Another TV question-- can't get widescreen

[Black]

Friend has a Toshiba TV, maybe this one:

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=210933139&listingid=57925897

And most of the channels display in (whatever the traditional aspect ratio was, maybe 4:3) leaving large black areas at both sides.
He seemed to think it was the HD channels only, although it seemed to me like it was all of them. He has Comcast cable, as well as a DVR (I don't know too much about them).
Tried all the menus but couldn't find a place to adjust aspect ratio expecpt one place that had a setting between auto and manual-- it was already on auto and toggling didn't change anything.

Maybe this is a common occurrence and someone knows a fix?

Not much experience with recent TVs here . . .

[davester]

Most TVs have a setting for this in the initial setup menu. Perhaps you didn't find it. Sounds like you need to RTFM. If he doesn't have one then you can probably download it from the toshiba site. Also, how does he have the cable and DVR plugged into the TV. If he's not using HDMI or component (not composite) cables then the quality will be poor and the picture could well default to 4:3.

[deckeda]

My dad has satellite, not cable, but his box has a setup screen that tells the box what kind of TV it's sending the signal to. Something like "choose the highest resolution your TV is capable of displaying ...)

Have your friend check his cable box for something similar.

[~Dan]

On Toshibas there is a button labeled 'Pic Size' (top row, second from left) which allows you to modify the manner in which you choose to see the video displayed.

0 - Natural
1 - Theaterwide 1
2 - Theaterwide 2
3 - Theaterwide 3
4 - Full
5 - 4:3 HD
6 - Native

You can choose to display video in any of the modes that aren't 'grayed out', but display quality varies according to whatever source is being inputted.

[datbeme]

Black, maybe I just don't understand your question, but it's hard to say from the information given. It's been awhile since I've had Comcast, but my first question would be whether his DVR is HD. My next question would involve the specifics of what channels he's watching, whether the broadcasts are supposed to be in HD, and how it is all connected to his TV. Are all broadcasts being displayed at 4:3 or just the standard def broadcasts? Is there undesired vertical or horizontal squishing? For what types of material?

[N-OS X-tasy!]

My experience is that source material with an original aspect ratio (OAR) of 4:3 that is broadcast in HD will not scale to fill the screen.

An HD signal must be encoded at one of two predefined resolutions (720 or 1040). When 4:3 OAR material (that is, by design, at a lower resolution than either of the two used for HDTV) is encoded for HD broadcast, black bars are added on the side prior to encoding; the bars become part of the encoded signal. When the TV shows the bars, it is faithfully decoding the signal as it was broadcast.

[Black]

Thanks, everyone.
Unfortunately no way to test anything tonight, but next time I have a shot I will see if I can figure out how it's all connected etc.
~Dan, I found that menu, but nothing selected changed anything.

[onthedownlow]

What Dan said. I have one of these - use the 'Pic Size' button at the top left (second button from left) of the remote and cycle through the options and keep it on the one that appeals to him.

[Doc]

> And most of the channels display in (whatever the traditional
> aspect ratio was, maybe 4:3) leaving large black areas at both
> sides.

If it's most channels and not all then odds are that he's looking at the true picture.

Most tv programming is still in 4:3.

If he's one of those people who wants the image to fill the screen regardless of the correct aspect ratio then -- assuming that's the correct tv -- he should set the auto aspect ratio setting to "off" and then go to the "picture size" setting and choose one of the "TheaterWide" settings to stretch the image to fill the screen.

[Black]

Doc wrote:
> And most of the channels display in (whatever the traditional
> aspect ratio was, maybe 4:3) leaving large black areas at both
> sides.

If it's most channels and not all then odds are that he's looking at the true picture.

Most tv programming is still in 4:3.

If he's one of those people who wants the image to fill the screen regardless of the correct aspect ratio then -- assuming that's the correct tv -- he should set the auto aspect ratio setting to "off" and then go to the "picture size" setting and choose one of the "TheaterWide" settings to stretch the image to fill the screen.

For whatever reason those setings didn't change everything.
My EyeTVs have made me acutely aware of which channels are HD as the window automatically resizes when you channel surf, and he was getting the 4:3 on a station that's always HD. Although according to what non-~Dan wrote there could be some 'true' image size that it's sensing . . .?