Samsung 67 - can't get full screen

Re: Samsung 67 DLP Settings

I would suggest using the "Movie" video settings as a starting point for viewing HDTV, DVD and BluRay. That preset was very close to perfect on my set. I only needed to tweak a few settings slightly from there to get optimal picture quality.

As for the picture size, either "just scan" or "16x9" should work with a true HD source. You didn't accidentally activate one of the "e mode" viewing modes, did you?

Re: Samsung 67 DLP Settings

also ensure that your cable box is outputting 1080i (vs 480i or 480p).

Re: Samsung 67 DLP Settings

I use "Movie Mode" and "Warm 1" along with some tweaks in the contrast, brightness, and sharpness bars.

If you're getting those kinds of artifacts, you must be using one of the vivid modes and DNIe is probably switched on, too. All of that goes away when you chose "Movie."

Re: Samsung 67 DLP Settings

"Just scan" is one of the options available under the picture sizes -- the "P.Size" button on the remote. E modes are some other picture presets such as Sports, Game and Cinema available by using the "E.Mode" button on the remote. Personally, I would make sure the E mode is set to Off.

Re: Samsung 67 DLP Settings

Which movie? Most modern films are in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, while your TV's aspect ratio is 1.78:1. Therefore, you will still see some letterboxing on these types of films. Here is a more detailed explanation of aspect ratios.

Re: Samsung 67 - can't get full screen

Something is definitely wrong - probably a combination of settings on your TV and cable box. If everything is working properly your SD channels and other non-widescreen programming shouldn't fill the screen, it should be properly pillar-boxed to 1.33:1. Widescreen programming should occupy the full width of your screen. How much of the height it occupies will depend on its original aspect ratio. (1.77: 1 material will exactly fill the screen, as will most 1.85:1 material, thanks to overscan. 2.35:1 and other wider material will, of course, be letterboxed.)

Since the result you get depends on the equipment and settings, we'll need to know the make and model number of each of the components (TV, cable box or DVR, receiver if you're running the video through it) and how everythinig is connected.

I can tell you that on my Scientific Atlanta HD-DVR from Comcat I had to go into the setup and select "pass-through" in order to get cable content to automatically dispaly in the correct aspect ratio. (I also selected "dark bars" for the DVR-generated pillarbox bars.) Any other setting was distorted in some way on my TV because the DVR was pre-processing the image before the TV tried to deal with it.

Regards,

Joe

Re: Samsung 67 - can't get full screen

Still need the make and model for everything (all TVs, all boxes, in all rooms) before I can offer any useful comments.

Regards,

Joe

Re: Samsung 67 - can't get full screen

David, I have combined your two threads. If you already have a thread on a topic, please do not start another. Thanks.

Re: Samsung 67 - can't get full screen

David, you may want to try turning off HDMI control on both the TV and cable box. This could be forcing the TV into a certain view mode. On the Samsung, this would be the "Anynet" setting. I'm not sure where you would turn it off on your SA cable box.

Re: Samsung 67 - can't get full screen

I also have an SA Explorer 8300 HD, from Adelphia (pre-Comcast buyout) and it does, indeed, have a pass-through setting. I'm not sure where you're finding the 480 and 1080 settings. What menu are they under? There are four settings for Picture Format: Upconvert 1, Upconvert 2, Fixed and Pass-through. My 8300 is connected to my A/V receiver via component inputs and the receiver is connected to one of the TV's component inputs.

There is no combnination of settings on the TV and cable DVR that allow me to duplicate what you're seeing on one of your TVs, but the fact that you're seeing different results with the same cable DVR on two different TVs suggest the problem is either with one of the TVs or with a combination of the settings on the two devices causing the issue. In any case, since you still haven't told me how you have everything connected (and still haven't listed the model number of the TV that is working OK) I'm not sure what could be going on.

Regards,

Joe

Re: Samsung 67 - can't get full screen

I'm confused as to what you are seeing I guess. From reading the manuals for the TV and 8300, I'm almost betting your Cable Box isn't setup properly and you need to run the Setup program from scratch -- maybe even reset it default first.

Can you possibly take any digital pictures of the connections on the 8300 and DLP so we can see your setup and connections.


SA 8300HD DVR x2 -- ?? one for DLP set and separate box for Plasma or are you running both sets off a single box? If you have 2 8300's can you exchange boxes and see if the screwed up picture follows the box or stays on the DLP only?


I wonder why do you have the S-Video connected? If you have the Red/Green/Blue component outs of the 8300 connected to the R/G/B component in of the DLP, where is your sound coming from -- do you have a separate audio system connected to the 8300 or are you just not mentioning those since the audio is OK. You aren't by any chance connecting from/to the Yellow/Red/White in/outs -- a long shot but I've done it before trying to connect things by mirror?




