31
HDTV DISPLAY QUESTIONS
Wide-Screen HDTV Display Questions
"How do I get rid of those vertical black bars on my wide-screen TV?"
The black (or gray) bars on the left and right sides of the screen appear when you are
watching standard definition or non-HD program on a wide-screen HDTV. This is
called pillarboxing.
"The show I'm watching on ABC has black bars on all four sides. How do I fix it?"
The black bars on the left and right sides of the screen and at the top and bottom appear
when you are watching standard definition or non-HD program on a wide-screen HDTV.
This is called windowboxing.
Cooperative Telephone Exchange recommends viewing the channel without
distortion. For the best picture quality, you should subscribe to HD programming
if you have a wide-screen HDTV. Also, watch the HD version of the channel if the
show is broadcasted in HD.
You can remove the black bars from the display by adjusting the TV or digital box video
settings, but adjusting your picture can distort and degrade the quality of your picture.
Choose the option that is most visually pleasing to you.
1.
Use the zoom control on the TV blow up the image, eliminating the vertical bars and
removing (or at least minimizing) the horizontal ones.
2.
Change the digital box video settings to Widescreen 16:9 (stretch 4:3)
3.
Set the TV's aspect-ratio control to Stretch or Full.
4.
If available, watch the HD version of the channel if the show is broadcasted in HD.
Upside:
The image will fill the screen.
Downside:
• You'll miss any action at the extreme top and bottom of the screen, which will be cut
off—bad news if you're looking at the Interactive Guide, stock ticker, news crawl, or
subtitles. Furthermore, the picture will appear softer because it's being electronically
blown up, just like the muddy images one gets when using the digital zoom function
on a digital camera.
• The black bars are gone, but to fit the square 4:3 image to the wider screen, the picture
has been stretched horizontally, making everyone appear squat and bloated.
• For windowboxing, there's nothing to miss at the top and bottom of the screen, with the
possible exception of subtitles or closed captioning, which may be cut off by zooming.
Furthermore, the picture will appear softer.
*This information was compiled from C-Net’s “Quick Guide to Aspect Ratio”.
