hi def tv "short screen" rant!
 

I have had a 50 inch TV for a while now and my question is why do some hi def stations not project/send a full screen? For instance I'm watching the CBS hi def channel for football and it's not full screen it is a partial screen:mad: But when I flip over to Fox it's full screen hi def::) What's up with that:confused: Is there a adjustment I have to make for the partial screen to be full screen? It shouldn't be this difficult to watch TV:D O.K. back to the beer and the gamesSmileWavy

Just because a station might be HiDef, the shows they show might not be. It sounds like the CBS game isn't being filmed in HiDef.

When your watching a high-def channel (and the broadcast is not in high def) there is no adjustment that can be made to make it stretch-to-fit

Define partial screen.

Black on all 4 sides?

Or just left and right.

I have seen 1080 sets display a 720 broadcast in a smaller "window". 720 is still considered hi def just lower resolution, less pixels.

'Partial screen" is not full width. It's like a 50 inch screen with a 40 inch picture there are blank bars on either side of the picture.

The NFL seems to judge which games are "HD worthy". If your watching a regional broadcast between two crummy teams, chances are it will be standard signal with the bars on the side since this signal isn't in a 16:9 format. You will also notice the quality is lacking. A couple weeks ago I was watching a HD game it was having some delay issues and the images had a "shutter" effect that bothered my wife. We tried the image broadcast on the normal nonHD channels to compare and it was almost unwatchable. Boy, am I spoiled.:D

Look for a control function labelled "Zoom". I have one on my Sony hidef set. I do not know about other manufacturers.

Stretch features are accomodated by either your Cable remote/box and/or the TV's feature set. This capability may be resident on one, both or neither.

On my cable remote (SA Explorer) the # key will switch from Normal to Stretch, Zoom 1 or Zoom 2.

The Stretch feature resizes and reproportions quite well.....but it's still not HD as mentioned above.

Rick after reading what you said I looked at my remote and it is a SA also. I hit the # key and as you described it alters the pic. The next time I'm watching a "small" image I'll try the resize. Thanks for the suggestionSmileWavy

Glad it worked out. I find this feature quite convenient.