Wrong aspect ratio on some channels

[nightwingken]

Hi newbie here to the forum.

I am located in PA/Ohio border. I have both Cable and DN.

I first noticed the problem on our local station
WFMJ out of youngstown.

When I look at the cable, the picture is being sent out in widescreen. when i flick it over to dish, the picture is zoomed in to fill up the screen.

It is happening on "Heroes" "Office" the "Templer Knight " flick and then i noticed it happening on KTLA out of LA during "Smallville" & "Supernatural".

I have spent HOURS on the phone with DN. their CSR is clueless.

They told me that the local station must be doing it.

They wanted me to unplug my unit, and do all sorts of things , that were more like voodoo than actual tech support :lol

it seems to be only happening on certain stations

I have a DVR #625 dual unit DP+

I also have 3 other units and it is doing it on all of them. I can litterally toggle back and forth and see the aspect ratio and the blowing up of the picture.

so does anyone have any clue as to what is going on? is it dish, is it the locals in Youngstown and LA?

is it dish, thanks in advance
Ken

 

[garys]

Is the channel from your cable co HD or sd?

 

[nightwingken]

it is sd. crappy old cable

 

[n0qcu]

rather than letterboxing the locals DISH is zooming them (there is nothing you can do about it)

 

[nightwingken]

if that is the case it is wrong , I am getting an altered picture. one of the csr basically said that i am losing nothing of the picture. How come the DN CSR's do not know this is happening?

is there anything we can do to get them to change it?

 

[dishcomm]

if that is the case it is wrong , I am getting an altered picture. one of the csr basically said that i am losing nothing of the picture. How come the DN CSR's do not know this is happening?

is there anything we can do to get them to change it?

No. BTW I have none if these issues here

 

[nightwingken]

can i ask why ?

 

[dishcomm]

can i ask why ?

I think it has to do with the way the program is being sent to you. At times the user must set the screen coverage to accomodate taste.

 

[osu1991]

I record Smallville off of WPIX channel 234 and it is letterboxed like it should be. It appears this may be your locals and KTLA are providing Dish a center cut off of the HD feed. WPIX is the only Sd I record because our CW is a subchannel of our CBS station until it flash cuts to its own digital station on the Feb. 18, so I can't compare anything else. One Tree Hill looks like it is center cut from the HD channel on KTLA right now.

 

[nightwingken]

Thanks guys.


so i called a tech person over at WFMJ in Youngstown.

he says that it is due to something called
"Automatic Format Decscriptor"

Due to the fact that all the less educated amoung us would prefer to see a "full frame"/blown up/cropped version of the picture and have complained, those of us who enjoy seeing the whole picture as it was shot and produced are screwed.

I asked him if it would help if i got an HD reciever, and he said it might possibly not help, if they (DN) do not have an HD Satellite for local channels

so my question is does DN have have an HD Satellite for local channels?

will getting a HD reciever "fix" my problem?

this is driving me crazy

 

[osu1991]

It depends on which locals you receive and if Dish does carry your locals in HD, they could be on Eastern Arc or Western Arc. So you would need to make sure you were set up with the correct Dish. If you can receive the locals with an antenna, then all you need is an hd receiver and the antenna, the 722 would just integrate the locals from the antenna into the guide.

 

[nightwingken]

they would prob not work as far as getting them off air, because they are fuzzy as crap on a regular tv

 

[osu1991]

Maybe, but with digital you either get them or you won't. You may have enough signal to get a reliable lock or you may have a pixelated mess.

 

[TNGTony]

The HD/Digital tuners inside the 612, 211, 622 and 722 receivers are generally pretty darned good. With a decent antenna (even a good pair of amplified rabbit ears) you should be able to get all your local channels and then some.

As posted above, with digital TV you either get it perfectly or you don't. The counterintuitive thing about digital TV is that "too much" signal is just as bad as not enough. Multi-phasing (ghosting) will kill the signal completely on a digital tuner. Some times putting the rabbit ears DOWN will allow you to get that elusive channel.

See ya
Tony

 

[nightwingken]

well I called New York, and they told me it is the local affiliate

the guy at the local affiliate says its new york and DN csr's know nothing at all

 

[probinson]

Youngstown, OH locals are not available in HD on Dish, and I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for them.

I'm also on the PA/OH border, and I can pick up WYTV (33), WFMJ (21), WKBN (27), WNEO (45) and all of their sub-channels with a homemade antenna that's sitting in my attic that I made out of plywood, copper wire, cardboard and tin-foil;

That's sitting in my attic, and it's plugged into a cheap little amplifier that I picked up at Wal-Mart before going into my ViP622. Total cost for the whole setup was under $20.00 (and 2 hours of my time, building the antenna).

Works like a champ for me.

 

[osu1991]

nice work!

 

[dishcomm]

Thanks guys.


so i called a tech person over at WFMJ in Youngstown.

he says that it is due to something called
"Automatic Format Decscriptor"

Due to the fact that all the less educated amoung us would prefer to see a "full frame"/blown up/cropped version of the picture and have complained, those of us who enjoy seeing the whole picture as it was shot and produced are screwed.

I asked him if it would help if i got an HD reciever, and he said it might possibly not help, if they (DN) do not have an HD Satellite for local channels

so my question is does DN have have an HD Satellite for local channels?

will getting a HD reciever "fix" my problem?

this is driving me crazy

This is not a Dish problem. The recoiver can only show you what it is getting.
I donl;t understand what it is you want? Do you want full screen or letterbox or what?.
With all do respect it looks like you are being a bit high maintenence. Please keep in mind that with the new technology, nothing will be perfect. Perfect is an unreasonable expectation.
I would imagine that as technology in equipment at the broadcast site, the satellite equipment and tv's will advance along far enough to eliminate any annoyances however small. Until then some people will be unhappy.
In my experience there are shows on local chs that are in full blown up screen, while others are shown as they are shot and the screen is not full. It is what it is.
In conclusion, I do not see how it is you are "screwed".

 

[dishcomm]

Youngstown, OH locals are not available in HD on Dish, and I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for them.

I'm also on the PA/OH border, and I can pick up WYTV (33), WFMJ (21), WKBN (27), WNEO (45) and all of their sub-channels with a homemade antenna that's sitting in my attic that I made out of plywood, copper wire, cardboard and tin-foil;

That's sitting in my attic, and it's plugged into a cheap little amplifier that I picked up at Wal-Mart before going into my ViP622. Total cost for the whole setup was under $20.00 (and 2 hours of my time, building the antenna).

Works like a champ for me.

Nicely done!
Probably gets every bit as good a recpetion as the 8 bay antenna that retails for probably thrice what you spent.

 

[nightwingken]

excellent homemade anntenna probinson ..cool job and photo