# HD picture does not fill screen?



## ckendall (Dec 10, 2004)

This seems to have been happening to me lately. 

I am not getting a "normal" full screen (16x9) on my plasma with some HD OTA or Satellite or SD letterbox pay per view broadcasts. I have tried rebooting, switching between 1080, 720, 480 etc. I have to use zoom to get the full screen but the picture sucks. It's an intermittent problem and sometimes it switches in broadcast. Is this a bug.


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## Grandude (Oct 21, 2004)

I've had the same thing happen a few times lately. Happened last night while watching a network show in HD. Only this time I was using my cable connection so suspect that it is a network problem and not hardware on our end.


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## WildBill (Dec 8, 2004)

I've had this happen 3 times since L270 as well (never had it happen before), and it was definitely a receiver problem, since all channels were affected and the show I was recording at the time looked normal when played back after re-booting. I call this "stuck in shrunk" mode. Just as in "stuck in stretch" mode, the format button does not work. I've tried switching channels back and forth as well as turning the power off and on, but nothing short of a soft reboot seems to help. Don't know if there is a specific set of events that triggers it. Seems like in each case I was recording something while watching and erasing other recorded programs. Wish I could roll back to L218!


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## ckendall (Dec 10, 2004)

Rebooting did not fix this for me. But on a recorded ER the other night, it spontaneously switched back to the full screen 2/3 of the way thru the program. However an HD PBS program was stuck in shrunk mode for the duration of the program. 

When this happens, I can switch between zoom, normal and stretch but the normal HD mode stays "stuck in shrunk". Perhaps this is a bug we should better document?


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## WildBill (Dec 8, 2004)

Just re-read the "data collection: Stuck Aspect Ratio" thread. http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=41905
Found the "stuck in shrunk" problem referred to as "HD squeeze", so it has been around for a while. It is not clear to me whether "stuck in stretch", "stuck in zoom", "stuck in shrunk", and "freeze up" are all variations of the same fundamental problem or completely different bugs. There are so many variations of screen size, output, and dvr usage that it is difficult to detect any reliable pattern.

The problem is that those of us without photographic memories can't recall with accuracy the last 10 or 20 actions we took prior to the SAR hitting. So unless the bug is something that can be detected by studying the code, people may have to keep track of every key press they make while viewing to pin this thing down.


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## BobMinn (Jul 1, 2005)

I have noticed recently that the HD picture using the DVI input is not as tall as the same HD program displayed in the SD mode. In other words it is cropped or truncated so the tops of heads are sometimes cut short in HD. I'd say that the lost height is on the order of 10-15% of the picture. I am using a 4 by 3 display so it isn't the tv causing the problem (there is black space above and below the picture).

Using the stretch mode slightly increases the total height but does not recover the cropped parts of the picture.

Bobminn


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## jergenf (Mar 31, 2005)

Something you should understand about HD is although all HD is 16:9 format the *actual program can be in any aspect ratio*. When this occurs it is the *station that is providing* side bars and/or letterbox so it is not a mistake with your equipment.
You *may try "Zoom mode"* if you have black bars *both* up/down and left/right otherwise leave it in "Normal mode".

However if you heard of the infamous stretch bug there also exists the opposite condition where 16:9 is squeezed into 4:3 format. You'll notice this by seeing characters vertically stretched (or horizontal squeezed). If this is what you're referring to then a reboot should fix it.


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## BobMinn (Jul 1, 2005)

jergenf said:


> Something you should understand about HD is although all HD is 16:9 format the *actual program can be in any aspect ratio*. When this occurs it is the *station that is providing* side bars and/or letterbox so it is not a mistake with your equipment.
> You *may try "Zoom mode"* if you have black bars *both* up/down and left/right otherwise leave it in "Normal mode".
> 
> However if you heard of the infamous stretch bug there also exists the opposite condition where 16:9 is squeezed into 4:3 format. You'll notice this by seeing characters vertically stretched (or horizontal squeezed). If this is what you're referring to then a reboot should fix it.


I understand that it is normal to have black areas above and below a 16x9 picture on a 4x3 screen and that the shape will vary with the program material's format.

What I see is that part of the picture is missing on the top and bottom in HD as compared with the same program seen in the SD mode (also letterbox shaped).

It appears that the 921 is not showing all of the original picture in HD. It is obvious on the Conan Obrien show when some of his hair is cut off in HD. Of course he can afford to loose some!

Bobminn


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

BobMinn said:


> I understand that it is normal to have black areas above and below a 16x9 picture on a 4x3 screen and that the shape will vary with the program material's format.
> 
> What I see is that part of the picture is missing on the top and bottom in HD as compared with the same program seen in the SD mode (also letterbox shaped).
> 
> ...


I think it's just the nature of the HD beast. Just compare a movie that is Full Screen with a movie that is Wide Screen. Often times a little of the top or bottom is cut off with the Wide Screen. I don't like this in some instances that I've observed.


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## jergenf (Mar 31, 2005)

BobMinn said:


> I understand that it is normal to have black areas above and below a 16x9 picture on a 4x3 screen and that the shape will vary with the program material's format.
> 
> What I see is that part of the picture is missing on the top and bottom in HD as compared with the same program seen in the SD mode (also letterbox shaped).
> Bobminn


What you're describing sounds like overscan (where the top/bottom or sides are clipped off). The 921 does have a definite overscan problem. There is a position adjustment in view pref menu but it doesn't really fix overscan just moves the screen to favor the section you're annoyed with. Some TVs may have some overscan adjustment as well. My original reply was focused on Mr Kendall question which he stated needing to use Zoom to get a full picture.


ckendall said:


> I am not getting a "normal" full screen (16x9) on my plasma with some HD OTA or Satellite or SD letterbox pay per view broadcasts. I have tried rebooting, switching between 1080, 720, 480 etc. I have to use zoom to get the full screen but the picture sucks. It's an intermittent problem and sometimes it switches in broadcast. Is this a bug.


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