How do I "force" my widescreen TV to correctly display 4:3

[horseflesh]

It just strecthes the image to fill the screen....?

[ralph wiggum]

What make/model tv do you have?
Most have a button on the remote which switches aspect ratio between, wide/4:3/zoom/etc.....

[maddogsuk]

WHich model? Most widescreen TV's have a button to toggle through the various picture types. My Sony toggles through:

4:3 - 16:9 Wide - Smart - Zoom - Auto

If I leave it on Auto it switches between 4:3 and 16:9 automaticaly. I prefer Smart though so even 4:3 pics fill the screen.

[horseflesh]

It's a Panasonic 28", about 5 years old, not sure of the model #.
I can flick through ratios, but "Panasonic Auto" always fills the screen, even with DVDs that I know are fullscreen 4:3

[Art Vanderlay]

My Panasonic will not do 4:3 on RGB mode at all - a TX-W28R4DP about the same age as your set.

There is an old thread about it here - http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=225084

I suspect a few more people may pop up soon with the same question, as the £199 Samsung TVs from Skybuy have this problem too.

To get round it I watch 16:9 programs from Sky through a direct RGB feed, and any 4:3 programs I have to route through the video (obviously with a loss of quality).

The S-Video processing on my set is very good, and with a good Scart is certainly acceptable as an alternative to RGB. You should find that on the S-Video input it will show 4:3 properly. I have my DVD plugged into S-Video, and Sky/Tivo into RGB

[SheepDip]

Slightly off subject (But only slightly), my Panasonic PL1 does do 4:3, but the image is too narrow - ie it's ratio is not correct.
The only way to correct it is to go into the service menu and stretch the picture - but there isn't an option for 4:3 only, so widescreen ends up with massive overscan etc. Result - I put up with stretch 4:3 - not my ideal choice, but no option really. Most things we watch are widescreen anyway - and if it really looks bad, I tend to put it into 14:9 -but that's not available in RGB.
Oh well.

[Jimmyboy]

My Samsung has no 4:3 mode via an RGB source either - Sharps and Panasonics also have problems in this regard. But considering I tend to use a widescreen zoomed compromised screen mode for viewing 4:3 material it doesn't really bother me.

[kanedaa]

Wow, reading through that linked thread on Panny sets not able to do 4:3 through RGB was quite shocking. My Panasonic 32" set is nearing 5yrs old now and allows switching in ALL aspect modes through RGB. For Auto mode it allows you to select your preferred method of viewing 4:3 material using the red and green buttons (Red=4:3 or Green=Just).

[nickpowder]

Sorry if this has been asked before - please point in right direction if it has

Does normal terrestrial TV reception (ie. arial not freeview) provide widescreen switching or not.

my inlaws are looking at new tv's. they don't have sky or freeview just four channels and a DVD player and video

thanks

[pob]

I think only Ch4 does auto switching when they show Letterbox material - the TV will go into "Zoom" mode.

[Tony Ferrino]

I'm another with no 4:3 in RGB - Samsung again. I usually just turn RGB off because if I'm watching a 4:3 picture it's likely to be TV anyway.

[Phwed]

For Auto mode it allows you to select your preferred method of viewing 4:3 material using the red and green buttons (Red=4:3 or Green=Just).

Wot that man said :clap:

Panasonic auto mode lets you decide whether you want "proper" 4:3 or stretched 4:3. Leave the set on auto and the next time you are watching a 4:3 programme press the red button. That should sort you out and the setting should "stick" in future.

[Nick dVl]

Originally posted by pob
I think only Ch4 does auto switching when they show Letterbox material - the TV will go into "Zoom" mode.

Both C4 and ITV use it when they broadcast films (i.e. not regular TV).

I think the broadcast format these channels use on terrestrial analogue is PAL+, which uses one of the scanlines to detect the picture format and perform the switching. BBC and C5 do not, so you'd have to manually select the zoom mode.

[Jimmyboy]

Originally posted by Phwed
Wot that man said :clap:

Panasonic auto mode lets you decide whether you want "proper" 4:3 or stretched 4:3. Leave the set on auto and the next time you are watching a 4:3 programme press the red button. That should sort you out and the setting should "stick" in future.

Only some Panasonics let you do that.
My DK1 let you do the above via all input sources except RGB.

[horseflesh]

Originally posted by Phwed
Wot that man said :clap:

Panasonic auto mode lets you decide whether you want "proper" 4:3 or stretched 4:3. Leave the set on auto and the next time you are watching a 4:3 programme press the red button. That should sort you out and the setting should "stick" in future.

That works when viewing TV (ntl Digital), but not for 4:3 DVDs

[Jimmyboy]

Originally posted by horseflesh
That works when viewing TV (ntl Digital), but not for 4:3 DVDs

Probably because the dvd player is going through the RGB port and the NTL TV isn't (I'm guessing?).

If I'm right about the way you've got your system set up try putting NTL TV through the RGB port and see if you can still get a 4:3 picture (My guess would be that you won't).

[Nick dVl]

It's more dependent on whether you're using a SCART cable rather than RGB. There is a widescreen signalling pin on a SCART socket - this is what DVD players and STBs use to force your TV into widescreen (16:9) mode, whether you're viewing composite, S-video or RGB.

If the video material is not in anamorphic widescreen, your TV should automatically revert back to the last manually selected picture mode (4:3, 14:9, stretched, zoom, whatever you last selected). At least that's the way my Sony works, and a friend's Philips set.

[cliveb]

I am having a problem with viewing aspect , especially on ER when viewed on E4 .
I have a Panasonic with the digital cable TV routed thru the VGA input on the screen via an RGB>VGA converter .
ER is in widescreen , and the adverts are fine , but the actual program is compressed and looks like 2.35 . Clearly the plasma is compressing the widescreen signal and it looks like it with lots of compression artifacts .
Anyone with a similar problem got round it .
Blueyonder box set to 16:9
Plasma set to 16:9
Thanks
CB