Aspect ratio

On certain channels part of captions on the left hand side of the screen are
missing. I assume that the same happens with the other side of the screen.
I've also noticed that the image on the screen shrinks / enlarges on going
into /out of commercial breaks.

Can anything be done to remedy this please?

Thanks.

Bill R

On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:21:32 -0000, "Bill R"
wrote:

On certain channels part of captions on the left hand side of the screen are
missing. I assume that the same happens with the other side of the screen.
I've also noticed that the image on the screen shrinks / enlarges on going
into /out of commercial breaks.

Can anything be done to remedy this please?

Thanks.

Bill R

I think your TV is automatically switching between full screen and
panoramic mode. If this bothers you can you change the setting to
full screen rather than auto?

Bill R wrote:

On certain channels part of captions on the left hand side of the screen are
missing. I assume that the same happens with the other side of the screen.
I've also noticed that the image on the screen shrinks / enlarges on going
into /out of commercial breaks.

Can anything be done to remedy this please?

It depends how tolerant you are of black bars.

Get a 16:9 telly and turn off any "stretchyvision" modes, watch legacy
4:3 programs with sidebars.

On a 4:3 telly watch 16:9 as letterbox with top and bottom bars. Again
turn off, if possible, any "stretchyvision" modes.

It maybe necessary to modify a scart lead (pin 8) in order to stop the
auto format switching.
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

"Bill R" wrote in message
...
On certain channels part of captions on the left hand side of the screen
are missing. I assume that the same happens with the other side of the
screen. I've also noticed that the image on the screen shrinks / enlarges
on going into /out of commercial breaks.

Can anything be done to remedy this please?

What TV do you have , what sources are you using and how are they connected?

As the others have said , you seem to be having an issue with the wrong
aspect ratio being applied to the picture.

One other possibility is that there's a bit too much overscan going on.

It's quite common for the picture to be stretched a little bit to ensure it
fills the screen (more so on CRTs) but if that is set too high then you will
lose a bit of the subtitles.
You usually need to get into the service menu to adjust this.

--
Alex

"Bill R" wrote in message
...
On certain channels part of captions on the left hand side of the screen
are missing. I assume that the same happens with the other side of the
screen. I've also noticed that the image on the screen shrinks / enlarges
on going into /out of commercial breaks.

Can anything be done to remedy this please?

If you have a box feeding the TV, it might be worth checking the output
aspect matches the TV, eg. both are 4:3 or both 16:9.

Don't know if that is the cause here; TVs themselves also have a host of
zoom modes, most of which apply their own distortions to the picture. (And
some STBs -- Freeview, DVD, PVR, etc -- also have a choice of Letterbox, 4:3
P&S and so on.)

And as you say, commercials typically switch any 4:3 program into 16:9
during the break. The TV should take care of this, but everyone seems to
like 4:3 shows stretched out on their screens, so that everything looks fat,
so it's anyone's guess what happens during a commercial.

In short, aspect handling on TVs is in a complete mess at the moment. Even
if you tweak it just right, if you switch channels then back again, you
might have to do it again!

To see what's going on, it might be helpful to use a test card. You can try
googling for "hidden freeview test card", which may come up with something
like this:

http://www.techwatch.co.uk/forums/25...-testcard.html

"You can display the test card on any reasonably new Freeview receiver
using the following steps. Note that some older set top boxes do not
fully conform with the specifications and may be unable to access this
service.

1. Tune to the BBCi channel (currently ch. 105)
2. When the BBCi background appears, press Yellow (within 30 secs)
3. Tune away to a different channel
4. Tune back to the BBCi channel (currently ch. 105)
5. When the BBCi background appears, press Green (within 30 secs)
The word 'Secret' will appear in the top right hand corner
6. Wait until the status page appears
7. Enter 3, 3, 5, 8, 2, Red, Green, Yellow, Blue
(note "33582" spells out the word "DELTA" on a mobile phone keypad)
8. Wait approximately 30 seconds
Test card will appear"

Haven't tried this one though; I remember having some trouble with getting
the test card to work.

