My question may have a broader one beneath it, but I'll start simply. I considered buying a replacement tv for a less critical viewing station. These days, one can only get an "HDTV" with 16:9 aspect ratio - I settled for an inexpensive LCD, knowing that I intended to connect it to the coax output of my 508 receiver, which I understand supplies a lower definition NTSC signal with 4:3 aspect ratio. To me, this signal and TV style is not a match made in heaven, as the only way to fill the screen with an image is to manipulate the tv settings, and none of these produce an acceptable result (one either gets a distorted image, or an image with black bars right and left, or an image with heads and feet chopped off). My first call to Dish about upgrading to the 622/722 receivers (whose remotes have a working */format button) had me a little confused. So I checked the users guide documentation on the site, and on page 75 of the 622 model I found this statement.
"On remote control 2, press the */format button to change the aspect ratio of HD channels displayed on remote TVs."
Remote control 2 refers to the unit for TVs hooked up to the standard tuner (most typically via its coax line). I then called Dish's technical support and finally got an "expert" to say that the sentence in the manual was poorly written and that the */format button merely does exactly what I was able to do in the TV wrt aspect ratios. If I understand this correctly, I dont think this button adds any functionality to what I could do with the 508 and a TV with changeable aspect ratio options.
To me, this sort of knocks out any reason for buying a new TV set until such time as one is ready/willing to feed it an HD signal (or at least an ATSC signal). Another discussion thread on this forum implies that one is either distorting or blowing up and cutting off information with the */format key. Is this right?
For my broader question, what are other people doing when confronted with the need to buy a new TV for a less critical room. Are they suffering with a distorted image, or do they cough up the significantly extra dough to cover upgrade equipment/use and lease fees to the satellite/content providers? Or do they say the heck with it and just pull the local ATSC signals off the air? It all seems like such a step backward, despite the capabilities of new televisions. Am I missing something??
"On remote control 2, press the */format button to change the aspect ratio of HD channels displayed on remote TVs."
Remote control 2 refers to the unit for TVs hooked up to the standard tuner (most typically via its coax line). I then called Dish's technical support and finally got an "expert" to say that the sentence in the manual was poorly written and that the */format button merely does exactly what I was able to do in the TV wrt aspect ratios. If I understand this correctly, I dont think this button adds any functionality to what I could do with the 508 and a TV with changeable aspect ratio options.
To me, this sort of knocks out any reason for buying a new TV set until such time as one is ready/willing to feed it an HD signal (or at least an ATSC signal). Another discussion thread on this forum implies that one is either distorting or blowing up and cutting off information with the */format key. Is this right?
For my broader question, what are other people doing when confronted with the need to buy a new TV for a less critical room. Are they suffering with a distorted image, or do they cough up the significantly extra dough to cover upgrade equipment/use and lease fees to the satellite/content providers? Or do they say the heck with it and just pull the local ATSC signals off the air? It all seems like such a step backward, despite the capabilities of new televisions. Am I missing something??
