# HR 34 (genie) oversize problem



## jtstp17 (Feb 28, 2013)

I just recently converted from cable to DTV. I have Genie (HR34) and two receivers (C31).

The receivers have been working great. I can customize the resolutions, tv ratio, and formats just fine.
However, on the HR34, I am having troubles changing resolutions, tv ratio, and formats.

I believe it is changing from 480 to 720 to 1080. I will have to check again to confirm.
But the info banner that pops up after changning a channel (that has messages, info, cc, format, parental, PIP, etc) is oversized and it does not fit on the screen. Basically Messages is cut off on the left and PIP is not even shown as it cuts parental off on the right.

I have tried changing the format to original to scretch to crop but nothing happens.
the tv says it is in full mode and it had no problems with cable before.

the thing that is odd is I can change the formats (crop, stretch, original, etc.) on the two receivers (c31) and you can see the difference as in you see the picture being stretched, or cropped, etc.

however on the genie (hr34) you dont see these changes at all. It is like it is stuck in stretch mode but wont let me change the formatting.


----------



## JACKIEGAGA (Dec 11, 2006)

Is your TV set at 16:9?


----------



## tazman (Feb 17, 2013)

I have the same problem and was recently upgraded to Genie


----------



## samrs (May 30, 2004)

Find your tv remote. There should be a button that says aspect or format...press the button. Flat Screens have different aspect ratios, you need to cycle through them till you find the one thats correct.


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Most modern TVs will adjust as necessary (assuming the appropriate mode is available).

To get you over the hump, try disabling native mode on the Genie and set the output mode to 1920x1080i.

Appendix 5 of the Genie manual talks about how to set up the video output modes.


----------



## jtstp17 (Feb 28, 2013)

4:3 mode is off on the tv (it is a sony trinitron xbr)

1080i is set on genie as well as native off.

this is what is concerning me, nothing has changed from the tv settings when i went from cable to directv but directv looks zoomed in.

tv display setting says full mode. It will not let me change to anything else. I have tried turning 4:3 mode on and off to see if that would reset it and nothing.

this is bugging me


----------



## tazman (Feb 17, 2013)

jtstp17 said:


> 4:3 mode is off on the tv (it is a sony trinitron xbr)
> 
> 1080i is set on genie as well as native off.
> 
> ...


Ok, I said I was having the same issue and here is what I found on my Mitsubishi DLP

1)On the Direct STB I set only 720P/1080I/1080P. Directv does not broadcast 1080P on any channel except for PPV channels

2)I also turned Native off on the Directv box

3) Then I used the format button on my remote and wah lah viola.

4) It does nothing on 1080I but in 720 it will stretch / zoom/ ect...


----------



## samrs (May 30, 2004)

jtstp17 said:


> 4:3 mode is off on the tv (it is a sony trinitron xbr)
> 
> 1080i is set on genie as well as native off.
> 
> ...


A Triniton was a nice tv back in the day. Its native format is 4:3. Get used to bars across the top and bottom of the screen.


----------



## jtstp17 (Feb 28, 2013)

samrs said:


> A Triniton was a nice tv back in the day. Its native format is 4:3. Get used to bars across the top and bottom of the screen.


its not a 4:3 ratio tv though. it is much wider than it is taller. I will see what the official model number is once i get home.

Also I have never experienced bars unless it is a SD channel.

still cannot figure out how to fix the directv menu bar being oversized.


----------



## jtstp17 (Feb 28, 2013)

tazman said:


> Ok, I said I was having the same issue and here is what I found on my Mitsubishi DLP
> 
> 1)On the Direct STB I set only 720P/1080I/1080P. Directv does not broadcast 1080P on any channel except for PPV channels
> 
> ...


i am assuming you pressed format on the directv remote. also this fixed the directv menu bar being cut off?!

i have tried this on 1080i and formatting does not work so will try in 720....


----------



## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

jtstp17 said:


> i am assuming you pressed format on the directv remote. also this fixed the directv menu bar being cut off?!
> 
> i have tried this on 1080i and formatting does not work so will try in 720....


What happens if you connect the Genie to one of the TVs that has a client?
The menus being "over sized" may be over scan on the TV.
My old Sony HD RPTV had a lot of over scan. My XBR has settings for full pixel, normal, -1, & -2. These are different than "full", which I also use.


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

samrs said:


> A Triniton was a nice tv back in the day. Its native format is 4:3. Get used to bars across the top and bottom of the screen.


Sony offered several direct view Trinitron HDTVs up through the 2006 model year or so. There were widely known for their extreme weight (the 34" XBR970 weighed 190 pounds).


