My new Wega isn't auto-squeezing 16:9 material..... (1 Viewer)

[Daniel Becker]

I finally got everything hooked up last night and I noticed a small problem with the 16:9 auto squeeze feature on my new 36HS510. My Sony dvd player immediately activated the squeeze mode but for some reason my Gamecube games and Burnout 2 on the Xbox wouldn't do it. They were displaying a 16:9 image but the tv wasn't responding. :frowning: I had to manually do it my self. Anyone know what the problem is?



Dan.B

 

[DaveF]

Is your Gamecube connected to one of the HD component inputs? Is the game set to output a widescreen 480P display, and not just a letterboxed widescreen picture?

 

[Daniel Becker]

Yeah, i'm not that much of a newbie. I was playing NBA Street and it has an anamorphic widescreen option and it was turned on and the tv just didn't auto squeeze it. I did it manually and it looked perfect.


As for my Xbox it gets really weird. I've got my xbox set to think I have a 16:9 tv. Well, it displays the menus in 16:9 and the tv auto squeezed them correctly but when I put in Burnout 2 the game was displayed in anamorphic but the tv wasn't auto squeezing it! Of course I manually adjusted it and everything was fine.


I think it must be software related somehow. If the developers don't put a signal of some kind in their it may not detect it somehow. Thats the only theory I can't figure right now.



Dan.B

 

[DaveF]

Strange problem. Like you said, it could be a software problem. My HS500 seems to squeeze on Gamecube games appropriately, but I don't use widescreen mode much for games.

You could check the Video Game Software section for games that provide anamorphic video, and rent some to make sure it's not a problem with your TV.

 

[Dmitry]

Don't know whether they changed it in HS500, my older XBR400 only auto-squeezes 480I, not 480P, so I have to do it manually for my progressive-scan DVD player.

 

[Jeremy Little]

My Wega does the exact same thing. Auto squeeze on 480I 1080I, not 480P. It is a KV32hs20

 

[Daniel Becker]

Well, this is all so weird. The tv instantly recognizes my progressive dvd's being played from a new Sony 725P DVD player. It auto squeezes all of them.


For some reason the Gamecube and Xbox are a different story. Whats even more weird is my friend has a 32" Sony non-hdtv and his auto squeezes all his widescreen Xbox games.




Dan.B

 

[Dmitry]

Whats even more weird is my friend has a 32" Sony non-hdtv and his auto squeezes all his widescreen Xbox games.

Then most likely it's not capable of accepting progressive scan input and his situation would be different from yours. Is your 725P set up to output progressive scan? I believe there's a switch on it that allows you to go from progressive to interlaced and back. Check to see if the TV auto-squeezes the DVDs in all modes.

 

[Daniel Becker]

Well, I watched Episode 2 in progressive scan last night and the tv auto squeezed the movie. So, that knocks down that theory. Also worth mentioning,....


I tried NBA Street 2 on my Gamecube which is not a progressive game. When I switched the game to 16:9 mode the tv did not recognize the image and did not auto squeeze. On the contrary I tried Burnout 2 with my Xbox set to 480p and the tv also did not auto squeeze the anamorphic image. So, in other words the tv has now shown it doesn't matter if the image is progressive or not. It's just not recognizing some images as anamorphic. This sucks and I hope nothing is wrong with the tv. :frowning:



Dan.B

 

[JamesHl]

My XBR400 only auto squeezes a very few things, I don't know if it will even do a 480i 16x9 source, but it does squeeze 1080i automatically. I just have a macro on my pronto that does it for me.

 

[Daniel Becker]

Is there any way for me to set an auto 16:9 button on my remote? I've heard people mention "macros" before but I don't know what they are. It all makes me want to ask this question though? Why they hell doesn't Sony just put a freaking squeeze button on their remotes?!?!? It's not like there would be a lot of work involved with adding that button.


Dan.B

 

[Dmitry]

Daniel,

that depends on the remote. "Macro" refers to a sequence of "button presses" recorded and assignded to a single button. Inthe case of the "squeeze"/"unsqueeze" macro it would be going into the menu, scrolling to the right menu item and clicking "up" or "down" arrow. Since Sony's menu cycle through and there are only two entries in that menu, it effectively works as a toggle.

The particulars of setting up a macro in the remote are very specific to that remote. I suggest reading the remote manual to see if it supports macros and in what way. You might also want to look at the Remote Central site for a very good coverage of different brands and models.

