# R22 16:9 4:3 issue?



## FlyingmWY (Jul 12, 2006)

I just ran out and bought a R22 from Best Buy. I can't wait for new software updates for the new features. In the mean time I have a question.

I hav a 2003 Hitachi rear projection TV. The tv is 53" and 16:9. While going through guided setup it asked about the tv and I selected 16:9. When it booted I had the grey bars with no way to change them. After downloading a new version of software ox231c (I believe). I could go into menu under hdtv and the only non grey selection was the tab for changing from 4:3 or 16:9.

So the question is when I selected 4:3 the grey bars are gone and I con use the tv to fill, strech, and letterbox. If I select 16:9 I get grey bars and my tv will not change. Is this correct?


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## zuf (May 25, 2007)

That is correct. In some areas the SD locals are down-res'd versions of the HD 16:9 signal. In that case the 16:9 option makes a difference, but only for those locals. For the rest of DIRECTVs national SD programming, you will get grey bars when set to 16:9.


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## FlyingmWY (Jul 12, 2006)

Thank you very much. Now if it would just update some software for new features!


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## denvertrakker (Feb 6, 2009)

I have an R22, non-HD, connected to a Samsung DLP which gives me several display options. I've noticed since the switch from analog to digital that my locals are now mostly 16:9 but I'm only getting the center of the picture. This is most apparent when the credits on either side are cut off. I've tried various combinations (R22 set to 4:3, R22 set to 16:9, Samsung set to each of the above plus panorama, zoom, etc.) and I still am not getting the full picture. Any way to do this short of paying for HD? I don't really care about the increased resolution, but I do care about losing 2/5 of the picture!


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## dodge boy (Mar 31, 2006)

If you have the latest software and add HD Access to your account the R22 will turn into an HD DVR....


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## denvertrakker (Feb 6, 2009)

Yeah, but I don't want HD...not for now, anyway.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

denvertrakker said:


> I have an R22, non-HD, connected to a Samsung DLP which gives me several display options. I've noticed since the switch from analog to digital that my locals are now mostly 16:9 but I'm only getting the center of the picture. This is most apparent when the credits on either side are cut off. I've tried various combinations (R22 set to 4:3, R22 set to 16:9, Samsung set to each of the above plus panorama, zoom, etc.) and I still am not getting the full picture. Any way to do this short of paying for HD? I don't really care about the increased resolution, but I do care about losing 2/5 of the picture!


Verify that it is actually the receiver and not the channel. I found that when I watch ABC, the show titles and credit routinely get cut off no matter what format I put the picture in when using my R22-100 on an HD-ready TV in SD format. I went to my R15-300 and found the same issue existed. It was the channel and not the receiver.

- Merg


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## dodge boy (Mar 31, 2006)

denvertrakker said:


> Yeah, but I don't want HD...not for now, anyway.


add HD, make the changes you want then cancel HD and see if they "stick",
IE. Black bars instead of grey..... :lol:


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## denvertrakker (Feb 6, 2009)

The Merg said:


> Verify that it is actually the receiver and not the channel. I found that when I watch ABC, the show titles and credit routinely get cut off no matter what format I put the picture in when using my R22-100 on an HD-ready TV in SD format. I went to my R15-300 and found the same issue existed. It was the channel and not the receiver.
> 
> - Merg


Bingo. That's exactly the situation. When I'm watching channels such as TNT, Bravo, or even my local PBS station, I get a letterboxed 16:9 picture that I can zoom on the Samsung to get a full 16:9 picture. But on my locals, 4, 7, 9, I'm only getting the center part of the picture. So, what's the solution - short of getting HD?

And, BTW, it's not the measly 10 bucks a month that's stopping me - it's going from 150+ hours of record time to 50 hours!


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

denvertrakker said:


> Yeah, but I don't want HD...not for now, anyway.


Set your R22 to 4:3.

The MPEG2 SD feeds of local channels are now set to "cropped" at DirecTV. In other words, they appear with NO bars and NO distortion when viewed on a SD TV set, but the picture information is cut off if the station is transmitting a 16:9 show. Also, you will not see the familiar bars added by the local station when they are showing a 4:3 program.