----------



## jtstp17 (Feb 28, 2013)

The tv is sony KV-34xbr800. It is definitely a 16:9 tv ratio. The manual says the tv has an option to do formatting on SD programs. So I wonder if it is stuck on Full and hence the reason why the guide is oversized. I can't figure out how to change it to normal tho.

Also why change native to off on the genie, and clients?


----------



## b52pooh (Mar 10, 2011)

I am just curious,because I did not see this addressed in the thread. What cable are you connecting the HR34 to the TV and are you going through an A/V amplifier?


----------



## jtstp17 (Feb 28, 2013)

veryoldschool said:


> What happens if you connect the Genie to one of the TVs that has a client?
> The menus being "over sized" may be over scan on the TV.
> My old Sony HD RPTV had a lot of over scan. My XBR has settings for full pixel, normal, -1, & -2. These are different than "full", which I also use.


it sounds like it might be an overscan.

How do i fix this?


----------



## jtstp17 (Feb 28, 2013)

b52pooh said:


> I am just curious,because I did not see this addressed in the thread. What cable are you connecting the HR34 to the TV and are you going through an A/V amplifier?


the HR34 is connect to the tv with component cables. Only the sound (component L/R) are going through the surround sound (amp). Hope that answers the question.

The manual of the tv states service menu and the position of the screen can be changed. Would this help overscan? Is that even the problem


----------



## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

jtstp17 said:


> it sounds like it might be an overscan.
> 
> How do i fix this?


"If you're lucky" there is a setting in the Sony menu. If you're not so lucky, it's in the service menu and let a pro adjust this.

Here's what you'd see with no overscan:









Here's what I get with my max overscan:









Here's when the Sony is set to zoom:









It's not uncommon for new customers to have this problem, as DirecTV uses as much of the screen space as they seem is reasonable. Other service provides don't use as much of the screen size, so this is why you may not have seen this before.


----------



## jtstp17 (Feb 28, 2013)

veryoldschool said:


> "If you're lucky" there is a setting in the Sony menu. If you're not so lucky, it's in the service menu and let a pro adjust this.
> 
> Here's what you'd see with no overscan:
> 
> ...


thats exactly what mine looks like!! I have played around with every setting in the sony menu/remote and it is locked in full. i found more info in the manual of the tv and it says that once it is connected to a STB it is locked in full mode, so i cannot adjust the settings of that.

Who would i get to change the service settings? There are multiple guides online for that tv, should i follow that?

Also does this overscan only affect the guide or does it affect the picture as well? I really havent noticed the picture being a problem just the guide.

One more thing, why would this not show up on the cable box DVR menu and showed up on directv menu?!


----------



## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

jtstp17 said:


> thats exactly what mine looks like!! I have played around with every setting in the sony menu/remote and it is locked in full. i found more info in the manual of the tv and it says that once it is connected to a STB it is locked in full mode, so i cannot adjust the settings of that.
> 
> Who would i get to change the service settings? There are multiple guides online for that tv, should i follow that?
> 
> ...


It's best to have a service tech go into the service menu.
I'm "fairly technical" and spent way too long in the service menu of my RPTV before I got things the way I wanted.
Some things in the menu can cause the TV to stop working.
This RPTV only had the settings in the service menu, while my newer Sony XBR has them in the user's menu, so I could take screen shots for you.

Your TV has always been this way, but without a reference, you simply didn't know that you may be missing 10% or more of the image.


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

jtstp17 said:


> Also why change native to off on the genie, and clients?


It is often useful to limit the number of parameters that you're dealing with when trying to diagnose a problem. Turning off native mode reduces the resolution possibilities from several to one.

The other motivation for turning off native mode is in the case where the scaling and video processing facilities in the TV are inferior to those of the receiver.


----------



## samrs (May 30, 2004)

I think I would try turning cinemotion on if you haven't, off is default for your tv.

Your manuel also says that screen settings are locked when viewing 720/1080 content. 

I would try setting your HR34 to native mode on and make sure the display size is set to 16x9. Change to channel 205 a 480i channel and see if you can adjust screen settings. If you havent already tried this.


----------



## Beerstalker (Feb 9, 2009)

jtstp17 said:


> thats exactly what mine looks like!! I have played around with every setting in the sony menu/remote and it is locked in full. i found more info in the manual of the tv and it says that once it is connected to a STB it is locked in full mode, so i cannot adjust the settings of that.
> 
> Who would i get to change the service settings? There are multiple guides online for that tv, should i follow that?
> 
> ...


Which one is what yours looks like? There are 3 different pictures. If it is the second one, then it might just be the overscan in your TV and you may have to deal with it. If it looks like the third picture then you have a setting wrong somewhere, and I'm leaning toward it being in your HR34. Go into the settings on your HR34 and make sure it is set for a 16:9 TV, and tell it to crop SD channels. Then turn off native mode and uncheck all resolutions except 1080i.

