HD & Locals screen formatting options

[Dean Martin]

Hi,

Long time Ultimate TV fan, finally made the switch this week to HR20 DVR when I found a CSR who would make me a decent deal ($20 total with Slimline dish installed).

This is my first experience with any HD content, bear with me. When I watch my St. Louis area locals an HD show like Scrubs is totally filling the screen. Commercials however are a whole 'nother story...some are pillar boxed, some are like a mini screen in the middle of the whole screen, etc.

Anyway, getting to the point I am trying to understand what settings like Native, stretch, I should be using, and does the TV setting overide the HR20 settings, or vice versa?. I have a 720 Pany plasma and always set it's aspect ratio to "Just" so SD contect will fill the screen.

I should mention that right now I am just using the composite outputs from the HR20. I will be rewiring this weekend with HDMI if that makes any difference.

Two other observations. The same local channel in SD produces much louder volume thru the TV speakers, the HD channel seems very quiet by comparison. I also occasionly get a little crackle sound and flicker when changing from an HD channel to an SD.

Any and all comments appreciated.

 

[Brewer4]

to Sat Guys

The caveat is all TV's are different and it really takes some experimentation on your end on whats best. If you have a 720p TV, I would turn native off, only define 720p as the available options and keep your screen stretched for non-16x9 programming. If you dont like stretching then use the Pillar Box.

The volume differences are probably based on the source channel and the sound output. Dolby surround channels are probably sounding much different then older SD channels that are lucky to be stereo. That too is probably how your TV is setup for sound. And definately use HDMI if you can. Its the best possible sound and picture and takes advantage of the hardware since its a pure digital signal being passed from the box to the TV.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

Err, Scrubs isn't HD (I think one episode was, but the rest are not). HD stations will use pillar box and pillar+letter boxing for commercials and non-HD content. Since the frame is still 16:9 there is no setting which will automatically compensate. I use the zoom button on my TV when necessary.

 

[Dean Martin]

OK, thanks for the feedback, at least I know what I'm seeing on the commercials is normal. I'll be messing around with it alot this weekend and will try the suggestions given to start.