changing to 9/16

[Robbiewright]

I just swopped my old 4x3 tv set for a new flash 16x9 plasma set, however I can't change the output from the sky box to 16x9, I did the set up thing and saved the changes and it tells me it is now 16x9 but everything is fat. I switched the set to 4x3 and things look fine but its not using all the screen. Is there something I am doing wrong or missing?

 

[rolfw]

Is your Scart lead fully connected (all pins wired) and in the TV out of the receiver Robbie?

 

[Robbiewright]

The Scart lead was looking a bit old and grubby so I have put in a new one, still no change. The Scart lead is connected to a DVD/Surround sound system before it gets to the TV, the DVD player is set to 16x9 too. I do have another problem with the box but until now I have just put up with it. If I use one of the top blue buttons (TV Guide, Services, etc) then the box will freeze up when I go back to view the channels, both a red and green light on and i get no response from any buttons at all, the only way to get it going again is unplug it and start again. Every time I try to swop to 16x9 I have to power down, may be this has something to do with it however it is telling me it is 16x9 even though it isn't, and other changes I make work.

 

[PaulR]

Have you tried connecting the digibox to the TV without the surround sound system in the middle?

Switching is accomplished by a device outputing a voltage on pin 8 of the scart plug into the TV. A voltage of around 12 volts indicates a 4/3 picture and a voltage of about 6 volts indicates a 16/9 picture. It's possible that the correct voltage isn't getting to the TV through the surround sound system.

If you have a voltmeter you could try measuring pin 8 going into the TV both with and without the surround sound system in the way.

PaulR

 

[Robbiewright]

Strange things are happening to my box... or my head. Turned it on today and most things seem fine, don't know what I did or why it has changed but it did, I think my box is on its way out though. 5 years of Egypt's heat, dust and dodgy power supply, I'm suprised it has lasted so long but is it possible to have some channels coming out in 4x3 and some in 16x9?? Sky news, people are fat, I change the tv to 4x3 and its fine so it is definitely coming out in 4x3. E4 and it's fine, change the tv to 4x3 and everything is long and thin so thats coming out in 16x9????? Have I lost the plot or is there an obvious answer?

The TV dosn't have a Scart in so I am using a Scart to AV lead. Plugged it straight into the TV and same deal.

 

[PaulR]

I don't watch $ly News so I don't know what format they use but certainly some programmes on other channels are in 4:3 and others are in 16:9. When a 4:3 channel is stretched on some widescreen TVs then you get the "fat people" effect you talk about.

For instance, most programmes on the BBC networks are now in 16:9, a lot on ITV and Ch4 are in 16:9 and Five is increasing the amount of 16:9 all the time (ie most is still 4:3).

If your big dish gets 2D then you can check by loking at the news. On BBC it's 16:9 while on ITV, Ch4 and Five it's in 4:3 so you should be able to check which one gives you the fat presenters!

PaulR

 

[Robbiewright]

Thanks Paul, so it looks like my box is working O.K in that department. I havn't had a real good play with the menu on the TV yet so I might be able to find a way around it and lose a bit at the top and bottom but if not I can live with it.

 

[PoloMint]

...The TV dosn't have a Scart in so I am using a Scart to AV lead. Plugged it straight into the TV and same deal.

That will be why the TV isn’t switching. As PaulR says switching is done by a voltage on the Scart lead, that won’t (and can’t) get passed onto the AV connectors.

If you want to see things in proper widescreen and not have distorted 4x3 pictures then changing the TV ratio manually each time the channel aspect changes is the only way I’m afraid. Anything else will be a compromise on one (or both) of the ratios.

 

[Robbiewright]

Oops, should of looked into that a bit more before I got the new screen. Is there any other way around, may be change the DVD player to one with a Scart in and then AV to the screen or is there such thing as a convertor I can put inbetween the box and the screen??

 

[PaulR]

Oops also. I should've noticed that bit about the AV connection instead of blathering on about switching voltages.

Interestingly enough I found it more convenient to run my digibox with a permanent widescreen output (ie a 16:9 picture gives black bars top and bottom) and let the autosensing circuits on my TV sort the picture out rather than use the "correct" 16:9 ouput and relying on the switching voltages to be correct. This way I get the best of both worlds with 4:3 and 16:9 pictures.

My TV is a Philips 32PW9618 which has some pretty sophisticated circuitry to perform its magic. I would have thought that a plasma TV would have something similar on board. On my TV it's called autoformat, perhaps you could find something similar?

PaulR