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question about my hd receiver + Sony TV? (1 Viewer)

PeterN

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Feb 20, 2003
Messages
68
I currently have a Sony KP-51WS510 paired up with a Samsung T151 STB. If I'm not mistaken, anytime you run component through the TV, you lose the feature of stretch modes.

The reason I ask is because I'm thinking about switching to D* HD. Obviously, I would like to use component out. My question is, does this mean that my non-hd content be shown with gray bars? Is my only other option to run SVid out instead of component?

Anybody deal with this yet?
 

Bryan J

Auditioning
Joined
Feb 24, 2004
Messages
9
PeterN,

I own the same set that you do and utilize component vid cables from an HD box directly into the TV. You can still use stretch modes when viewing no-HD content, but I wouldn't recommend it. The gray bars are annoying, but at least this way you're seeing the image closer to how it's meant to be seen. Don't mess with S-Vid as it can't do HD-rez.

I hope this helps.
peace,
bryan
 

PeterN

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Feb 20, 2003
Messages
68
Bryan, thanks for the help and advice. Some programs I will watch with gray bars, but others don't look that bad in "full mode".
 

Steve Schaffer

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 15, 1999
Messages
3,756
Real Name
Steve Schaffer
Peter,

If you switch to a DirecTV HD box you will have several different options depending on the box you choose.

About the most versatile boxes with respect to aspect ration and scanrate options are those made by LG, marketed as LG, Sony, and Hughes HTL-HD. These boxes can be set to output everything at 1080i, locking out your set's aspect ratio control. In this mode the box itself has a full selection of aspect ratio controls for non-hd channels. Alternatively you can set the box to output HD channels at 1080i and non-hd channels at 480p, both via component video cables. This will not lock out the stretch/zoom modes on your set when watching a non-HD channel.

I have the essentially similar Sony KP57HW40 and an LG mfg. Sony box. I have the box set to output 1080i only and use the box's aspect ratio control when I want to stretch/zoom non-HD channels. The box has 5 modes for presenting SD material on a widescreen set:

Normal=a 4/3 picture with your choice of gray or black bars on the sides. This is the same as "normal" done by your set, but in the setup menu for the box you have the option of selecting black instead of gray bars.

Full=same as Full on the set.

Panorama=a variable stretch similar to your set's "WideZoom" but without the vertical stretch your set does in Widezoom, the crawl at the bottom of CNN or MSNBC doesn't disappear off the bottom of the screen as it does when you put the set in Widezoom.

Zoom-1=Does a full horizontal zoom and half a vertical zoom. Pic is still a bit short and fat, but not as bad as in Full, and less is lost off the top and bottom.

Zoom-2=equal horizontal and vertical zoom, same as "Zoom" on the tv, except that on the tv Zoom is done by spreading out the scanlines, making them more visible, whereas the box does it digitally and scanlines don't get spread out.
 

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