In the Samsung Setup Menu's:

"Picture Options: Size" 16:9 or better yet Just Scan. If the Just Scan is greyed out then I would think that you aren't connected to the right input or your cable box is not outputting a HD signal despite what the Cable guy said. It looks like if you are able to access Zoom 1 and 2 those options shouldn't be available for anything above 480i/p. according to p28 of the Samsung manual that I'm looking at.

Re: Samsung 67 - can't get full screen

If they were hooked up in the wrong place they wouldn't work, but if you had the R/G/B hooked to the Composite Video and Audio R/L on BOTH units, you would get a 480i picture which is what it sounds like you are getting with the terrible pictures and weird aspect ratio.

The fact that you are not able to access the Just Scan, but are able to use Zoom 1/2 seems to indicate that something is wrong on the input side (Cable Box is not outputting a 1080 signal or you TV is not seeing the 1080 signal). Easiest way I can see to isolate Box Output vs TV input would be to exchange the 2 DVR's.

The Just Scan is part of the TV remote and Menu. From the manual manual and having to do this the hard way:

Input Source ----------------------- Picture Size
Analog TV, S-Video, Dig TV (480i/p), Component (480i/p), HDMI 480p -------- 16:9, Zoom1, Zoom 2, 4:3

DigTV (1080i), Component(1080i/p), HDMI(720p,1080i/p) ---------- 16:9, Wide Fit, Just Scan

Dig TV (720p), Component (720P) -------- 16:9, 4:3, Wide Fit

PC, HDMI/DVI (PC Timing) --------- Wide TV, Wide PC, 4:3


As I read this, the only sources that should allow Zoom features are 480 sources. Now I may be reading things wrong since I can't play with the knobs, but something looks to be wrong.

Re: Samsung 67 - can't get full screen

Scott:

To access the controls I'm talking about you need to press the "settings" button on the remote control twice. The second press will get you to the screen where you set the sound options, favorite channels, etc. I haven't been into the other setup screen in ages and had quite forgotten about it.


I'm confused by this, too, since I'm not 100% sure what you mean by the "three colored cables". Do you mean the red/green/blue component video cables (in which case where is the sound coming from?) or do you mean the red/white/yellow two-channel audio and component video cable?

Because if that's the cable you're using, David is right, you're not getting HD at all. You're getting HD downconverted to 480p and then upconverted by the TVs to their native resolution. Yes, this will still look better than your SD channels, just as SD DVDs look better on an HDTV when upconverted, but not as good as it could. You should be connecting to your TVs a DVI-to-HDMI adapter cable (because your cable box has no HDMI ouput) or at the very least a set of component (red/green/blue) video cables. If you're using a composite (yellow) or s-video cable the cable box is sending that as 480i or 480p, max.

Please indicate which outputs on the cable boxes have cables running to which inputs on the TVs (including in the input numbers.) And what color is the connector on each of the cables you're using?

Regards,

Joe

Re: Samsung 67 - can't get full screen

The bad news: You aren't watching HD and never have been and the Comcast tech who came to your house should be fired, if not taken out and shot.

The composite (yellow) video cable you have going from the DVR to your TV cannot carry an HD signal. The DVR downconverts anything going out over that analog component output to either 480i or 480p. The component cables you have running from your receiver to the TV are doing nothing whatsoever, because there is no video signal going from the DVR to the receiver. (If the receiver has an on-screen display it could be sending this out via the component output, but that would just be sad.)

The good news: This is an incredibly easy fix.

1) Disconnect the component cables from the receiver and connect them to the component out on the DVR.

2) Disconnect the yellow video cable from the DVR. At the other end of that bundled cable, disconnect all three connectors from the video 1 input. Connected the left and right audio cables (red and white) to the audio input for component 1.

3) Leave the digital audio cable running from the DVR to the receiver.

With these connections you will be able to watch properly formatted video from the DVR and listen to it via the TV's speakers when that's all you want and switch to the receiver when you prefer better sound.

Nowhere in this thread do you say anything about a DVD player or other components? Do you have any?

If so, you might want to use the AV receiver as your video switch. The advantage is convenience. The downside is you need to have your receiver turned on to watch TV. Your call.

If you do want to do video switching, you'll need an additional component video cable. Leave the connection going from the receiver output to the TV component 1 input. Run the new cable from the DVR to one of the component inputs on the receiver. You may need to pair the digital audio input you are using now with this component input. See the receiver manual for how to do this. As you add other components you would connect their component video outputs and digial audio outs to the Yamaha, which would then send the image to the TV via the single component connection between them.

I hope you have a DVD player. Once you get everything hooked up correctly you will certainly want to buy or rent a system calibration disc like Avia or Digital Video Essentials to properly adjust it. The out-of-box settings for both of your TVs will be wrong and inaccurate, because factory settings always are. They are not adjusted to your viewing conditions, and they are always "pushed" to make the set stand out in a sea of other screens on the sales floor of a big box store.

Let us know how things look when you have everything properly connected and actually see HD for the first time on this TV.

Regards,

Joe