# Dish Overscan?



## Sweisford

Hi all,

So we've had dish for several years now and the edges of the picture were always cut off. I assumed this was because we had SD boxes with HD TV's, but we just upgraded to HD boxes and the problem is still there. I believe HD channels are fine but since dish only offers like 12 HD channels that doesn't help me much. I've tried every 'format' setting using the * button the remote and that does nothing for the overscan, just changes the size of the picture but edges are still cut off even in 'Normal'. My Insignia only has 2 format options for some reason, 'Wide' and 'Normal' and neither really fixes the problem, although 'Normal' might be marginally less-worse. I found the overscan option on the TV and turning it off helped a decent amount but not completely. My Sony KDS has the same problem, and I can't even find the overscan option for that one, so I'm assuming its just Dish. Other than the * Format button, which I've tried, is there any other way to adjust the picture? Is there an overscan option hidden in the Dish settings?

Thanks for your help!


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## RBA

What do you have for equipment? You posted in the 211 forum is that what you have? DISH has much more than 12 HD channels, how are you connected to the TV HDMI cables?


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## scooper

If you only see 12 HD channels - you must be using an old style Dish500 on 119 and 110 only. So, a proper HD dish is the first place to start. And that will depend on what local market you are in .

For the "overscan" problem, what receivers are you using ? You can adjust the horizontal and vertical settings for the picture, but the menu option to adjust depends on what receiver models you're using.


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## P Smith

Do dig into settings on your TVs; some of them have Native format (if not you're SOL), eg pixel [from stream] to pixel [of your TV panel]


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## Sweisford

Sorry, it was a busy week. 12 was a bit of an exaggeration on the HD channels, I just counted 50 total, many of which are movies/PPV. We have a pretty basic package I believe, but that shouldn't affect the picture. The box in my room says VIP222K on the front and is connected to my HDTV with and HDMI cable. I've tried pretty much every setting on the TV and every setting that I can find no the DISH. It shouldn't be this hard.


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## Sweisford

scooper said:


> If you only see 12 HD channels - you must be using an old style Dish500 on 119 and 110 only. So, a proper HD dish is the first place to start. And that will depend on what local market you are in .
> 
> For the "overscan" problem, what receivers are you using ? You can adjust the horizontal and vertical settings for the picture, but the menu option to adjust depends on what receiver models you're using.


I just looked it up, says its a Dish 500 and select satellite 110 or 119. I asked the tech when he came out to change the boxes if we needed a new dish but he said 'No' and that they only have 2 satellites, one of which was blocked by trees on our property so he left the dish as is. Are there settings I can play with to fix this? or will only a new dish/satellite fix it?


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## scooper

I TOLD you it was a Dish 500 !!

Ok - WHAT LOCALS ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO RECEIVE ? (or what is your location)

That will tell us whether you need an Eastern (61.5, 72.7, opt 77) arc or a Western Arc Dish (110, 119, 129) . Your tech is not current at the least, so you may want to call Dish and tell them you need your HD dish setup correctly (and to send someone else) .


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## James Long

Most of the HD on your arc (110-119-129) is on 129. Without a new dish you will be missing HD channels that you are paying for.


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## Sweisford

scooper said:


> I TOLD you it was a Dish 500 !!
> 
> Ok - WHAT LOCALS ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO RECEIVE ? (or what is your location)
> 
> That will tell us whether you need an Eastern (61.5, 72.7, opt 77) arc or a Western Arc Dish (110, 119, 129) . Your tech is not current at the least, so you may want to call Dish and tell them you need your HD dish setup correctly (and to send someone else) .


Southeast PA, ZIP 19465 if that helps, so I guess I have to call DISH and have them send someone out? TBH, the person I spoke to on the phone when scheduling the upgrade said they would have to adjust the dish so I was a little surprised when the tech said he wouldn't. Damnit.


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## scooper

Is that Philadelphia ?


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## scooper

After doing some digging, based on your Zip code - You receive the Philadelphia PA locals. If you are stuck on western Arc (110,119,129) - for HD you will not get HD locals from satellite. For that, you need a new dish pointing at eastern Arc (61.5, 72.7, opt 77). The eastern Arc Dish is pointing SOUTHEAST, not Southwest like the western arc / Dish500.

I don't know who you was talking to, but someone was not paying attention to what you need.


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## scooper

And in regard to overscan settings - I also have a VIP222K, and I also see no way to adjust overscan / screen size (besides 16x9 , 4x3 #1, 4x3 #2). I use HDMI output and my TV (an LG 32 inch LCD) is set for a 16x9 picture . my screen is filled adequately ( no need for any adjustments) . My settings on the screen is on 16x9. I'll put it on component (1080i output) and see if anything changes.


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## Sweisford

scooper said:


> After doing some digging, based on your Zip code - You receive the Philadelphia PA locals. If you are stuck on western Arc (110,119,129) - for HD you will not get HD locals from satellite. For that, you need a new dish pointing at eastern Arc (61.5, 72.7, opt 77). The eastern Arc Dish is pointing SOUTHEAST, not Southwest like the western arc / Dish500.
> 
> I don't know who you was talking to, but someone was not paying attention to what you need.


