Picture Setting - 16:9 or 4:3

[dalvin]

I have a sony wega 32" widescreen tv and I have the picture settings set on my sky+ to output 16:9.

I've noticed that many programs on different channels are broadcast at different ratios. Sometimes I have the black bars on the left and right, sometimes the picture is stretched.

Is there anyway to overcome this instead of having to change the picture settings on sky+ from 16:9 to 4:3 (and vice versa) all the time.

I have searched on the forums and found information about this, and that sky+ should always be set to 16:9 and my TV should be set to 4:3, but this doesn't really help as setting my TV to 4:3 aspect ratio just narrows the screen and it looks like you're watching a 20" picture on a 32" tv!! hehe

I have 4 settings on my tv:
wide - just squashes the pic a little
zoom - stretches the pic a little
14:9 - changes the size of the pic to be 14:9 - still get black bars on either side though
4:3 - same as above but the pic is a lot smaller

Is there a way that when i get a pic in 16:9 (ie, sky news) and then change to bbc1 or itv1 (which sometimes broadcast in non 16:9) the adjustment can be made automatically without having to manually go into services/system setup/picture settings

Thanks in advance,

[wicket]

When I had a Sony I tended to use the Smart mode which kept the centre of the screen in roughly the right aspect and then slightly stretched the edges, not that I could tell.

You also need to have the scart option in Sky set to on as well, cannot remember if this had an affect on the screen ratio.

I currently have a Panasonic plasma which automatically adjust the picture on its auto mode.

[dalvin]

yes.. i have the Scart set to ON and also RGB too.. but none of these seem to adjust the screen size automatically..

[scooby do]

fully wired scart? perhaps you are missing the WSS

[dalvin]

Originally Posted by scooby do

fully wired scart? perhaps you are missing the WSS

Fully Wired Scart? How do i know if it is or not?

Is the scart cable thats comes in the SKY+ box fully wired? As I'm not using that one currently - was using the one I previously used with orig sky box.

And what's a WSS?

Sorry for my lack of knowledge.

Thanks

[scooby do]

No problems, WSS is the widescreen switching signal that is sent down one of the pins of the scart. Best way to check is open the scart up and have a look.

[dalvin]

Originally Posted by scooby do

No problems, WSS is the widescreen switching signal that is sent down one of the pins of the scart. Best way to check is open the scart up and have a look.

"Open up the scart"?

Meaning? Just take the scart connection out from the TV or SKY+ box and have a look?

What exactly am I looking for? All pins must be there?

Thanks

[scooby do]

Pin 8 I think is used to tell the TV that a widescreen signal is being transmitted. It can also be sent via a special signal over normal transmissions but I think SKY use pin 8 on the scart. Also I reckon there will be an option in the menu of your TV for auto

[dalvin]

Originally Posted by scooby do

Pin 8 I think is used to tell the TV that a widescreen signal is being transmitted. It can also be sent via a special signal over normal transmissions but I think SKY use pin 8 on the scart. Also I reckon there will be an option in the menu of your TV for auto

OK, I'll have a check when I get home from work.. PIN 8 is in the middle?

I couldn't for the life of me find ANY options to do with screen output/aspect ratio on my TV's menu system, because I wanted to set it to "auto".

[scooby do]

Here is a pinout for scart

[mansell]

Dalvin , I have a Sony set (FQ80) and a Amstrad sky+ box , the TV is set to 4:3 whilst the box is set to 16:9. So if I watch sky football it would be in WS and sky news would be in 4:3 etc etc.

however !!

The only time I get a problem is when coming out of PIP or Picture and text to a single image again, on these occasions a 16:9 pic may appear as 4:3. To resolve this I press the AV button on the remote which resets everything.

next time you get a problem try cycling through the AV channels until you get back to which ever one is connected to sky. if that doesn't work goto to
a Terrestrial channel then back to the AV channel

hope this helps

[dalvin]

Originally Posted by scooby do

Here is a pinout for scart

just checked mt scart cable.. it has all of the pins as in the diagram.. so i assume it's not this

[mansell]

Originally Posted by dalvin

I have a sony wega 32" widescreen tv and I have the picture settings set on my sky+ to output 16:9.

I've noticed that many programs on different channels are broadcast at different ratios. Sometimes I have the black bars on the left and right, sometimes the picture is stretched.

Is there anyway to overcome this instead of having to change the picture settings on sky+ from 16:9 to 4:3 (and vice versa) all the time.

I have searched on the forums and found information about this, and that sky+ should always be set to 16:9 and my TV should be set to 4:3, but this doesn't really help as setting my TV to 4:3 aspect ratio just narrows the screen and it looks like you're watching a 20" picture on a 32" tv!! hehe

I have 4 settings on my tv:
wide - just squashes the pic a little
zoom - stretches the pic a little
14:9 - changes the size of the pic to be 14:9 - still get black bars on either side though
4:3 - same as above but the pic is a lot smaller

Is there a way that when i get a pic in 16:9 (ie, sky news) and then change to bbc1 or itv1 (which sometimes broadcast in non 16:9) the adjustment can be made automatically without having to manually go into services/system setup/picture settings

Thanks in advance,

just reading your post I've noticed a few things .
first sky news isn't broadcast in 16:9,it's in 4:3
if you want to watch programs in their correct aspect ratio on your Sony you need to select 4:3, then sky news will be broadcast in the correct aspect ratio but when you watch say bbc1 news it will be in WS.
14:9 ratio may have to be selected by yourself, some docu channels on sky and most terrestrial channels are in 14:9 ,my Sony(FQ80) just displays them in 4:3 which means black borders all around the picture.
which model of Sony do you have ?
You could try SMART (Sony's auto setting) but that would stretch a 16:9 pic.
see my other post which may help with the WSS ?

[dalvin]

Originally Posted by mansell

Dalvin , I have a Sony set (FQ80) and a Amstrad sky+ box , the TV is set to 4:3 whilst the box is set to 16:9. So if I watch sky football it would be in WS and sky news would be in 4:3 etc etc.

hey mansell,

how did you set the tv for 4:3? is there a menu option? As I cannot find how to do this on mine.

[happyh]

I had a Sony Wega 32 crt before the Pany plasma.
I had sky set to 16:9 and scart control on.
The TV I left permanenly in"Wide" mode.
Can't remember ever having the prob's you are talking about.
(although even now bbc and itv do show some football as 4:3, which comes through sky with a bla bar either side. Nothing much you can do about that without making adjustments.But it's so rare that I ignore it.)