Stretching lose quality?

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timmer73

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Helo

I just received my 9242 yesterday and they gave me some HD channels free of charge for the first 3 months. I like watching the NG HD channel but what I notice is that most of the programming doesn't fill up the TV.

I have a 42 hitachi. If i press the format button on the remote it will stretch and zoom the channel in but I still loose a little of the picture on the sides.

When I do this zoom, does it affect picture quality. I can't stand watching a program while it is a little box in the middle of the tv. :(

Any suggestions?
 
I have precisely the same problem with the same channel, and it seems that every TV manufacturer formats their zoom/picture mode function differently from the next. My friend's Sony rear projection TV will zoom letterbox movies and programs perfectly, maintaining the aspect ratio while filing the screen with the picture. My Samsung LCD cuts off a small portion of the top and bottom of the picture to fit the width of the program into the screen.

Of course you are going to lose a certain amount of picture quality in the zoom process. You cannot create something from nothing, and by expanding the dots that make up the picture in order to fill the screen you will notice a slight increase in picture blockiness as a result.

My only suggestion is that you either learn to live with the smaller, non-zoomed picture or with the slightly pixelated, zoomed picture.
 
Dont use the BEV remote to do the zoom but rather use the remote for your tv. If there is a just scan option use that. The HD chanells should fill your screen without zoom needed.
 
Please see the following post on Black Bars and the companion piece on stretch modes.

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

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

I watch the HD channels unstretched, no matter what appears, HD, 4:3, or windowboxed. Stretching creates distortion or you can see a lot more of the flaws of the upconverted SD programming. You also may forget to "unstretch" when you go to a real HD programme after watching the upconverted SD one.

If your TV is susceptible to burn in, then you can stretch the SD channels (using partial zoom for example) on BEV STBs and the STB will remember to zoom SD and not zoom HD.

If your TV is not susceptible to burn in, I'd suggest no stretching or zooming for best PQ and no distortion.


Please see the following post, useful for newbies to the site.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=57741
 
Thanks 57 for the the two links you posted. Both threads answered questions I have had for years.
 
I have found that when I have it stretched in SD, and then flip to an HD channel, no matter if the broadcast is letterbox or not, my receiver will switch it back to normal. I don't like the stretching, but there are others in my household who say they feel gypped when 1/3 of the screen is not filled, even though I demonstrate to them that the stretched image is distorted. The psychology of people is amazing to me....
 
Yep, people hate black bars. They want their screens filled, whether it means distortion, or low PQ, or parts of a movie missing (Pan & Scan). Remember though that CRTs and Plasmas require stretching to avoid burn in, unless you view very little SD. I believe the OP has a plasma, since he mentioned a 42" Hitachi.
 
I have a newish LCD, so burn-in is not really an issue.

On another issue, I've not gotten an audio receiver yet, and it seems odd to me that a lot of the SD channels seem much more quiet than the HD channels (I often have to have the volume 90-100% [65-80% is good on HD], whereas when I switch to my DVD player, 50-60% is comfortable). I assume this problem will be mitigated if I get a receiver and use the digital audio port, but it is frustrating nonetheless...
 
Obviously Off Topic for this thread, but there are significant volume differences between various channels. Most people complain of the DD5.1 HD channels having low volume levels on AVRs. If you wish to discuss, please use an existing thread on the topic, or start a new one in an appropriate forum.
 
Often, your TV has better quality components to do this task, but it depends on the model. Try both, use whichever one you feel is better. Personally, I use the receiver to zoom when required and find it works quite well. This way, the guide and other functions are not affected. For some tasks (DVD for instance) I have to use my TV.
 
I have an LCD, and since burn in is not an option, the black bars have stopped annoying me.
I don't zoom non-HD programming.
 
I just watch with the black bars. I have a hitachi Rear projection 57" Burn in hasen't been an issue and I watch a lot of stuff with the black bars. I think the newer model TV's don't have burn-in issues.
 
That is simply not the case. Please read:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=21270
 
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