The local stations run their transmitters at 16:9 all the time so DirecTV had to choose the least-offensive formatting option for their SD customers. "Bars" and picture distortion were ruled out in favor of chopping off a little picture info during a 16:9 broadcast.

If you don't like the black bars on your HDTV, the TV set itself usually has a number of options for "stretching" the picture to fill the screen. My Toshiba HDTV has a really clever scheme that only stretches the sides of the picture while keeping the center of the picture distortion-free.


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## denvertrakker (Feb 6, 2009)

ThomasM said:


> Set your R22 to 4:3.
> 
> ...If you don't like the black bars on your HDTV, the TV set itself usually has a number of options for "stretching" the picture to fill the screen. My Toshiba HDTV has a really clever scheme that only stretches the sides of the picture while keeping the center of the picture distortion-free.


4:3 is where it's been set all along. The problem is not the black bars, it's the loss of picture information. Back when the locals were broadcasting in SD and HD, my locals were fine with 4:3. Now that the changeover has occured, I guess I'm stuck with loss of the sides.

My Samsung does the same thing as your Toshiba; it's called "panorama", and I find it bizarre. I bought a DLP specifically because I knew I'd be doing a lot of viewing in 4:3 and didn't want to deal with burn-in. I guess I'l have to live with the locals as they are now, and upgrade to an HR23 down the road...<sigh>:nono2:


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## rmbausa (Jun 15, 2009)

I have an older Samsung Directv DVR. I am going to replace it with an HD23. I want to save what is recorded on it. Do I have to save it to DVDs, a long process, or is it possible to attach the Samsung DVR to a TV, without being conntected to Directv satellite dish, and use it to watch what is recorded on it.
I know an odd (and perhaps dumb) question, but it is something I never thought about before.

Thanks.


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

FlyingmWY said:


> I just ran out and bought a R22 from Best Buy. I can't wait for new software updates for the new features. In the mean time I have a question.
> 
> I hav a 2003 Hitachi rear projection TV. The tv is 53" and 16:9. While going through guided setup it asked about the tv and I selected 16:9. When it booted I had the grey bars with no way to change them. After downloading a new version of software ox231c (I believe). I could go into menu under hdtv and the only non grey selection was the tab for changing from 4:3 or 16:9.
> 
> So the question is when I selected 4:3 the grey bars are gone and I con use the tv to fill, strech, and letterbox. If I select 16:9 I get grey bars and my tv will not change. Is this correct?





zuf said:


> That is correct. In some areas the SD locals are down-res'd versions of the HD 16:9 signal. In that case the 16:9 option makes a difference, but only for those locals. For the rest of DIRECTVs national SD programming, you will get grey bars when set to 16:9.


Little confused reading this here;

On the most recent pre-0x034C firmware release for the R22 when you say that for an HDTV (16:9 of course) you get the gray matte bars on the receiver's 16:9 setting, I assume you obviously mean in the pillars bars of down-rezz'ed HD locals when broadcasting up-converted SD material or on the DirecTV 4:3 SD nationals?

And when using the R22's 4:3 setting on an HDTV (colorfully called "lying to the receiver" sometimes) when you say "the gray bars disappear," do you mean that it now appears as a "window-box" display with black matte bars on all borders for any downrezz'ed HD locals to which you may now zoom, stretch, etc.?


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

HoTat2 said:


> Little confused reading this here;
> 
> On the most recent pre-0x034C firmware release for the R22 when you say that for an HDTV (16:9 of course) you get the gray matte bars on the receiver's 16:9 setting, I assume you obviously mean in the pillars bars of down-rezz'ed HD locals when broadcasting up-converted SD material or on the DirecTV 4:3 SD nationals?
> 
> And when using the R22's 4:3 setting on an HDTV (colorfully called "lying to the receiver" sometimes) when you say "the gray bars disappear," do you mean that it now appears as a "window-box" display with black matte bars on all borders for any downrezz'ed HD locals to which you may now zoom, stretch, etc.?


I have an R22 hooked up to an HDTV, but only have SD service. If I set the resolution on the R22 to 16:9, the picture has the gray bars on the side. If I set the resolution to 4:3, the picture is stretched to fill my entire screen and there are no gray bars. It does not matter what channel I am viewing (locals, cable channels).

As I stated though, when watching ABC it appears as if some of the picture has been cropped. It does not matter if I have the R22 set at 16:9 or 4:3 or if I view it on my R15.

