Isolated Incident?

[beware]

I know I post here a lot and I know this will be a series of questions but I am quite obsessive when it comes to my HD setup, as you are aware, and please humor me.

My mother dropped the remote off the couch tonight. The key on top of the remote moved to tv and when she was trying to turn the box off, she stretched out the television setting so everything wasn't truly in HD. I switched the remote back to directv to turn it on and off but freaked out when I noticed the menu was all stretched out. Forgetting it was in tv mode when my mom was playing with it, I reset the dvr. After resetting the dvr, no remotes, out of 3 communicated with it. So I called in, they ran a test. nothing wrong. As I was about to freak out the remote starting working again and I turned off stretch and everything is good now. So my first question will be, why did no remote work when I reset the box? Was it just a glitch, did it need time to think for whatever reason?

1)Remote question, why did none work and why did it take a few minutes for it to? Something I should worry about?

2) When trying to put the resolution back to 1080i, it was stuck in 720p for everything. So I unchecked 1080i and rechecked it and its back. Should I worry? My understanding is 1080i in pillar box is the best setting for HD bc most shows are in 720p but some are in 1080i so when a show is 720p, its being shown in 720p even if the setting is 1080i. so basically that setting is just for those rare channel broadcasting in 1080i?

3)I have everything set to Native Off, Pilar Box and Black. I have all resolutions selected and in widescreen. I have 1080i selected. Is that the best to get out of my HD tv. The agent explained that if watching sports, turn to 720p bc the refresh rate is faster. Is that true? Should I stick with my setting nows?

4) Should I chalk up the remotes not working and 1080i not turning on instantly to just a glitch? I expected everything to be instant.

 

[TheTechGuru]

Personally I have all resolutions enabled, 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p, and Native set to ON and view mode set to Piller box.

My TV is set to "Just Scan" AKA "Dot by Dot".

 

[Jimbo]

As for the quote:

"My understanding is 1080i in pillar box is the best setting for HD bc most shows are in 720p but some are in 1080i so when a show is 720p"

Use what ever looks best to you, everyones set ups are different.

MOST shows are not in 720p, thats NOT how it works.

ESPN's, ABC and FOX are 720p
CBS and NBC are 1080i

All shows on the network are the same resolution, it doesn't change from show to show.

 

[beware]

I am more confused as to what is the best way to truly watch all the HD programming my set is capable of with directv.
There is 720p and 1080i and I always thought if set was programmed in 1080i, 720p shows would still be in original format but those rare ones in 1080i would actually be in 1080i. I proved myself wrong tonight. On 4 shows tonight, 3 were filmed in 720p and the other in 1080i. How do I know this? When viewing said 720p shows in 1080i, the black thin bar on the side (generally were the screen on the set stops) was thicker.
But in 720p viewing, like most shows are in, the directv menu is stretched out. To get the menu looking good and crisp, the set needs to be in 1080i.

So what should I choose?

I noticed the only show in 1080i (with no thicker bar) was a cartoon.
So basically, in 720p (like most shows) there is no extension on the frame ending. It ends where the screen on the tv ends but the menu is stretched. In 1080i most shows tend to end on the right side before it hits the end of the screen (barely noticeable), which seems as if 1080i is making shows in 720p truly visible by showing the end of the film. Also in 1080i, the menu is a lot better looking.

 

[beware]

cbs and nbc seem to be 720p as all but 1 show in my testing tonight was on either channel.

 

[Mr Tony]

If you are in St Louis (as your loc says) according to a website your locals are as such
Fox & ABC are 720p
CBS & NBC are 1080i
PBS 720p

 

[beware]

would having the native on just fix those issues I posted about tonight?

 

[TheTechGuru]

Here in the Dallas market CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, and CW are all 1080i. Only FOX, MNT, and ION are 720p.

 

[beware]

Native On or Off is preference. I really see no difference except for when HD channels primarily show 1080i but the gist of their older shows are truly only in 720p resulting in seeing the end of the frame a little more on the right or left side as opposed to seeing it fit completely in 720p. I know this because when it goes to commercial, that ad is truly 1080i and fits the entire screen. IE: Friends on Nick at Nite in HD.

 

[ejb1980]

I have it done this way:
Native: On
Screen: Pillar Box
Bars: Black
Ratio: Widescreen
Resolutions: 480i, 1080i, 1080p
TV screen: 16x9 for 480i, Screen fit for 1080i and 1080p


Why did I do it this way?: many SD channels have the annoying white flickering crap at the top of the screen. That irritates me to no end. Having the TV on 16x9 screen size allows the edges to be cut off (I assume like overscan on old TVs). I have pillar box enabled to keep SD channels in proper aspect ratio.
HOWEVER, if I leave the HD channels on 16x9, small parts of the screen are still cut off. Sometimes, when channels don't account for that, words are cut off. This is most notable on one of my local Fox channels as a large part of their logo is cut off and on NFL Network, sometimes pieces of letters are chopped off. Screen fit fixes this and allows everything to be shown. Trivial, yes, but I'm one of "those people" who is very particular. My brain can't comprehend how people can watch stretched out stuff. I have TBS and Cartoon Network SD in my favorites list with the HD version since Family Guy and other shows are ruined by stretching it out in their weird, variable way.
I do not have other resolutions selected because having native set to on causes my TV to pause and adjust itself to the resolution. Having additional resolutions selected makes the channel changing process even longer. I used to have 720- and 480-p selected but having the TV change resolutions within HD seemed like overkill. 480p was never used so I unchecked it.

 

[ejb1980]

Also, having the TV set to 16x9 and the D*STB set to pillar box and 480i keeps the menu the same size, regardless of the resolution.

 

[TheTechGuru]

Native On or Off is preference. I really see no difference except for when HD channels primarily show 1080i but the gist of their older shows are truly only in 720p resulting in seeing the end of the frame a little more on the right or left side as opposed to seeing it fit completely in 720p. I know this because when it goes to commercial, that ad is truly 1080i and fits the entire screen. IE: Friends on Nick at Nite in HD.

I think you're confusing this with shows shot in 1440x1080. Many shows on the Discovery networks are shot in 1440x1080 instead of 1920x1080. 1440x1080 will have small black bars on each side.

 

[Kurkus]

You might get more responses if your subject line was clearer and to the point

Just trying to help you get more responses

 

[beware]

I have all resolutions checked on. And the guide does change from a show in 720p to 1080i with all those resolutions checked.

 

[Hutch1814]

I say put it to however you like it and leave it. Everybody has a different view on how they watch tv and they're all going to chime in. How was it set to before your mon switched it? Set it back to that and then enjoy!

 

[beware]

I did and now I think I am just noticing it now since its on a few blurays I own that fit the entire screen. IE: older titles from the early 90s where they have slightly thicker black side bars than the normal size when the screen ends...

*Does any of this make sense? I mean like older films on bluray that instead of being letterboxed, fit the entire screen. And the black bars on the side aren't truly black bars, they are just the last milli inch of the screen that doesn't actually have the film shown on it (in this case, these bars are like a tad thicker on a few shows and films)