How do I get my gray bars back?

[Pepper]

Switch to Dish Network Their DVR does all the stuff you are wanting.

My TV has the opposite problem. Old 4x3 Samsung rear projection HDTV. Whenever I try to watch 4x3 content fullscreen, ugly pink burnin bars where I watched too much 16x9 on it. At this point it stays in 16x9 mode with the grey bars for 4x3 content.

 

[DJ Rob]

Switch to Dish Network

Been there, done that. NEVER again

 

[Tom Bombadil]

And yet the HR21 in pause mode, doesn't wait long to go into its screen saver, which is there to prevent burn-in.

You claim that most users want OAR. Surveys of the general population do not bear that out. Most people don't like 4:3 "HD" and complain about the pillar bars. Most people prefer the "smart" zooms that partially stretch, partially zoom, and apply a more aggressive stretch to the edges of the image, to fill the screen.

I like OAR, that's why I like having the gray bar option, it allows me to watch in the native OAR without burn-in issues.

And obviously D* is aware of the burn-in issue and the usefulness of gray bars, else they would not offer that feature on SD channels.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Switch to Dish Network Their DVR does all the stuff you are wanting.

Which is what I wrote in posts #1, #3, #6, and #9 in this thread.

 

[charper1]

And yet the HR21 in pause mode, doesn't wait long to go into its screen saver, which is there to prevent burn-in.

You claim that most users want OAR. Surveys of the general population do not bear that out. Most people don't like 4:3 "HD" and complain about the pillar bars. Most people prefer the "smart" zooms that partially stretch, partially zoom, and apply a more aggressive stretch to the edges of the image, to fill the screen.

I like OAR, that's why I like having the gray bar option, it allows me to watch in the native OAR without burn-in issues.

And obviously D* is aware of the burn-in issue and the usefulness of gray bars, else they would not offer that feature on SD channels.

Just because a unit has has a screen saver means nothing; its just there. In fact everyone I know turns it off.

4:3 HD ? What are you talking about here? There is no such animal.

Most people complain about pillar-bars, letterboxing, etc because they just have no idea why its there and they "think" they are missing out on something; when if fact the exact opposite is true.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

As I have stated in earlier posts in this thread, we are talking about 4:3 material that is being broadcast on a HD channel as a 16:9 image, with black pillar box bars being imbedded in the image. Let's not get too obtuse.

 

[Pepper]

There is plenty of 4:3 HD. Any TV show that was on film, and is transferred properly, for example. Old movies before "Cinemascope" for another.

 

[charper1]

How about posting some titles of those; I would be interested in researching 4:3 OAR programing (not cropped, pan & scan and such) that is actually HD by definition.

 

[texasbrit]

Ther's no technical reason why there should not be 4:3 OAR HD programming if the programming is from film sources. Most movies prior to the early 50s were filmed in 4:3 aspect ratio, so you can do an HD transfer from these film sources and get HD resolution in 4:3, with sidebars. I am not sure how much of this is being done but we may see more of it in the future.
If the film has already been transferred to video than it will be SD source, then upconverted to HD resolution (but not HD quality) before transmission.

 

[charper1]

and I think that is what is really being done; upconvert.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Some of it is high resolution 4:3. The originals were in 4:3. The only way to transform it to 16:9 is to crop it. That's not something anyone who is into OAR would want them to do.

This would include decades of TV material - even stuff still being produced today.

Right now I'm watching SG-1 on Sci Fi HD. They show it as 16:9 within a 4:3 letterbox. So there are black bars on all four sides of the image. With the E* 622/722, it was simple to hit the aspect change button and zoom it to perfectly fill the 16:9 screen.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Darn it!

Just connected via component and it works exactly the same as HDMI. Had hopes that either the HR21 or my TV would enable zoom or gray bars.

I never dreamed that a recently released HD DVR would lack these features - while having anti-burn-in features on SD and when pausing a program. This is something I never even thought to inquire about.

I had been watching the old Twilight Zone episodes on Sci-Fi, but those are all 4:3. Along with the SG-1 stuff and a bunch of stuff on Bravo HD and other channels. Guess I'll have to be pickier about what I watch.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

Some of it is high resolution 4:3. The originals were in 4:3. The only way to transform it to 16:9 is to crop it. That's not something anyone who is into OAR would want them to do.

This would include decades of TV material - even stuff still being produced today.

Right now I'm watching SG-1 on Sci Fi HD. They show it as 16:9 within a 4:3 letterbox. So there are black bars on all four sides of the image. With the E* 622/722, it was simple to hit the aspect change button and zoom it to perfectly fill the 16:9 screen.

There is no excuse for not showing 16:9 content using the full screen on an HD channel (although stretching letterbox is even more inexcusable). Fortunately I can zoom my TV, but some resolution is wasted.

 

[joed32]

Just because a unit has has a screen saver means nothing; its just there. In fact everyone I know turns it off.

4:3 HD ? What are you talking about here? There is no such animal.

Most people complain about pillar-bars, letterboxing, etc because they just have no idea why its there and they "think" they are missing out on something; when if fact the exact opposite is true.

How do you turn the screen saver off?

 

[texasbrit]

Some of it is high resolution 4:3. The originals were in 4:3. The only way to transform it to 16:9 is to crop it. That's not something anyone who is into OAR would want them to do.

This would include decades of TV material - even stuff still being produced today.

Right now I'm watching SG-1 on Sci Fi HD. They show it as 16:9 within a 4:3 letterbox. So there are black bars on all four sides of the image. With the E* 622/722, it was simple to hit the aspect change button and zoom it to perfectly fill the 16:9 screen.

There is no high resolution 4:3 video material, the "decades of TV material" are all SD. I am not aware of any material being produced today in 4:3 HD, unless it is for a very special project. As I said, the only way to get 4:3 HD material would be from old film sources since the resolution of film is higher than HD. Anything on video is SD.

 

[texasbrit]

There is no excuse for not showing 16:9 content using the full screen on an HD channel (although stretching letterbox is even more inexcusable). Fortunately I can zoom my TV, but some resolution is wasted.

In general I agree with you. Occasionally a channel will send a 16:9 picture inside pillarbox and sidebars because they don't have the rights to the program in HD but that's rare.

 

[charper1]

In general I agree with you. Occasionally a channel will send a 16:9 picture inside pillarbox and sidebars because they don't have the rights to the program in HD but that's rare.

and ARGH that term...... WINDOW-boxing.

 

[texasbrit]

and ARGH that term...... WINDOW-boxing.

a windowbox is something you grow flowers in when you live in the city....

pillarbox=letterbox.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

There is no high resolution 4:3 video material, the "decades of TV material" are all SD.

Then how can the original Star Trek series be remastered in HD, as they are claiming? It was shot in 4:3. And if the original recordings are all in SD, how could it be changed to HD?

CBS plans first HD DVD release: Star Trek TOS - Engadget HD

I understand that many TV programs were shot on 35mm, including ST:TOS. And these are all candidates to be converted to 4:3 HD.

 

[charper1]

a windowbox is something you grow flowers in when you live in the city....

pillarbox=letterbox.

Pillar + letter = window boxed (aka postage stamped) LOL! I am still trying to determine if matchboxed is the same thing or yet another horrid idea of it's own.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windowbox_(film)