Page 1 of Widescreen Signal

Hi Everybody

Just got a new TV Tosh 36ZP48 - Nice!

Just a question on Widescreen. The telly has the usual facility to change viewed image 4:3, Wide etc, but also has the option whereby if a "True Widescreen" picture is broadcast then it will automatically change to widescreen.

This works fine with Sky, but doesn`t seem to work with terrestrial TV.

Any body clarify this for me or had the same situation?

Possible solution welcome!

Cheers

MIB.

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The 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California, less than 100 were made. My father spent 3 years restoring this car.....it is his love.....it is his passion....."it is his fault he didn`t lock the garage!"

The Madjority Of Analouge Transmission Are Broadcast in 4:3, as most people with widescreen tvs have digital of some sort.

Any decent widescreen telly should have an `auto` function.
JVC call it `auto`
Philips call it `superwide`
etc.etc.

When watching any non-widescreen transmission,whether analogue or digital,they should automatically stretch the picture into something like `panoramic` mode so that it still fills the screen.
The speed of the switching varies somewhat.
My CRT JVC switches seemlessly and extremely quickly,with just a quick flash of `auto` on the screen telling you it`s doing it.
In fact it`s so quick it`ll switch as you flick through channels.
My LCD JVC needs to settle on a channel for a while before it detects if it`s widescreen or not and then switches accordingly.

As I told my friend who`s new to widescreen.
Put it on auto and leave it.

The TV has the relevant modes - 4:3, 14:9, cinema etc, these I can switch between by using the remote. But in the `setup` menu it has an option to change automatically to W/S, as previously stated.

On BBC last night there was a programme which was advertised as being a widescreen broadcast, but the telly didn`t switch over automatically and when I did it manually everbody looked like Umpa-lumpas.

This is my problem, does the widescreen signal get filtered out by going through DVDR, Sky box and VCR before getting to telly?

Cheers

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The 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California, less than 100 were made. My father spent 3 years restoring this car.....it is his love.....it is his passion....."it is his fault he didn`t lock the garage!"

True widescreen broadcasts are available on digital tv only
Analogue will broadcast either in 4:3 if thats what the original is,proper 16:9 widescreen material is shown in the compromise 14:9 with small top and bottom borders,thus missing off part of the sides.Although when it comes to movies C4 analogue is the only channel that shows in letterbox 16:9 with a WSS to change your wide tv automatically to ZOOM to fill the screen.
Digital tv broadcasts in anamorphic widescreen and correct display depends on the correct setting of both your tv and your digibox.But apart from the main 5 and their offshoots,Sky movies and Sky One(and Sports I think)all other digital channels are not in widescreen.As many of the programmes on the channels are repeats from C4 and the BBC,these get shown in the same 14:9 as the analogue broadcasts.
If DVDR and Sky are set to 16:9,and your tv to its AUTO setting you should get wide programming correctly in 16:9,then the tv will switch back to 4:3 for non wide programmes.Your set will have alternative picture tricks to stretch 4:3 pix but this is not the way to view unless you simply cannot stand side borders

This item was edited on Monday, 17th January 2005, 20:52

Quote:
does the widescreen signal get filtered out by going through DVDR, Sky box and VCR before getting to telly?
Yes, often it does. To guarantee automatice switching on your TV you need to use a fully wired scart cable that includes the connection that carries the switching signal. By routing the signal indirectly through other appliances (eg video machines) this signal is often lost, even if all cables used are fully wired.
To make sure telly switches automaticly I suggest you use fully wired cable from your digi-box direct to your TV.
Other thing to bear in mind though is its only really BBC and ITV and Channels 4&5 that send true widescreen (ie anamorphic) pictures... and only on digital.
All other pictures (including all those on analogue) will be either 14:9 (presented letterbox in a 4:3 frame, so will have small bars top and bottom and wide bars at side, if on widescreen set) or regular 4:3.
And rather than stretching 4:3 pictures to fill a 16:9 frame, my advice to those who dont like seeing 4:3 pictures with bars either side is... buy a 4:3 telly!
Pete
My DVD collection

This item was edited on Monday, 17th January 2005, 22:03