I need to know a couple of things. Why are there black bars on the OTA channels? They can be removed on a 4:3 tv, but not on my 16:9. Also one OTA channel has gray bars instead of black. Last thing is will these black or gray bars harm my RPTV, and should I limit watching them?
Black bars on local OTA channels
- Thread starter pabisc
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 3
- Views 1K
As discussed here in the past, the black bars are generated by the local stations. Not by V*. Having the black bars show for an extended period of time can do harm to a standard crt RP set. What I do, is switch during commercials when viewing a non HD program. Better safe than sorry.
Just an afterthought---gray bars are ok according to Toshiba. Unfortunately the V* STB doesn't allow the option of changing from black to gray. My Toshiba set does, but am unable to do so when using the STB.
If watching HDTV channels, the gray or black bars are provided by the signal broadcasters so it isn't possible for the box to change them. The box is "seeing" a widescreen HD signal which just happens to include black or gray sidebars.
