[TelstraClear] TCL 16:9 Off Centre

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Lazydog

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Topic # 17257 19-Nov-2007 10:19

Am not sure if this is the Norm, but has anybody noticed TCL's Widescreen feed is off centre i.e. On a widescreen Panel???

It is off centre to the left and noticeable when two people are on the screen at the same time or there is a centre shot of something.

Confirmed when occasionally programmes chop back to 4:3 with older footage for example.

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Reply # 95895 19-Nov-2007 11:22

Hi,

What channel(s) are you refering to?

Check out my LPFM Radio Station at www.thecheese.co.nz

Lazydog

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Reply # 95935 19-Nov-2007 14:40

Take your pik! Tv One this morning, J2 now......... (Which is in 4:3, i.e 3 inch black bar on left of picture, 4.5 inch on right).

Lazydog

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Reply # 96168 21-Nov-2007 08:42

Anyone??? Could notice on 'Breakfast' this morning.

Screenshot of three presenters- one on left cut off down side of their suit...........

BarTender

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Reply # 96180 21-Nov-2007 09:22

My parents were watching UKTV as well... That isn't putting the 16:9 off centre, but it seems to be squashing the 16:9 into a regular 4:3 picture frame.... so everyone looks like they need to eat a little more.....

UKTV seems to swap between 4:3 and 16:9 periodically between the day. And ony my 4:3 TV, with letterbox turned on it can be quite strange sometimes (not that I watch UKTV, but my folks do when they come over).

EvilSteve

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Reply # 96376 22-Nov-2007 11:34

Ive also noticed this at times, the left side on my lcd is fine,
the right side has about 5cm's of black down it ( 5cms on the 37" LCD)

Cant remember which channel i was on though sorry...widescreen in general
seems like a mess on my tv, ill watch simpsons on SKY1 in widescreen and switch
over to tv3 and its got big black lines down the side and neither the TCL STB nor the
LCD settings can stretch this to use all of the screen.

richms

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Reply # 96716 24-Nov-2007 14:36

halfbaked: Ive also noticed this at times, the left side on my lcd is fine,
the right side has about 5cm's of black down it ( 5cms on the 37" LCD)

Cant remember which channel i was on though sorry...widescreen in general
seems like a mess on my tv, ill watch simpsons on SKY1 in widescreen and switch
over to tv3 and its got big black lines down the side and neither the TCL STB nor the
LCD settings can stretch this to use all of the screen.

Neither should they since the simpsons is not a widescreen program. Sounds like your settings for watching 4:3 channels are wrong as everything on sky1 should be pillarboxed as its not a widescreen channel.

Richard rich.ms

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Reply # 96722 24-Nov-2007 15:38

TV3 is a 16:9 ratio channel. Any 4:3 ratio content they screen will be pillarboxed within the 16:9 frame. If STB is on 16:9 full setting and TV is on widescreen then pillarboxes will be visible. This is how it should be and everything is the correct ratio.

To stretch a 16:9 ratio channel like TV3, change STB setting to 4:3 centre cut/pan scan and stretch using superzoom etc. on TV (puke).

Sky 1 is a 4:3 ratio channel and whether STB output is on 4:3 centre cut or 16:9 full width the TV can stretch it using superzoom/14:9 zoom etc. Stretching using superzoom however means the aspect ratio is NOT correct. TV should ideally be on 4:3 giving pillarboxes either side.

Some STB's (including TCL I believe) also have a 16:9 pillarbox setting which will automatically pillarbox all 4:3 channels. TV won't be able to stretch these.

Simple rule of thumb for widescreen TV. STB on 16:9 full and TV on widescreen or 4:3 depending on channel. All 4:3 ratio content/channels are pillarboxed and correct ratio. Alternatively STB 16:9 pillarbox and TV widescreen permanently.

If you don't like pillarboxes change STB to 4:3 centre cut/pan scan, stretch using TV and enjoy 4:3 ratio only TV until all the channels change to 16:9. Sky are taking their time.

Widescreen channels are:

TV1, TV2, TV3, C4, TVNZ6, Sport Extra, UK-TV (switches between 4:3 and 16:9 depending on content), Vibe, Crime & Investigation, National Geographic, Parliament TV.

