoom mode and my SD channels end up displaying in Normal mode, even though I set them opposite. I'm forever messing with my picture format.

 

[ShadowEKU]

My 811 tends to not do a very good job remembering to stay in Normal mode for the HD channels and partial zoom mode for the SD channels. As someone said previously it is supposed to have memory, but a lot of times my HD channels end up displaying in partial zoom mode and my SD channels end up displaying in Normal mode, even though I set them opposite. I'm forever messing with my picture format.

In the 6 months I had HD on dish I never had that problem... maybe i was lucky. if you accidentally hit the Star key it would change it on ya too.. FWIW