Thanks! I'll give them a call and hopefully they send someone else out to fix it. Seems ridiculous to be paying for channels I'm not getting. Hopefully that fixes the issue. Thanks again!


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## Jim5506

Over scan is ENTIRELY a product of the TV set.

Dish has no means of adjusting the width and height of the picture in the tuner.

Your TV should have settings to minimize over scan unless you have an old rear projection CRT TV like mine.

I lose about 5-7% of every edge - top, bottom, left and right on the screen.

My only recourse is to open the TV up and insert a template that raises the CRT tubes about 2 inches closer to the screen then reconverge the picture - too much work for a 10 year old HDTV.


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## inkahauts

Jim5506 said:


> Over scan is ENTIRELY a product of the TV set.
> 
> Dish has no means of adjusting the width and height of the picture in the tuner.
> 
> Your TV should have settings to minimize over scan unless you have an old rear projection CRT TV like mine.
> 
> I lose about 5-7% of every edge - top, bottom, left and right on the screen.
> 
> My only recourse is to open the TV up and insert a template that raises the CRT tubes about 2 inches closer to the screen then reconverge the picture - too much work for a 10 year old HDTV.


The correct way to say that is dish has no user way to adjust the picture. I guarantee you there is a way inside the system menus you can not get to.


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## P Smith

nope, it was in some version re-positioning, not scaling


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## James Long

It has been a while since I used that menu, but I am sure I adjusted the positioning and size of the picture on my Hopper.
Perhaps better hidden on the "Carbon" UI?


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## n0qcu

Just a FYI but the DISH adjustment option only adjusts the DISH overlays, it makes no change to the channel image.


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## inkahauts

There’s no way they leave raster settings out in the open for customers. You can brick your equipment easily if you screw it up.


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## P Smith

then you could do ResetToDefault


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## EdJ

Sweisford said:


> I just looked it up, says its a Dish 500 and select satellite 110 or 119. I asked the tech when he came out to change the boxes if we needed a new dish but he said 'No' and that they only have 2 satellites, one of which was blocked by trees on our property so he left the dish as is. Are there settings I can play with to fix this? or will only a new dish/satellite fix it?


If you have an Apple Iphone or Ipad, there is an app called 'Dish Align' that is extremely helpful finding a place to place the dish to avoid trees and such. I do not know if an Android device also has this App or not.
Dish Align on the App Store

You just select the satellite you want and the app will show the direction and obstacles (trees and such). You will be looking from the location of the Apple gadget. You can move the location around to a different spot to see if you can avoid the obstacle. For instance you can move the location from one side of your roof to another side or a pole location near the house.
Do this for each of the satellites in the 'Eastern Arc'.


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## P Smith

EdJ said:


> I do not know if an Android device also has this App or not.


dishpointer dot com


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## James Long

P Smith said:


> then you could do ResetToDefault


If you could figure out how to do that without menus.

(It all depends on what the meaning of "bricked" is. In my case, I tried a little factory adjustment on the TV and went too far. It took a local repair shop and component changes to bring back my TV. The miss-adjustment was far enough to cook a component. "ResetToDefault" does not uncook components.)


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## P Smith

James Long said:


> was far enough to cook a component


mmm, what it was ? "cooked" is not right term of component's failure

as to reset, I've a habit to make snapshots of all "secret" menus and write down remote's key sequence BEFORE start play with the parameters


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## James Long

P Smith said:


> mmm, what it was ? "cooked" is not right term of component's failure
> 
> as to reset, I've a habit to make snapshots of all "secret" menus and write down remote's key sequence BEFORE start play with the parameters


People who understand the English language understand what I mean.


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## P Smith

OK, what exactly been cooked ?


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## James Long

P Smith said:


> OK, what exactly been cooked ?


I'm not sure. But it did make a FZZZZZT-POP sound when the picture went out. I did not see the magic smoke escape but I assume some did.

(All electronics operate on magic smoke. When that magic smoke escapes the electronics stop working or do not work as well as before the smoke escaped. When you see smoke coming out of a component that is not designed as a smoke generator chances are that is the magic smoke escaping and the component is "cooked".)


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## P Smith

well, that could be simple as some resistor, but could be a transistor, VR chip, a capacitor ... small and easy repairable components, then by fixing it your TV could be return back to live;
not big deal


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## James Long

P Smith said:


> well, that could be simple as some resistor, but could be a transistor, VR chip, a capacitor ... small and easy repairable components, then by fixing it your TV could be return back to live;
> not big deal


But not a remote control command. 

With modern equipment one is talking about replacing modules or circuit boards. Replacing components on a board (if even possible) isn't normal in 2017.


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## P Smith

only for non-experienced unskilled engineer


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## James Long

P Smith said:


> only for non-experienced unskilled engineer


A lot has changed since your experience was valid.


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## P Smith

yo don't know what sit on my workbench and lay around today; and yes, the H3 is here too


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## Sweisford

Sorry guys, been busy lately. So had Dish come out and swapped out the old dish for a new one pointed at the eastern arc. Problem seems to be fixed except for some tree branches in the way, but that another issue. Thanks for your help Scooper!


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