Tutor
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7 Messages
edges of display cut short?
Hello everyone,
I am a bit confused as to why U-verse seems to cut off the outer 2 inches (roughly) from each side of the screen. It does not matter if I have the resolution set to SD, "wide" SD, 720dpi or 1080dpi, each time it makes no difference. The edges all seem to be cut short, and in their place is black, like a picture frame. Yes, the TV can handle all of those display settings. I've also changed the TV's format settings, and none of them seem to help the situation either. I can change it to zoom, which gets rid of the black frame, but using the guide or menu requires changing from zoom or the channels cannot be read. The u-verse guide looks correct regardless of display resolution. Thanks.
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aviewer
Expert
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10.1K Messages
10 years ago
Set Top Box (STB) is aka receiver. Your setup is working correctly.
You are right to connect HDMI even though you do not have HD. It is best way & you are ready when they have a free HD preview.
I think what you are seeing is the way SD channels are currently being displayed. They used to be 4:3 ratio chopped out of the middle of the 9?16 widescreen. Now, they are recognizing most have widescreen & displaying 16:9 but they still do not fit the screen. This may be because that just is the way it is or it could be they still want it to fit on a 4:3 screen.
The zoom on the STB is probably your best bet, but give the widescreen SD another shot. With your TV set to normal, there is a slight possibility it will fill the screen.
Although, HDMI may over ride it. If you have any extra cables handy give component connection a try. You can do just the video with three cables as a test if you do not have five cables available.
I just looked at some SD channels & I see that some are 4:3 (bars on side only) & some are widerscreen semi-letterbox (bars on sides, top & bottom).
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aviewer
Expert
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10.1K Messages
10 years ago
When you say you can change to zoom, it also affects the guide, you are talking about the TV setting. You do want to set the TV to normal - no modification of the picture.
If it is one channel, or a few, use the U-verse zoom to correct it. The emter/zoom button is bottom right. Zoom selection is second from bottom on the menu. This zoom will not affect the guide.
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ECONORAM
Tutor
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7 Messages
10 years ago
Hmmm. Interesting. You are right, I was actually referring to zoom on the television remote, but I see there is a zoom on the U-verse remote. Thanks! That might actually help improve things.
[update] If I use zoom 3, that seems to get rid of the black frame but it also cuts the top off the picture. Tried about 3 or 4 local channels just now. At the moment the only advantage I see to using the U-verse zoom is it keeps all of the Guide accessible.
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aviewer
Expert
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10.1K Messages
10 years ago
How are you connected to the TV? Do you have multiple STBs that you could swap one? I do not see how it could be the TV if the guide displays correctly.
If zoom 3 goes too far, use zoom 2. It is not intended for perfection, just improvement. If you have a problem with all HD channels, there is still something wrong. You are getting HD??
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americangame
Professor
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1.3K Messages
10 years ago
Are you watching a sub-1000 channel and are you refering to the black bars on the side? THat's actually normal for U-Verse since a ajorityof viewers don't want to see the channel in stretch-o-vision.
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ECONORAM
Tutor
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7 Messages
10 years ago
The reciever is wireless, and uses an HDMI cable to connect to the TV. I will have to compare it to some more channels, I think. (once the wife's programs are done) What is an STB?
No, I am not getting HD channels as part of my package. Don't see the need for HD, but I do like running the higher resolution on the TV--the screen looks better than SD and we can see all of the menu options at once...plus more of the guide.
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ECONORAM
Tutor
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7 Messages
10 years ago
Yes, I have only been looking at sub-1000 channels. I think I could accept the black border, if it didn't cut off part of the displayed information. For example, when I look at the local channel 5 (KENS), they have a KENS5 thing in the lower left corner. But due to this cut off, I can't see all of the KENS5. The display starts about half-way through the E...?
Copy on the stretch; I don't care for seeing that either!
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americangame
Professor
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1.3K Messages
10 years ago
That sounds like the channel is sending AT&T the signal with it being shopped off. If you have the HD service, try checking out the channel on there. For example, if you're trying to watch channel 5, tune to channel 1005.
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dhascall
Master
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9.8K Messages
10 years ago
He doesn't have HD service.
ECONORAM: I do have the HD service but we still watch some channels in SD (old habbits are hard to get rid of). My question is:
Is it on all channels or just a few? When we were oroginally installed with U-Verse, most, if not all of our SD channels had "picture frame" around them. Using the zoom button on the U-Verse remote and selecting 2 or 3 fixed it. Once in a while, our local FOX afiliate (Fox 59, channel 11 SD) will be so stretched out that scores, logos and such will be off the screen. In that case, it is an issue witrh the station running an HD resolution (widescreen) on their SD broadcast. If that's the case, contact the station.
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americangame
Professor
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1.3K Messages
10 years ago
I'm aware of that. What I'm hearing is that eitehr U-verse or the TV station is broadcasting their widescreen view and cropping off the sides in their SD feed, causing the picture to seem "chopped off"
Since he has an HDTV and is connecting the STB via HDMI, I suggested that he should look into adding the HD service.
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