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codycooper864

Scholar

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197 Messages

Mon, Dec 9, 2013 9:14 AM

Switching between HD and SD channel viewing

I just bought myself a brand new HD TV for Christmas. I love it. It is my first ever HD TV and I love watching the HD channels. But alas, every channel is not avaiable in HD. And the SD channels give me a small screen on my big TV. Is there any way to make the screen bigger when I switch from an HD channel to an SD channel?

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raufshake

Former Employee

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50 Messages

7 years ago

Yes, you will have to change the aspect ratio of your TV to suit the new TV resolution.
Below are the steps:

Press the Menu button on your AT&T U-verse Remote Control.
Select Options, then select TV screen resolution, and press OK.
Select one of the settings, depending on your TV capability

Once you have selected your screen resolution, a screen will prompt you to Start Test to verify if this is the correct setting. Select OK and follow the on-screen prompts.

Source : Aspect Ratio settings

codycooper864

Scholar

•

197 Messages

7 years ago

Thanks guys. By going to Menu- System Options- SD then putting my TV aspect on wide, it makes things a lot better. I appreciate the help.

aviewer

Expert

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10.1K Messages

7 years ago

codycooper864 - Just be aware that using wide setting when u-verse is sending full screen could cause the picture or menus to overscreen.

The differences in picture aspect is complicated. It can be adjusted by both u-verse and the TV. Each person has to find the one that works for them. But, we do get some complaints when the picture is too big because the TV is over compensating.

If you are changing for each view( i.e. SD & HD) you will remember, but, I am thinking you may find the menus too big. If so, you should use normal on the TV and change the setting in u-verse, as suggested.

FLAWLESSVW

Tutor

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6 Messages

7 years ago

I disagree...
Leave your uverse set to hd/1080i all the time, and leave your TV set to 16:9.
Now if you're watching SD programming and simply want it to "fill" your screen more so you're not watching 36 inches of picture on your 55 inch TV, just press the "#" button at the lower right corner of your number keypad and use the Zoom option. Often times the programming in SD appears to be the correct aspect ratio and just doesn't fill the screen. At least that's what works for me on the channels that aren't available in HD. Hope that helps!

gudejo

Contributor

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2 Messages

4 years ago

The aspect ratio doesn't solve the problem. The question is, why do the HD channels all start with 1000 numbers?

The only way I can get a full screen in HD is to precede the channel number with 1000. e.g., channel 210 in HD full screen is 1210.

This is such a pain and makes no sense at all!

skeeterintexas

ACE - Expert

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15.9K Messages

4 years ago

Uhhhhh.... because ALL providers give their customers the option of watching SD or HD. Not everyone has HD TVs or wants to pay for HD (trust me...they're out there).

ATT puts all HD channels in the 1000s to make it easier on their customers. Makes perfect sense to most of us.

Don't mess with old people. The older we get, the less "Life in Prison" is a deterrent.

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*I am not an AT&T employee, and the views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.

gudejo

Contributor

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2 Messages

4 years ago

I had Direct TV and never had to do this. BTW, a service technician had to tell me the trick about the 1000 series. One would think it would be described in the ATT literature. Just saying!

skeeterintexas

ACE - Expert

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15.9K Messages

4 years ago

If it causes you stress, you might want to hide all SD channels that have an HD option...that way you won't have to deal with them:

Menu>Options>Hide Channels

Don't mess with old people. The older we get, the less "Life in Prison" is a deterrent.

baseballisback

ACE - Professor

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3.7K Messages

4 years ago

@my thoughts wrote:
Set aspect ratio once,in your case TV is probably 1080,set aspect ratio to 1080i. Save change.

Depress ENTER/ZOOM button lower right of remote , go to zoom, strectch. Do this on SD channel will see screen fill out.
This is the silly putty effect. Faces get fatter, but no side bars, if do not like keep to normal but screen will be4:3 on SD.

I prefer Zoom 2 or Zoom 3. This take the image and stretches out on all sides.

Signal26

Tutor

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5 Messages

4 years ago

When the weather is bad I lose my signal. AT&T told me that if I switch to SD I'll get my picture back. My system is the new version of Direct TV. How do I switch from HD to SD?

Signal26

Tutor

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5 Messages

4 years ago

I just had Direct TV installed on 11/22/16. Was told that the new system rarely loses the signal. But if it does, all I had to do was switch to SD and I'd get my signal back, and could switch back to HD later. How to I switch from HD to SD?

skeeterintexas

ACE - Expert

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15.9K Messages

4 years ago

@Signal26 You've posted on the Uverse TV board. You probably want to post on the Direct TV board.

Don't mess with old people. The older we get, the less "Life in Prison" is a deterrent.

AT&T Community Forums

codycooper864

Switching between HD and SD channel viewing

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raufshake

codycooper864

aviewer

FLAWLESSVW

gudejo

skeeterintexas

gudejo

skeeterintexas

baseballisback

Signal26

Signal26

skeeterintexas

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