of ATSC and aspect ratio???

[Penthode]

PBS has the problem of not producing programs 4X3 safe. That is, the video must be letterboxed on cable to display the entire picture otherwise ssential elements will be cut off. The proble is that when an older 4X3 program comes along, it has black borders all aroung the video.

AFD (Automatic Format Description) is supposed to fix this. But most sets are not fitted with AFD.

I personally prefer to have some of the picture cut off as opposed to having black bars and a tiny picture. But the bottom line is the broadcasters are not handling this properly.

[ceebee23]

seems US broadcasters have the same issues as here.... a bit of mess for the consumer ..and trying to explain letterbox versus 16:9 to my buddies ....you can see their eyes glaze over!

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by andy

Even my local PBS station can't get the aspect ratio right. They almost always send 16x9 SD as letter box and pillar box at the same time (you end up with black bars on all 4 sides on a 16x9 screen).

This can usually be fixed by picking the "zoom" or similar option on the converter box. The best boxes (Zenith/Insignia and maybe others) can remember the zoom setting when you change channels.

Originally Posted by Penthode

PBS has the problem of not producing programs 4X3 safe. That is, the video must be letterboxed on cable to display the entire picture otherwise essential elements will be cut off.

Bravo to PBS! It is about time that programmers and TV directors used the 16:9 screen properly. 4:3 viewers can watch the show in letterbox mode. Imagining that all programming should fill up a screen (whether it is 16:9, 4:3 or another aspect ratio) is no better than wishing every piece of art in the Louvre was the same size and shape.