P.S. The Simpsons is not made in widescreen so can not be viewed as such (all US standard definition is 4:3) and to call something widescreen because the TV stretches it is NOT the true definition.

Ross

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Lazydog

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Reply # 96732 24-Nov-2007 17:05

I am talking about a different issue than that of 'bartender' and 'halfbaked' :-)

sbiddle

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Reply # 96756 24-Nov-2007 22:05

Spyware:
P.S. The Simpsons is not made in widescreen so can not be viewed as such (all US standard definition is 4:3) and to call something widescreen because the TV stretches it is NOT the true definition.

I know this is getting a wee bit OT but I've been told by several people in the TV industry that all US SD broadcasts such as news is only available in 4:3 which is a bit of a pain. What is interesting however is that the UK seem to get US stuff in 16:9 and some news stories here of USA origin but supplied from a UK provider are 16:9

How are the UK networks sourcing 16:9 material?

richms

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Reply # 96764 25-Nov-2007 00:24

HD feeds.

Or else blowing up letterboxed stuff from the dire images often seen on the news

Richard rich.ms

TomAckroyd

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Reply # 96928 26-Nov-2007 10:48

This is definitely happening on TV One and TV2 - pretty sure not on TV3; haven't checked other channels.

TVNZ pictures on TCL digital have 17 pixels of blanking down the right hand side. Pictures are off centre by this much. I'm assuming 17 pixels are therefore missing off the LHS.

I wasn't seeing this on my overscanned TV, until I noticed RHS blanking on "The Street". (It seems this show is slightly pillarboxed; even the TV One bumper overlays are pillarboxed, though live overlays are full width. Is anyone watching The Street? It's fantastic.)

Nothing ever appears in this blanking; both 4:3 pillarboxed and 16:9 footage is shifted to the left, ie there is 17 pixels less blanking on the left, regardless of picture format, all the time.

If anyone is interested, I've posted jpegs on senduit here: http://senduit.com/804a6f
(This link will expire a week from today, ie on Monday December 3rd.)

There are examples from The Street (a slightly pillarboxed widescreen show), The Worst Week of my Life (a 16:9 show), live news studio, local and overseas news field footage, a pillarboxed 4:3 commercial and a true 16:9 commercial, and examples of bumpers going into and out of commercial breaks, which show TVNZ graphics.

These pictures are ex VOBs from my DVD recorder which is fed s-video out of my digital STB. I've kept them native MPEG-2 size ie 720x540, so of course pictures are squashed. To see how they would look on screen, change the pixel dimensions to 1024x576.

Maybe TCL would care to comment?

TomAckroyd

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Reply # 96930 26-Nov-2007 10:51

PS
This fault could lie with TVNZ, SKY or TCL.
I will have an opportunity to check TV One pictures ex SKY soon - will post whether the same thing is happening there.
Anyone on Freeview seeing this?

Lazydog

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Reply # 98548 6-Dec-2007 14:00

TomAckroyd wrote:

Maybe TCL would care to comment?

Seconded!! I would like to hear what is going on.....

BarTender

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Reply # 98550 6-Dec-2007 14:18

I was away this weekend so didn't get to capture "The Street" on friday... But will try and capture digital feeds on the satellite for channel 1 ex Freeview and Ex Sky (since it's not encrypted on the sat) and TCL Cable. And we can all compare the differences when / if I have time this weekend.
But from my "laymans" view of the digital feeds of Freeview off the satellite and TCL Cable I can't see any sigificant picture quality or alignment difference between the two of them.

TomAckroyd

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Reply # 98571 6-Dec-2007 15:44

I recorded last week's "The Street" and "Worst week..." on SKY digital.

There's still a slight picture shift to the left, but not as much as with TCL. The TVNZ warning graphic that appears before "The Street" has 11 pixels blanking on the right, and none on the left. "Worst Week" has 7 on the left, 11 on the right. This suggests the picture is 4 pixels off centre, as compared to TCL's 11 pixels off-centre.

4 pixels off-centre is not much, but 11 is obvious.

This may all become academic as TCL's new pictures come on stream.

Tom

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