- Merg


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

The Merg said:


> I have an R22 hooked up to an HDTV, but only have SD service. If I set the resolution on the R22 to 16:9, the picture has the gray bars on the side. If I set the resolution to 4:3, the picture is stretched to fill my entire screen and there are no gray bars. It does not matter what channel I am viewing (locals, cable channels).
> 
> As I stated though, when watching ABC it appears as if some of the picture has been cropped. It does not matter if I have the R22 set at 16:9 or 4:3 or if I view it on my R15.
> 
> - Merg


Is that the R22 automatically stretching the image when the receiver is set for 4:3 or the way you have your HDTV set for? And what type of LiLs do you have. From 4:3 Ku or down-rezz'ed HD locals from Ka?


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## FlyingmWY (Jul 12, 2006)

I have the exact same setup as Merg. I have SD only, and I receive no locals. When the receiver is set under the HD tab in setup to 16:9, I get grey pillar bars. These bars are there all the time. My TV can fill. stretch, smooth wide etc, it will change the picture, but inside of the grey pillars.

When the receiver is set to 4:3, the pillar bars go away, and I can stretch, fill, crop etc the entire screen with the TV settings. I have not noticed any missing picture as I do not have locals. I am grandfathered in and receive locals from LA and NY. I will have to pay attention and see if these channels are missing some picture.

My original question was that it seemed odd to be set at 16:9 and have the bars, vs not having them when set to 4:3.


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## FlyingmWY (Jul 12, 2006)

I also just changed from an R15 to the R22. I saw no difference whatsoever on the R15 no matter if I chose 4:3 or 16:9.


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

FlyingmWY said:


> I have the exact same setup as Merg. I have SD only, and I receive no locals. When the receiver is set under the HD tab in setup to 16:9, I get grey pillar bars. These bars are there all the time. My TV can fill. stretch, smooth wide etc, it will change the picture, but inside of the grey pillars.
> 
> When the receiver is set to 4:3, the pillar bars go away, and I can stretch, fill, crop etc the entire screen with the TV settings. I have not noticed any missing picture as I do not have locals. I am grandfathered in and receive locals from LA and NY. I will have to pay attention and see if these channels are missing some picture.
> 
> My original question was that it seemed odd to be set at 16:9 and have the bars, vs not having them when set to 4:3.


OK;

I understand now, and I agree it is weird that even the TV controls have no effect on the gray matte bars generated by the R22 when on the 16:9 setting. While on 4:3 the R22 is obviously not producing any matte bars so the TV is generating the standard black matte ones to which you can manipulate with the set's controls.

I'm still curious though how the R22 without HD enabled displays HD down'rezz'ed LiL channels in those markets though.



FlyingmWY said:


> I also just changed from an R15 to the R22. I saw no difference whatsoever on the R15 no matter if I chose 4:3 or 16:9.


Yeah, but that's to be expected;

The R15's 16:9 setting is only for when DirecTV is sending a 16:9 squeezed or anamorphic picture and then properly sets the anamorphic flag in the channel's MPEG data stream telling the receiver the stretch the image if set to 16:9 for wide screen TVs or letter-box it if set to 4:3 for standard 4:3 TVs.

DirecTv rarely telecast anamorphic programs however.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

HoTat2 said:


> Is that the R22 automatically stretching the image when the receiver is set for 4:3 or the way you have your HDTV set for? And what type of LiLs do you have. From 4:3 Ku or down-rezz'ed HD locals from Ka?


Not sure how my LiLs are broadcast. I receive them from the DC area, so I know I'm not in one of the MPEG4 local markets. As for my TV, the way I described it is if the formatting on the TV is set for Normal. Under 16:9 I get the gray bars, while under 4:3 it stretches it to fill the full screen.

If I have it in 16:9 and change the formatting, it still keeps the gray bars and changes the format within the pillars. If I have it in 4:3, I can change the formatting and it is always stretched to fill the screen (along with the format I have it in, such as cropped, zoom, etc.).

As I stated, the only channel that appears to be cropped no matter what resolution I use or format I am in is ABC. And the cropping also occurs on my R15, which is connected via S-Video so there is no way to set formatting on that TV, which is an SDTV anyways.

- Merg


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