Once you have that done, make sure your DirecTV remote is set to control the DirecTV DVR and hit the format button near the top left of the remote until it says 1080i original format or something like that.

Once you have that done your picture should look right. Then you can think about doing stuff like turning native back on, and allowing other resolutions, etc. if you find that you get a better picture doing so.


----------



## jtstp17 (Feb 28, 2013)

harsh said:


> It is often useful to limit the number of parameters that you're dealing with when trying to diagnose a problem. Turning off native mode reduces the resolution possibilities from several to one.
> 
> The other motivation for turning off native mode is in the case where the scaling and video processing facilities in the TV are inferior to those of the receiver.


so for my 2012 sony hx850 model. should i have native on? this is the tv not having problems btw


----------



## jtstp17 (Feb 28, 2013)

Beerstalker said:


> Which one is what yours looks like? There are 3 different pictures. If it is the second one, then it might just be the overscan in your TV and you may have to deal with it. If it looks like the third picture then you have a setting wrong somewhere, and I'm leaning toward it being in your HR34. Go into the settings on your HR34 and make sure it is set for a 16:9 TV, and tell it to crop SD channels. Then turn off native mode and uncheck all resolutions except 1080i.
> 
> Once you have that done, make sure your DirecTV remote is set to control the DirecTV DVR and hit the format button near the top left of the remote until it says 1080i original format or something like that.
> 
> Once you have that done your picture should look right. Then you can think about doing stuff like turning native back on, and allowing other resolutions, etc. if you find that you get a better picture doing so.


it is definitely the 2 picture. overscan of tv. I never noticed this with cable provider but maybe like others have said i never knew i was missing 10% of the screen. The cable guide was never cut off. I never had problems with sport scores on top or bottom.

I just notice it now with directv menu/info guide screen. picture still seems fine.

BTW i have also tried doing what you said before trying to get help from you guys  so it has to be overscan of tv.


----------



## jtstp17 (Feb 28, 2013)

samrs said:


> I think I would try turning cinemotion on if you haven't, off is default for your tv.
> 
> Your manuel also says that screen settings are locked when viewing 720/1080 content.
> 
> I would try setting your HR34 to native mode on and make sure the display size is set to 16x9. Change to channel 205 a 480i channel and see if you can adjust screen settings. If you havent already tried this.


i will try when i get home

cinemotion as in the advanced settings? and yes the manual does say it locks it.


----------



## jtstp17 (Feb 28, 2013)

veryoldschool said:


> It's best to have a service tech go into the service menu.
> I'm "fairly technical" and spent way too long in the service menu of my RPTV before I got things the way I wanted.
> Some things in the menu can cause the TV to stop working.
> This RPTV only had the settings in the service menu, while my newer Sony XBR has them in the user's menu, so I could take screen shots for you.
> ...


how much does a service tech cost? and how would i go about getting one? sony.com?

too bad you couldn't just fix my overscan problem :grin:

also, i had a dvr that had a menu with my cable provider before this. And their menu was never cut off. 
So do you still think it was this way? especially when sport scores/tickers aren't cut off as far as i know.


----------



## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

jtstp17 said:


> how much does a service tech cost? and how would i go about getting one? sony.com?
> 
> too bad you couldn't just fix my overscan problem :grin:
> 
> ...


Check to see if anyone in your area service Sony.

Now if you want to know, if it's the receiver or the TV, move the receiver over to your Sony hx850TV. If it also has a problem [which I don't image] check in the user menus for any settings like "display area" and see if there's "full pixel".
If you've got the Sony hx850 set for little or no overscan, and you still have the problem, then it's the receiver.
If on the other hand this TV doesn't have the problem, then it's your old CRT overscan.

If you look at this, you'll see the Sony menu overlay with full pixel, normal, and then -1 & -2










Full pixel is zero overscan, while -2 is the most overscan


----------



## jtstp17 (Feb 28, 2013)

veryoldschool said:


> Check to see if anyone in your area service Sony.
> 
> Now if you want to know, if it's the receiver or the TV, move the receiver over to your Sony hx850TV. If it also has a problem [which I don't image] check in the user menus for any settings like "display area" and see if there's "full pixel".
> If you've got the Sony hx850 set for little or no overscan, and you still have the problem, then it's the receiver.
> ...


ill try that this weekend. my hx850 does have the directv client tho and doesnt experience this but will try with the actual genie itself. which i do agree with you that it most likely will be normal


----------



## jtstp17 (Feb 28, 2013)

attached is actual picture of my problem on the kv34xbr800 tv

dont mind the cell phone bad picture


----------

