# Resolution Question



## josewoods (Jul 9, 2005)

First, why is it that sometimes when on ESPNHD i see gray bars on the sides, on HBOHD black bars on the side??? and in some programs the picture kind of stretch

Second, I'm using component cables and see the tv though them all the time, never change the box to SD, should i be changing to see the SD channels or this OK???

Third, what does it mean the stretch and normal sign that i see on the top bar every time I change channels.

thanks...


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

THe bars on ESPN HD is when they showing a 4x3 format across the 16x9 format. Same goes with HBOHD. 4x3 transmitted on a 16x9 format. Some HD channels will stretch 4x3 content across the screen. TNTHD does this. THis is all normal.

Stretch and normal on your banner indicates the mode you are currently in. Pressing the format key will change it. GIve it a try and see what one works for you. 

As to changing to see the SD channels. Not sure what you mean by that but I always watch the OTA versions of my locals on my 4x3 set and stretch to fill the screen....


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Welcome to DBSTalk, Jose! :hi:

You see side bars on some ESPNHD and HBOHD programming because those particular programs are not in HD. Only HD programming fills the entire picture. Any SD programming broadcast on the HD channels will have the side bars.

Some users think that the picture quality of the SD channels is better when setting the 921 to SD mode, but leaving it in HD mode all the time is fine.

The Normal and Stretch indicator in the top banner indicates the format the 921 is outputting. Normal means that the 921 is outputting the picture as it is received. Stretch means that the 921 is stretching the picture horizontally to fill the screen. Zoom means that the 921 is stretching the picture both horizontally and vertically to fill the screen, Gray Bars means that the 921 is superimposing gray side bars over black ones.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Opps.. Yes welcome Jose.. was in a hurry and typed my response really fast and forgot toe welcome you!! 

WELCOME!!!! hope you stay awhile


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## jergenf (Mar 31, 2005)

josewoods said:


> First, why is it that sometimes when on ESPNHD i see gray bars on the sides, on HBOHD black bars on the side??? and in some programs the picture kind of stretch


All HD channels are in 16:9 aspect ratio. If a HD station is showing a program in ANY other aspect ratio it is the responsibility of that station to provide side bars or letterbox. TNT-HD chooses not to provide side bars so 4:3 content is stretched. All other HD stations (as far as I know) maintain the proper aspect ratio when their programs are not in 16:9.



josewoods said:


> Second, I'm using component cables and see the tv though them all the time, never change the box to SD, should i be changing to see the SD channels or this OK???


No, if you have a HDTV use the component or DVI for best quality viewing.



josewoods said:


> Third, what does it mean the stretch and normal sign that i see on the top bar every time I change channels.


Stretch. Zoom, Grey Bars and Normal are display modes provided by the 921. When going through the component or DVI input most TVs can only fill the entire screen so these display modes allow you to control the aspect ratio of your choice.

On SD channels *stretch mode * will force 4:3 content to 16:9 (some people like it).

If a SD channel is showing a letterbox program (on a wide screen set you'll see borders both top/bottom and left/right) use the* Zoom mode * to fill the entrie screen.

For CRT and Plasma TV *Grey Bar mode * may help balance phospher wear. Also black and white (or bright color) programs may look more appealling with grey bars.

*Normal mode* provides black side bars for SD channels is generally the best and perferred choice for most people.


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

jergenf said:


> If a SD channel is showing a letterbox program (on a wide screen set you'll see borders both top/bottom and left/right) use the *Zoom mode* to fill the entrie screen.


I prefer to switch to SD, either 480p or S-video with 480i, then use the TV's Zoom mode. (I switch to SD because my TV doesn't do HD stretch modes.) The 921's zoom is excessive, cutting off so much of the edges that you can barely see the station bug. The TV's zoom cuts off only the bottom of the bug. Before anyone thinks I like seeing the bug :nono2: let me just say in this one instance it's actually useful to have a fixed point of reference.


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## lpickup (Jul 12, 2005)

BobaBird said:


> Before anyone thinks I like seeing the bug :nono2: let me just say in this one instance it's actually useful to have a fixed point of reference.


Actually I have started to find a use for it. When skipping forward over commercials, I look for it and hit skip back once. Works very nicely. I'm thinking that maybe there is an auto-commercial skip curcuit that could utilize the bug to quite easily detect where the commercials are!

(Funny, I guess I've never heard it called "the bug" before, but that's a pretty good name )

...Lance


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## Larry Caldwell (Apr 4, 2005)

jergenf said:


> All HD channels are in 16:9 aspect ratio. If a HD station is showing a program in ANY other aspect ratio it is the responsibility of that station to provide side bars or letterbox. TNT-HD chooses not to provide side bars so 4:3 content is stretched. All other HD stations (as far as I know) maintain the proper aspect ratio when their programs are not in 16:9.
> 
> No, if you have a HDTV use the component or DVI for best quality viewing.
> 
> ...


I have been looking for all these 921 output modes, and can't seem to find them. On the Display setup menu, all I have is the option for resolution (480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i) and 4x3 or 6x9 screen format. All the stretch/normal/zoom modes are available through my projector, so I haven't worried about it too much, but where do I find the settings on the 921?

Since my projector is native 1280x720 resolution, I set TNTHD at 720p and screen format at 4:3, which outputs in 4x3 anamorphic. Then I set the projector to 16x9, and get a nice full screen picture. It's a little awkward, since the projector has a firmware fluke that will only switch aspect ratios at 480 line resolution, so I have to switch to 480p, set screen aspect, then switch back to 720p when I switch channels. For SD programming, I just leave the 921 set at 480p.

Anyway, if you could tell me what buttons to push to set output modes on the 921, I would be grateful. I haven't enabled the OTA HD receiver. Would that make a difference?


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## Sharper (Jan 3, 2005)

Larry Caldwell said:


> Anyway, if you could tell me what buttons to push to set output modes on the 921, I would be grateful.


On your Dish Network remote, it's the * key, located in the lower-left corner and also marked with "FORMAT".

Be warned that sometimes the 921 software has been known to get "stuck" on a particular setting, requiring a reboot before you can use the key again, but that's no reason not to try it out.


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## jergenf (Mar 31, 2005)

Larry Caldwell said:


> I have been looking for all these 921 output modes, and can't seem to find them. On the Display setup menu, all I have is the option for resolution (480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i) and 4x3 or 6x9 screen format. All the stretch/normal/zoom modes are available through my projector, so I haven't worried about it too much, but where do I find the settings on the 921?
> 
> Since my projector is native 1280x720 resolution, I set TNTHD at 720p and screen format at 4:3, which outputs in 4x3 anamorphic. Then I set the projector to 16x9, and get a nice full screen picture. It's a little awkward, since the projector has a firmware fluke that will only switch aspect ratios at 480 line resolution, so I have to switch to 480p, set screen aspect, then switch back to 720p when I switch channels. For SD programming, I just leave the 921 set at 480p.
> 
> Anyway, if you could tell me what buttons to push to set output modes on the 921, I would be grateful. I haven't enabled the OTA HD receiver. Would that make a difference?


As "Sharper" already pointed out it's the "star" lower left of your remote.

If the stretch bug occurs you'll need to reboot the 921 to fix. It just happens nothing anyone is doing is causing it. Anytime I've ever been bitten by the stretch bug it was when changing from a HD channel to SD and not using the format button.

Now you can view all channels in 720p mode on your projector and let the 921 upconvert for you. Only TNT-HD may be a problem because they often show 4:3 content in stretch mode. Either use chan 138 or use your projector's slim mode to force into 4:3 and 480p and see which looks better.


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