About Locals (Question)

[FreddyvsJasonvsAsh]

I was wondering if anyone has a problem with locals having black bars on the sides? Shows on primetime shouldn't have those. The installer even told me this. DirectTV and DISH don't show locals like that. Neither does USDTV. Most of the WB, NBC, CBS, ABC shows are broadcast in HD and they shouldn't have the black bars on each side. Why is VOOM like this? I called and told them what the installer told me. The VOOM CSR wouldn't even help me out. He was very rude to me and when I asked for a supervisor he asked me why I want to speak with one very rudely!!!!

 

[Scotty]

The affiliates have to broadcast two feeds, one the puts their non hdtv 4:3 shows that they are broadcasting on their analog channel, in a digital hd 16:9 frame that they can broadcast on their digital hd channel, when they have no HD material to show. You get the the black bars then. But then when they have HD to show, they have to change the digital channels feed over to the digital content. Sometimes they forget to switch. This happened to the steeler game on kdka just this lat weekend. The first few minutes, they were sending the the 4:3 broadcast on the digital channel, then someone must have remembered to switch, it became the widescreen HD broadcast. I've see the HBOHD and others do this too. tonight wb remembered to switch to HD, but forget to turn on the sound.

 

[Ilya]

Just to add to what Scotty said...

There are two types of OTA channels: HD and SD. SD channels always show SD programs (in 4x3 480i native, upconverted by VOOM STB). You can configure VOOM STB to stretch these channels or to show black bars: whatever you prefer.

HD channels (broadcast in 16x9 1080i or 720p) may show HD programs from time to time, depending on your local broadcaster, but they often show SD programs too, in which case your local broadcaster upconverts them to HD and may choose to either stretch the image or to add the black bars. In either case these channels are always 16x9 with black bars transmitted as part of the image. You cannot change geometry of HD channels within the STB.

 

[scottie_h]

DirectTV and DISH don't show locals like that. Neither does USDTV. Most of the WB, NBC, CBS, ABC shows are broadcast in HD and they shouldn't have the black bars on each side. Why is VOOM like this?

"Voom" isn't like that, as Voom doesn't broadcast local channels - you're getting those feeds straight from the networks. You're receiving them via the Voom box and antenna, but the signal does not come from Voom. When you refer to DirectTV and DISH, I'm not sure if you're referring to OTA or via satellite. That certainly could be the difference.

Regardless, if you're watching an OTA show that is truly being broadcast in HD (while the number of network shows being broadcast in HD has increased dramatically, there are a lot that are still SD) and you have black bars on the sides, then something must be set wrong on either your box or TV.

Maybe post some specific shows you're experiencing this with? Are there network shows that you do NOT have this problem with?

 

[FreddyvsJasonvsAsh]

I was getting the black bars on the HD primetime shows like Smallville

 

[Sean Mota]

I was getting the black bars on the HD primetime shows like Smallville

It was probably not sent HD by your local provider. This is what it is sometimes called "they forgot to flip the switch". Even though there is a message that states "HD available"

 

[CDH]

I was getting the black bars on the HD primetime shows like Smallville

Our local WB affiliates only just this week started showing programs in wide-screen HD, though since the season started the "HD" logo had been in the right bottom corner of a pillar-boxed 4:3 image.

CDH.

 

[Scotty]

I was getting the black bars on the HD primetime shows like Smallville

I watch smallville too. Sometimes it starts out in bar mode, then switches, to good hd, then sometimes they forget all together. Before we got HD turrned on from this station this year, they used to send a stretched SD image over the digital station. Now they use two channel numbers, and send the stretched on an SD channel, and an HD on their other sub channel.

I had a weird situation with that this week too. On the downstairs stb connected to my HDTV, their was no sound! Some sort of signal was coming in, because my Sony received flashed the sound format in scrolling letters as Dolby Digital 5.1, but no sound. So I went upstairs to my 20 year old mitsubishi tv (obviously not HD), and it was coming in fine, sound and all. All this time, I could change channels on the downstairs stb to other OTA's and they would have sound. And since I was receiving the digital station upstairs, just downconverted, and it had sound, I knew the station was broadcasting sound.