Upscaled HD Freeview worth it on a 17" WS TV?

Alan Pemberton wrote:
Paul D.Smith wrote:

Doesn't on a Panasonic 4.3 set I have either - you have to switch
between 16:9 and 4:3 manually. Even although an earlier Philips set
I have does this automatically.

That's interesting, you have a 4:3 set that you expect to switch
to/from widescreen? I've never come across that before.

You've come across a second one now because my old 4:3 Fergie does as
well. It also turns itself on out of standby when pin 8 goes high, so
you only really need the stb zapper to work it.

You can add to the list a Philips and a JVC.
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Adrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart
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On 29 Jun, 12:51, "Paul D.Smith" wrote:
"Nigel Whitfield" wrote in message

oups.com...

S video may not carry the SCART signalling, but any video method is
capable of controlling the switching, as long as the box producing the
signal and the display receiving it both understand and correctly
interpret the WSS information on line 23 of the signal.

I can't think of any way in which an S-Video connection would bugger
that up (with the caveat that I've not tried it myself; I use a
component connection, which also carries WSS properly).

So, when programmes like NCIS are broadcast on five, my box (actually
a Toppy PVR) signals that, and the TV switches to 4:3 mode (pillarbox,
black bars either side) automatically.

Not a SCART cable in sight.

OTOH, my Ferguson Freeview box, connected to a widescreen Sanyo TV using
fully wired SCART _doesn't_ switch automatically when NCIS comes on :-(.

Paul Ds

With many sets, apart from various settings on the menus to activate
"auto" etc and to choose your prefered shape for a 4x3 broadcast you
need to do the following to get everything working:

Go to a w/s programme (usually BBC1) and set the TV to "Auto"
Go to a 4x3 channel (often UK History) and set the TV to 4x3 (you can
compromise, if you must,and go for 14x9).
When you go back to BBC1 the TV should auto switch. If you are using a
Sky box, you sometimes need to press TV then SKY to make this happen,
especially with some Sony's.

Also, I agree that TV's should recognise widescreen switching through
"S" and component cables but it is the exception when they do. Most of
the cheaper makes certainly do not.
Incidentally, I find some of the most effective auto format switching
happens with Pioneer Plasmas and some, but not all, Philips models

On 27 Jun, 12:39, Mathew Newton wrote:
I hope you're sitting down as no doubt my apparent ignorance in all of
this could produce dangerous quantities of laughter...

I recently bought a 17" widescreen LCD TV (a Sony MFM-HT75W - Seehttp://tinyurl.com/25y2o8for the Sony page, manual and specs athttp://www.retrevo.com/search?q=Sony+MFM-HT75W) which, at £100 off
eBay, has been a great purchase to replace the 14" CRT in the bedroom.

Whilst I can receive analogue channels, and an analogue Cable/VCR/DVD
feed from downstairs, I am considering purchasing a Freeview box for
it - mainly for the additional channels but also for a true widescreen
source (the non-linear stretching of 4:3 is 'okay').

Despite being an apparently high quality product, with a plethora of
video sockets/connections on the rear - RF, compositie video,
component video, S-Video, analogue VGA and DVI-D - it doesn't have a
simple SCART socket with RGB inputs!

Hence, I've been looking at Freeview receivers with S-Video outputs
(via a SCART if not 4-pin) to get as much out of it as possible given
my options. I then stumbled across some Freeview receivers with
upscaled HDMI output e.g. a cheap (£30) Goodmans at Amazon -
http://tinyurl.com/2swkow.

Just to follow up on this, I scrapped the idea of anything HD-related
as I decided it really wasn't worth it given the screen size and by
all accounts this particular feature in the Goodmans box is somewhat
of a gimmick.

I instead went for a 'standard' Humax STB with an S-Video connection
and results have been excellent. Great picture quality and a 'proper'
widescreen image. I'm not getting automatic switching but I can put up
with this given the advantages of the additional channel choice.

Thanks for all the replies,

Mathew