Why aren't all hi-def channels filling up TV screen?

[CorpITGuy]

i find that more irritating than anything else. I detest stretch o' vision. if it's in a 4:3 format than leave it alone. They actually think they're fooling some into believing it's hd just because it's stretched to fill the screen

I'd say they're fooling quite a few people.

 

[hendrix04]

i find that more irritating than anything else. I detest stretch o' vision. if it's in a 4:3 format than leave it alone. They actually think they're fooling some into believing it's hd just because it's stretched to fill the screen

That's the point, they ARE fooling people... All of the uneducated people in the world prefer it to be stretched. My girlfriend's parents have a plasma and it annoys the hell out of me to look at it because a plasma needs to be stretched or you will damage it... Grr

 

[Ronnie-]

. My girlfriend's parents have a plasma and it annoys the hell out of me to look at it because a plasma needs to be stretched or you will damage it... Grr

That was true at a time, but the newer plasmas (last 4 years or so) are much more resistant to burn in. I have left boxed content on mine for hours at a time on several occasions, after a few minutes the image retention goes away.

 

[TNGTony]

Plasma burn-in is not the issue it once was. Mixing up between gray bars (which looks great with B&W movies) and black bars will do the trick on my plasma.

I cannot stand stretch-o-vision of any type and will change the channel whenever I see it. I have excused myself when at friends houses who want to watch a movie that way. And yes many people are fooled. It took me 5 minutes with visual aides to convince a friend of mine that stretching the picture was not the same as HD.

See ya
Tony

 

[CorpITGuy]

I have excused myself when at friends houses who want to watch a movie that way.

Wow.. you're serious about this stuff, aren't you?

 

[charper1]

Plasma burn-in is not the issue it once was. Mixing up between gray bars (which looks great with B&W movies) and black bars will do the trick on my plasma.

I cannot stand stretch-o-vision of any type and will change the channel whenever I see it. I have excused myself when at friends houses who want to watch a movie that way. And yes many people are fooled. It took me 5 minutes with visual aides to convince a friend of mine that stretching the picture was not the same as HD.

See ya
Tony

I have done the same.

 

[Rey]

That was true at a time, but the newer plasmas (last 4 years or so) are much more resistant to burn in. I have left boxed content on mine for hours at a time on several occasions, after a few minutes the image retention goes away.

i learned something new today

 

[Ronnie-]

i learned something new today

Its one of those common misconceptions that while true at one time, doesnt even apply to the lower tier models today (MOST of them anyway )

Glad to help:up

 

[Jimbo]

That's the point, they ARE fooling people... All of the uneducated people in the world prefer it to be stretched. My girlfriend's parents have a plasma and it annoys the hell out of me to look at it because a plasma needs to be stretched or you will damage it... Grr

I don't stretch my plasma and I don't damage it.
I watch enough HD on it that if I want to watch something thats 4:3 with pillars, it won't damage it.
Actually, when I bought the TV I was suppose to run it stretched for the first 100 hours and then don't worry about it after that.

Jimbo

 

[atp1313]

Somewhat back on topic for a second...

Some channels, such as Discovery, still broadcast some programming that was shot in SD before HD became the "norm" and to help fill the screen, and without stretching, will zoom the image a little bit. For instance, watch an old Dirty Jobs, MythBusters, or one of those style shows, and you will notice the pillar boxing is smaller than on most 4:3 signals, but the bottom of the screen where original post-production comments were added (such as the name and title of the person being shown on the screen) these graphics are cropped.

All of these modifications of original source programming is done by the individual networks and not by the provider. So D* & E* aren't doing anything to these scenes to stretch/compress/crop/zoom. They simply pass it along as they get it (but they do apply compression of signals as needed to make all of those channels fit on their transponders, but this doesn't apply stretch-o-vision/cropping).

 

[Big Dawg 23]

I cannot stand to watch stretched distorted people and objects. Everyone looks fat and short with softball shaped heads. What is worse is the "smart stretch" that TBS, FoodTV, TNT, ex do. When I watch something with a scroll on the bottom, it give me motion sickness.

