Auto format on sony LS35, someone explain please

[BuyingATV]

Ok i got a 28LS35 my first widescreen TV and don't understand how the auto format works, its suppose to switch to true widescreen format if a channel is broadcasting in wide. So I leave my TV on SMART mode all the time and expect it to go to true wide when a channel is broadcasting right? (BTW I have auto format ON)

But im not to sure it does you see if i put it in WIDE mode when its not broadcasting I get boarders right? so when it is broadcasting wide I get full screen on WIDE mode right? Im assuming when watching teh champions league just now they were broadcasting in widescreen format because i had full screen on WIDE mode but when i switched to SMART it cut the top of the score off, i thought ok thats becuase I changed it manually, maybe if i turn off the TV and on again it will auto format to true widescreen, but it didn't. Is this because champions league wasnt in widescreen or is the feature usless, if i leave my TV in smart mode will it change to true widescreen when its avaliable?

Anyone know, thanks.

 

[Squirrel God]

WIDE actually just means you are watching an anamorphic broadcast/DVD. You will still sometimes get borders at the top and bottom when watching an anamorphic image because of the various aspect ratios (1.78:1, 1.85:1 = no borders; 2.35:1 = borders).

You can also get non-anamorphic widescreen. Image quality not as good. In these cases, you need to ZOOM up the image (manually).

Your TV will switch to WIDE automatically for anamorphic images but only if your source is connected via scart.

On the LS35, it's better to leave Auto Format OFF. It will still switch to widescreen, but it will also remember your settings for 4:3 broadcasts (e.g. whether you want to watch them in 4:3 or SMART or ZOOM mode) but going by whatever you manually set it to the last time you watched a 4:3 broadcast. If you leave Auto Format set to ON, then it will revert to 4:3 mode for 4:3 material.

You have a few questions in there and I'm not sure I can decipher them all, but I hope that goes some way to answering your questions