 

[jeff lam]

On the newer Sony models 2002 and 2003, the HS and XBR sets autosqueeze 480i and 480p. The previous models did not auto-squeeze progressive scan, only interlaced. The 400 and 450 XBR models only could auto-squeeze 480i. If you sent it a progressive scan signal it would not squeeze automaticaly.

On my 32HV600 I have no problems at all with any DVD's in any mode. I do however have a problem with the tv recognizing PS2 games in Anamorphic. SSX Tricky has an anamorphic setting and I have to set the TV to squeeze it myself. For some reason it can't read the PS2 game as anamorphic. Maybe it's just the flag it can't read. Doesn't the TV use some type of detection flag to know wether it should squeeze the image of not? Maybe with The game consoles the flags aren't set properly to let the TV know it's an anamorphic image.

 

[Cary P]

My 32HV600 also irregularly applies the auto-squeeze. I think it is a common problem with Sony TV's. I've found no rhyme or reason to when it does or doesn't apply the squeeze - but it mainly affects my DVD viewing.

The haphazard auto-squeeze is really the only issue I've had with the TV. It wouldn't be so damn annoying if Sony would've just put an aspect-ratio function button directly on the remote. It's a pain to go into the menu system every time to make the adjustment.

I purchased a 5 year extended warranty with this TV and am thinking of making a big issue of this after about 4 1/2 years. Maybe I can squeeze a new TV out of this "defect", but that might be a bit of a stretch.

Cary

 

[jeff lam]

Cary,
What problems have you had with the auto-squeeze. My 32HV600 has never applied the squeze when it should not have. If you have problems with it applying the squeeze when it shouldn't most likely the problem lies in the DVD flag not the TV.

You sure you are set up correctly?

I've watched probably about a hundred DVD's on my 32HV600 since I got it last November and it has always displayed every DVD correctly. Always auto-squeezes Anamorphic discs and never squeezes non-anamorphic discs. Also never had it squeeze any satellite TV or VHS tapes that I watch.

Any specific titles that give you problems?

I love this TV and I feel that the Auto-squeeze feature is the best feature on this TV. Not one sigle issue on any DVD so far. Only the PS2 game as explained above.

 

[Cary P]

Jeff,

My problem is the 32HV600 will rapidly switch back and forth between squeeze mode and full mode when watching the widescreen anamorphic DVD progressive output of my Toshiba SD9200 DVD player. Like it can't make up it's mind.

I particularly remember this problem with the Attack of the Clones DVD. I really don't watch a lot of widescreen DVD movies (about one or two a month), most of my DVD watching consists of 4:3 music concerts and old 4:3 TV shows like Star Trek:TOS, The Avengers, Twin Peaks, etc., so I can't think of another particularly bad offender off the top of my head.

It's really not too big of a deal to set the 16:9 squeeze manually, but it would be a lot less annoying if there was a direct aspect ratio control button on the remote.

With 1080I HD sources, I believe the squeeze is hard-wired default with this set, and I have no problems with the squeeze mode switching back and forth at random.

The only other complaint I can think of with this set is that I've had a hard time calibrating the black level to show enough shadow detail without the picture looking a bit washed-out.

Cary

 

[jeff lam]

It may be your DVD player that has the issue then. Have you tried a different player to see if it still has the problems? My 32HV600 never had a problem with any DVD including SW Episode 2. It does switch beack and forth in the begining with the fox logo and FBI warning but that's because the FBI warning is in enhanced 16x9 and the FOX screen is in 4x3 if I remember correctly. During the film itself there are never any problems.

I agree somewhat with the black level. This is fixable with a proper calibration of Grey Scale though. Give Gregg Loewen a call if you want a calibration, he will be up here in SF this summer. He will fix your shadow detail. I'm going to get mine calibrated later this summer if I have the money.

 

[Daniel Becker]

Does anyone have an idea of what Greg would charge me to come out and give a quick calibration check on my 36" Sony? I'd just like to have him do the grey scale and a few other tweaks. I live near Chicago.



Dan.B

 

[jeff lam]

See this thread and give him a call or email:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=142901

Should be somewhere around $300-$400 for your TV depending on what you get done. Maybe less. Maybe more. That's just a guess though. Best thing to do is get into contact with him directly.