Thread: Change to HD Signal or my TV? (Stretching)

This may sound like a crazy question, but has anybody else found an issue with Bell's HD channels since yesterday afternoon?

I noticed late last night that my HD channels are no longer filling my HDTV. Some channels are better than others, and some show letterboxed, but others like OASIS, TREASURE, HDNET always show programs that are full HD and used to fill the entire screen.

I have checked all of the channels, looking specifically for HD shows, to see if it was limited to the shows that just happened to be airing. It seems to be TOO much of a coincidence that no matter what HD channel I switch to, I see it in letterbox. OASIS, TREASURE, M-HD, all of them... I am using the HDMI, btw.

I've changed nothing on my TV, or on my receiver (9242). If I use the "stretch" on the HD channel, it fills, but is then not in the proper ratio.

Am I crazy here?

You don't mention the make/model of your HDTV, however it also has some stretch modes and you'll want to be sure that the HDTV and the STB are not "fighting" each other.

The STB should be set on "normal" for HD channels and normal for SD channels if you don't want them stretched. If you want the SD channels stretched use stretch or partial zoom. The STB remembers the stretch mode for SD vs HD channels. I do not recommend stretching HD channels since people often forget and then miss 33% of the programme when they switch to a true HD programme.

See: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=76089 Black Bars

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=76074 Stretch Modes.

Make sure that the output format from the STB is set to 720P as this will (usually, automatically) force the TV into "Full/16:9" mode, appropriate for viewing signals from the BTV HD STBs.

In addiiton to 57's links, check the aspect output by the receiver. Press "cancel" and you should see "normal" in the upper left. To cycle through the various modes just press "*", it's easy to hit it by accident and that may be what happened to you.

I can confirm that behavior change. I have a new TV (52LG70) for just a week and had the "Picture" set to "set by program" and had full picture until at 4:40 PM EST when the picture
went from "full screen" to "4:3" I've set the "picture" to "16:9" and am back to full screen mode.

As an aside, I had to turn off the tru-Motion setting for the TV. Programs looked like they were shot by a handy-cam, really weird.

randydodge Are you using HDMI?

There was a recent firmware change and this may impact how the STB performs and settings on the TV and/or STB may need to be checked/put back the way they were.

yes, HDMI from the 9200 to TV. There have been a number of glitches with my setup over the past few weeks. The EPG problem last weekend caused me some concern on the first night I was setting up the new TV but I knew enough to check on this forum first and saw that lots of people were having problems.

I'm having extreme rain fade these days on 91 to the point where I'm looking for a bigger
dish. I use a dual dish setup, one for 82 and one for 91. Am getting excellent signal on 82, even better with the new satellite. But I find that with even a little rain, 91 signal fades
greatly and the 9200 does really weird things when the signal fades.

The HDMI connection is two way and sometimes allows for changing settings in the STB or the TV. Recent firmware from *C (and possibly Shaw) has caused such issues as the STB changing its output format, or impacted TV settings. This is one of the things I dislike about HDMI - when working properly, everything can be fine, but the "handshake" can also be a source of screwups where people's equipment doesn't work the way they want. The workaround is to go to component video if necessary:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=71112

I have an Emerson 32" HDTV, and up until a day or so ago, all was well.

It is connected from my 9242 with HDMI as my component is coming off my HTPC (for movies).

I just switched the satellite input over to component, and the picture is still the same. It is not being stretched, it is being "squashed" down. The picture is full width, but with black bars at the top and bottom, like I was watching a letterbox movie on an SD TV.

The aspect from the stb is showing "normal"... I've hit that before so that was the first thing I checked. Second was the screen mode on the TV. Both are set correctly. The easiest way that identified that this isn't a setup problem is when I hit "SELECT" on my remote, and the channel banner comes up at the top. If there was something amiss with the ratio (set to stretch, zoom, etc...) then that would be off the screen (or somewhere else). It isn't. It's right at the top, where it should be, and the picture starts down lower.

I am more prone to believe that this is something that Bell is doing...

My current software is V183.

This is not enjoyable.... anyone??

I just checked my 9200 connected to an LG 42" plasma.

Equator and HDNET looked normal in HDMI and Component. No squishing, no bars.... I did a quick flip through a few of the other HD channels and didn't see anything out of the normal.

can3gxw A couple of things to check.

Do a reboot of the STB (turn off, unplug, wait 15 seconds, replug) to see if that cures things (it often does).

Check that you're outputting 720P from the STB. (Setup menu)

Make sure your TV is on the correct input. Sometimes people connect an SD connection like RF-coax or S-video as a "backup" and accidentally tune to that input instead of the HD one. (I guess this is unlikely since you tried component)

Unplug the TV for a while to reset it. You didn't supply the model number of the TV....