You got to admit Giada in HD is nice. I watch Foodtv frequently but then again most shows are done in HD that I watch because they are newer(Guy's Big Bite, Triple D and Giada At Home).

 

[TNGTony]

I like the HD programming, I would also like the SD programming if they wouldn't stretch it! If it's stretched, it could be my FAVORITE program of all time, I WILL NOT WATCH IT!

See ya
Tony

 

[Bob Nielsen]

I like the HD programming, I would also like the SD programming if they wouldn't stretch it! If it's stretched, it could be my FAVORITE program of all time, I WILL NOT WATCH IT!

See ya
Tony

I usually reset my TV from wide to normal mode for these and it unstretches it. Of course, if the stretch isn't linear it still looks pretty bad.

 

[steecoe]

What I can't stand is when you tune to an HD channel like Spike or F/X & they are showing a damn pan & scan pillar box version of a movie. It is bad enough watching a movie on commercial TV, but I refuse to watch a P&S version of a movie

 

[TNGTony]

I usually reset my TV from wide to normal mode for these and it unstretches it. Of course, if the stretch isn't linear it still looks pretty bad.

Not all TVs have this capability...none of the ones that I have purchased for work or home (7) have the ability to take a stretched HD channel and unstretch it linear or not. To unstretch I have to go to an non HD source and set my receiver to anamorphic mode. It's easier NOT to watch the program.

See ya
Tony

 

[jtwex]

Re hijacking for a minute, I'm surprised by some of the comments that say that even the newer low end plasmas no longer suffer from burn-in form cropped programming. While I wont watch stuff in 4/3 or cropped on a 16x9 due to personal preference I would never trust a master setting to auto-crop every SD channel because I've seen the burn-in in just about every medium to low end Plasma set out there today. It might not ruin the set for the laymen viewer but once I see it that is the only thing I'm thinking about during the whole time I'm watching this guys Plasma; "This bloat has permanently ruined his plasma because he wants to view it in it's original format". Usually, a happy medium can be found by using Zoom/Wide Zoom or whatever your TV's options are. I guess the exception would be news/stocks channels as the strolling banner becomes a Star Trek time warp on every option besides Full HD & Original Crop. Those super high end Plasmas with the break-in sticker seemed to be the exception to the rule.

 

[TNGTony]

The plasmas do not have to be high end. The Hitachi I use has 4x3 and 16x9 programming almost 50/50 right now. When watching 4x3 programming I alternate from gray bar to black bar depending on the content. Two years later, still no noticeable burn in. There is also a "clean" setting on this model that will wash the screen with bright white. You leave that on for 20 minutes and it will remove any remnants of burn in. Though I haven't needed to use it it's there. The damage is not permenant. At least not on this $1000 42" set.

Now if you watch more than 60% 4x3 and use solely black bars, yes you may cause some burn-in scars. But it's not the issue it once was where game systems or ANY pillarbox or letterbox programming for any length of time was considered "asking for trouble".

See ya
Tony

 

[Ronnie-]

The plasmas do not have to be high end. The Hitachi I use has 4x3 and 16x9 programming almost 50/50 right now. When watching 4x3 programming I alternate from gray bar to black bar depending on the content. Two years later, still no noticeable burn in. There is also a "clean" setting on this model that will wash the screen with bright white. You leave that on for 20 minutes and it will remove any remnants of burn in. Though I haven't needed to use it it's there. The damage is not permenant. At least not on this $1000 42" set.

Now if you watch more than 60% 4x3 and use solely black bars, yes you may cause some burn-in scars. But it's not the issue it once was where game systems or ANY pillarbox or letterbox programming for any length of time was considered "asking for trouble".

See ya
Tony

This is correct in my experience also tony. I have a 42 inch lower model samsung that is 2 years old, and a mid level Panny that is a year old. Neither of them are the top of the line super models. 4x3 has caused no burn in at all on either of them. You may have occasional image retention for lack of a better word, but a few minutes on a full screen channel has cleared it up every time

 

[atp1313]

Ditto for my 50" Vizio. Immediately after switching from 4:3 to 16:9, I can see the old crop edges, but after only a few seconds (maybe :30 at most), the new full screen view is "clean". This is two years old now, and I would not consider it "high end".