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Pass-through

post #1 of 6
4/21/09 at 7:31am
Thread Starter 
Hi, and thanks for any help.

I have recently set my Scientific Atlanta 8300 HDC box (through Comcast) to Pass-Through, and got what I have wanted....sd channels fill the screen....hd channels fill the screen.

By doing this, is the quality of the sd impacted at all? That is, would the sd picture quality be better just left with the boxes on the left and right side? To an untrained eye, it does not look bad, but I wanted to ask those with more knowledge. Is this picture being stretched?

Thank you.
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post #2 of 6
4/21/09 at 9:06am

Re: Pass-through

The pass-through setting leaves the image manipulation to your TV. What you see now depends on your TV settings. Personally I would not stretch an image intended to be 4:3 just to "fill" my TV screen. I think the purpose of my TV is to accurately reproduce the signals it is being fed, regardless of what they are. The 16:9 (1.78:1) shape it has is just a convenient compromise between the many aspect ratios I watch - 1.33:1, 1.37:1, 1.66:1, 1.85:1, 1.78:1, 2.35:1, 2.60:1. I expect "black bars" to appear as necessary to display each of these in the correct proportions, without regard to their "filling" the screen.

It sounds like your TV is set to one of the stretch or zoom modes - which probably means that even your HD channels are distorted. They shouldn't "fill the screen", either, at least not all the time. (4:3 commercials appear on HD channels all the time, as to movies that are wider than 16:9.)

You might at least want to check that, because you're losing some of what you paid for when you bought an HD set if you're messing with the image.

Regards,

Joe
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post #3 of 6
4/21/09 at 10:01am
Thread Starter 

Re: Pass-through

Mr. DeMartino:

Thanks for the prompt reply. If I may follow up:

1) The picture is set on Normal, not Zoom.

2) On High Def channels, I do see the black bars during commercials,
and when the program is not being broadcast in HD.

I absolutely agree with you about allowing the TV to reproduce the signal as intended, but given what I mentioned above, are the SD and/or HD pictures still being distorted by using Pass-Through?

Thank you.

that the TV should be left to reproduce
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post #4 of 6
4/21/09 at 12:17pm

Re: Pass-through

That's weird. With the combination of settings you mention you should be getting "pillar bars" on the SD channels - black or grey bars on the right and left hand sides. I have also have an SA 8300 series HD box (the HD-DVR, in my case) and I'm using the same settings. How do you (physically) have the box connected to the TV? HDMI? Component? Is the video running through an AV Receiver that is working as a switch?

Finally, what is the make and model of the TV?

Thanks,

Joe
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post #5 of 6
4/21/09 at 1:02pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Pass-through

Thank you, and apologies on the repeated post.

(I also have the DVR, by the way.)

The TV is connected to the box by a thick white cord that then has several color-coded wires going into the TV. As far as I know, there is no HDMI
and definitely not an a/v component.

The TV is a 40" Sony Bravia, KDL-40W4100.

Since you mentioned we have the same settings, if I need to double check any of the settings that you suspect might be different than yours, please let me know.

I do appreciate your help and interest, and apologize for any naivete I am demonstrating!

Thank you.
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post #6 of 6
4/21/09 at 1:32pm

Re: Pass-through

Welcome to the forum, Hal!

(And I removed that second instance of your post. )


Cees
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