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wryta

3 posts

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#57916 28-Feb-2010 23:37
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I've just bought a nice Panasonic g10 42" Full HD plasma. It comes with a Freeview HD tuner built in, but I only have a Sky dish, so that will have to wait until I get a UHF aerial up on the roof. Meanwhile, I simply unplugged the old Samsung CRT and hooked up the new plasma to my existing Cheap Guy Sky (the free to air channels only, with far better reception than I would get otherwise).

Great images, everything peachy, runs like a bought one.

Okay, here's my problem...

The images coming through my sky decoder are all 4:3 ratio. That's okay - I figured I would just switch to the 4:3 aspect option on the plasma, and make do until I've got an HD signal coming in. But wait - the Sky free-to-airs have at least 10% of the original picture cropped off each side! The clue - graphics in the corners and subtitles missing first or last letters. The proof - when I switch to the crappy, ghosting, static filled land signal, I can just make out the outside areas I've been missing. What's really annoying is that I assumed my old CRT was failing, in that its picture was blooming out. Now I suspect it was Sky robbing me of pic the whole time!

Choosing 16:9 and swithing in the overscan function claims back a teensy bit more of the pic, but not enough to compensate for the subsequently annoying stretched out short fat people look.

Here's my big question - are things going to get better when I fire up FreeviewHD? Are the channels in 16:9? Are they at least 4:3 with ALL of the picture being broadcast?

Please note: no suggestions regarding Tivo, MySky, MyFreeviewHD or any other money-needing solutions (the UHF aerial will be taking my final dollars!)

Cheers.

[Moderator edit (MF): moved to correct forum]



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bazzer
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  #303154 28-Feb-2010 23:43
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Have you switched the Sky decoder output to 16:9? There's a setting somewhere for 16:9, 4:3 P&S, 4:3 Letterbox (or something to that effect). That should sort it all out... Not all the channels are 16:9 though, but all the FTA ones are (I think).

But do switch to FreeviewHD. The picture is great.



grant_k
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  #303156 28-Feb-2010 23:45
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You need to switch the output on your Sky Decoder to 16:9 via the setup menu. Then you will see the full-width picture as it should be. This is a simple thing to change, but exactly how will vary according to the decoder type you have. Best to give Sky a call in the morning and they will talk you through it.





Batman
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  #303160 28-Feb-2010 23:55
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all freeview channels are broadcast for 16:9 display



Batman
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  #303161 28-Feb-2010 23:56
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not all will fill the widescreen, but they're broadcast in that format. sometime there are black bars on the sides. no more "fat and short" (note i'm just quoting the OP)

wryta

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  #303168 1-Mar-2010 01:15
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You geeks rule.

This got to me so bad I couldn't actually sleep tonight (how desperate is that?) so I came back out to see if anyone had answered my posts.

30 seconds of messing with your suggested decoder settings and BAM - problem solved!

Now I can stop watching gloriously framed infomercials and go back to bed.

Cheers all, and thanks heaps.

ps - I'll get back to you once I've had a chance to screw up my UHF installation.

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