[bazzae123]

If any body has a Philips 9618 can they please confirm whether or not the TV can correctly handle auto format switching. i.e. have the set on 4:3 and automatically switch to 16:9 when a signal is received but then revert back to 4:3 if necessary.

Bazza

[rct]

Well its predecessor can (the 9617) I don't see any reason why it would have changed.

[jelly]

my brother had on and it was always doing it phoned phillips and was told that it was a feature of the set

[stevemoss]

Hi there I have was one these TV's at the moment on a trial basis and it won't switch between widescreen and 4:3 when set to automatic - it always stretches the screen out to fill the screen - exactly the same as having superzoom switched on - I rang Philips and they told me this was normal for this TV - the guy at Philips also told me he hates this feature and always switches it off so he has to switch it manualy each time the screen format changes - is it me or is this uacceptable on a TV of this price

[rct]

Originally posted by stevemoss
Hi there I have was one these TV's at the moment on a trial basis and it won't switch between widescreen and 4:3 when set to automatic - it always stretches the screen out to fill the screen - exactly the same as having superzoom switched on - I rang Philips and they told me this was normal for this TV - the guy at Philips also told me he hates this feature and always switches it off so he has to switch it manualy each time the screen format changes - is it me or is this uacceptable on a TV of this price

Unacceptable imho... my 9617 manages fine! Try out the following and see if you get any joy:

Go to a purely widescreen channel.

Press the aspect button until it says "Widescreen" on the screen.

Wait a few seconds.

Press the aspect button, it should now say "Automatic"

Go to a pure 4:3 channel, e.g. Sky News.

Press the aspect button until it says "4:3".

Wait a few seconds.

Press the aspect button, it should now say "Automatic".

The TV should now auto-switch between 16:9 and 4:3

Hope this helps.

[stevemoss]

No sorry this doesn't work - my last philips tv could do this but not this one - when you press the aspect ratio button it just brings up a list of TV screen formats in a list to the right of the screen you then have to either keep pressing the button again to get the shape you want or press the up/down buttons near the top centre of the remote - there doesn't seem to be a way of getting it to go straight to auto format without going through all the other formats first - does anybody else have any ideas ?

[rct]

Oh dear! Have you tried switching the TV to 4:3 (select the aspect from the menu even if already correct) on e.g. Sky News then going to a widescreen channel, it should sense the 16:9 signal from the STB and swich to Widescreen... go to Sky News, does it then switch back to 4:3 or does it do its annoying Superzoom thing?

[stevemoss]

If you set it to auto and you give it a widescreen image E.G. a DVD or a program from sky then it will switch to widescreen but any other image that is 4:3 whether it's DVD,Sky or Terrestrial TV always goes to superzoom - there's no way to get 4:3 unless you set it manualy - it really gets on your nerves as not all programs are in 4:3 and when you switch channels you keep having to switch the screen ratio
I'm going into the store tommorow to have a chat with them to see if they know if it can be sorted.
I must admit I'm thinking of sending it back - I'm just glad I've not signed up for it yet as the TV is on trial and I don't have to keep it if I don't want it