--
Bartc

"Bill R" wrote in message ...
On certain channels part of captions on the left hand side of the screen are missing. I assume that the same happens with the
other side of the screen. I've also noticed that the image on the screen shrinks / enlarges on going into /out of commercial
breaks.

Can anything be done to remedy this please?

Thanks.

Bill R

Sounds perfectly normal, dependent on the settings.
How do you want the set to behave?
A purist such as myself would want the picture displayed in its
native aspect ratio, so 4:3 material would be pillarboxed.
Most people in my experience want the screen to be filled regardless,
and your set might have more than one means of doing so, all of them
however will, and must be a compromise.

--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

Can you let us know what TV it is and, if you have a seperate Sky
box / Freeview box / Freesat box / PVR, what it is?
I would not suggest cutting the pin 8 wire in the scart to stop this
as you would lose auto source switching as well, and almost always you
can configure the set up to work correctly with auto aspect switching
doing what it should.

This may seem a silly suggestion but if all programming s soon to be wide
screen, why dont they send older 4/3 as wide screen and just fill out the
dark areas with low key colour, or in the case of Ch 5 a health warning.
Mind you it would make a great advertising opportunity.

Brian

--
Brian Gaff -
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"bartc" wrote in message
m...

"Bill R" wrote in message
...
On certain channels part of captions on the left hand side of the screen
are missing. I assume that the same happens with the other side of the
screen. I've also noticed that the image on the screen shrinks / enlarges
on going into /out of commercial breaks.

Can anything be done to remedy this please?

If you have a box feeding the TV, it might be worth checking the output
aspect matches the TV, eg. both are 4:3 or both 16:9.

Don't know if that is the cause here; TVs themselves also have a host of
zoom modes, most of which apply their own distortions to the picture. (And
some STBs -- Freeview, DVD, PVR, etc -- also have a choice of Letterbox,
4:3
P&S and so on.)

And as you say, commercials typically switch any 4:3 program into 16:9
during the break. The TV should take care of this, but everyone seems to
like 4:3 shows stretched out on their screens, so that everything looks
fat,
so it's anyone's guess what happens during a commercial.

In short, aspect handling on TVs is in a complete mess at the moment. Even
if you tweak it just right, if you switch channels then back again, you
might have to do it again!

To see what's going on, it might be helpful to use a test card. You can
try
googling for "hidden freeview test card", which may come up with something
like this:

http://www.techwatch.co.uk/forums/25...-testcard.html

"You can display the test card on any reasonably new Freeview receiver
using the following steps. Note that some older set top boxes do not
fully conform with the specifications and may be unable to access this
service.

1. Tune to the BBCi channel (currently ch. 105)
2. When the BBCi background appears, press Yellow (within 30 secs)
3. Tune away to a different channel
4. Tune back to the BBCi channel (currently ch. 105)
5. When the BBCi background appears, press Green (within 30 secs)
The word 'Secret' will appear in the top right hand corner
6. Wait until the status page appears
7. Enter 3, 3, 5, 8, 2, Red, Green, Yellow, Blue
(note "33582" spells out the word "DELTA" on a mobile phone keypad)
8. Wait approximately 30 seconds
Test card will appear"

Haven't tried this one though; I remember having some trouble with getting
the test card to work.

--
Bartc

"Brian Gaff" writes:

This may seem a silly suggestion but if all programming s soon to be wide
screen, why dont they send older 4/3 as wide screen and just fill out the
dark areas with low key colour, or in the case of Ch 5 a health warning.
Mind you it would make a great advertising opportunity.

Maybe because it would not display at all well on an (older) 4/3 TV
set. While all the programming may be going widescreen, many people
still use 4/3 TV sets.

"widgitt" wrote in message
...
Can you let us know what TV it is and, if you have a seperate Sky
box / Freeview box / Freesat box / PVR, what it is?
I would not suggest cutting the pin 8 wire in the scart to stop this
as you would lose auto source switching as well, and almost always you
can configure the set up to work correctly with auto aspect switching
doing what it should.

Thanks.
The Television is a JVC model AV28WT5EK fed from an analogue General
Instrument CATV Converter box. The feed comes from Virgin Media via a
co-axial cable not a SCART although the TV and video recorder are connected
by SCART.

Bill R.