Picture size puzzler

[Hiddenmission]

I'm sure there is a simple answer to this one, so apologies for the basic nature of the question - since upgrading to satellite TV (from an analogue aerial), the picture size on my regual old-fashioned tube TV (10 year old Sony) changed. The new picture size trims off the edges of the picture, which is incredibly annoying. Is there a simple way to remedy this? I've tried scrolling through the set-up menus on the TV, but with no luck.

Grateful for any tips.

[BGonaSTICK]

Hi, welcome to the forum

What satellite TV do you have? Is it Sky? What receiver do you have?

Is it the top and bottom of the picture that's been cut off, the sides, or both?

Do you normally watch your TV in 4:3 mode or 16:9 widescreen?

Does the size and shape of the picture depend on which channel you watching and/or what's on at the time, or is it always one format?

Yes, I agree it's incredibly frustrating. You have a number of options in both the receiver and TV, it's just a case of picking the ones that suit you.

Let us know the answer to the above and we'll take it from there. I have an 8 year-old Sony TV and I still love the picture quality.

[Hiddenmission]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. This problem has been a constant ever since I have had Sky, it's hard to tell if some types of programme are worse than others, though it seems particularly noticeable when watching films. In fact, I think the problem was there when I had cable, too, so maybe it is something to do with digital transmission being received by a TV designed for analogue...?

To answer your questions - it's a Sky digibox, and it is the sides of the picture that are cropped. I normally watch in 4:3, but the problem persists if I switch to 16:9 - it's always the same format.

I'd really like to avoid switching TVs, as the Sony provides a great picture.

[Jimdefruit]

Do you have the tv connected by scart cable, because that will provide automatic picture switching.

Have you set the picture size in the sky digibox menu?

[BGonaSTICK]

When you talk of switching from 4:3 to 16:9, are you talking about on the TV itself?

If you are, that's maybe not the answer - you should also have a look at the settings in the digibox.

It's also interesting to see if the TV will auto-switch between formats - my old Sony does this perfectly, so you might be in luck. These are the settings I use on my digibox:

Press Services button, then:

4) System Setup
1) Picture Settings

Picture Format: 16:9
Second Location Picture Format: 16:9
Scart Control: On
Video Output: RGB

This assumes that:

1) You are using a SCART lead (if you're not, get one!)
2) You have the SCART lead plugged into SCART socket 1 on the TV, as this is the only input that supports RGB on the old Sonys.
3) You are happy for 16:9 content to be displayed in 16:9 format, with black bars top and bottom (this is the way it should be) - you should get no black bars at the sides unless in some odd circumstances broadcasters actually send a 4:3 picture in a 16:9 format with the black bars already there, rather than send it in 4:3 format so that the telly can auto-format the picture.

Hope I haven't confused you

Let us know how you get on.

[Edit] Ahh, I see Jim beat me to the SCART thing

[Hiddenmission]

Wow, that has done the trick!

Thanks very much for your help, I'm amazed at how simple that was ops:

[BGonaSTICK]

Do you know which bit fixed it, or did you just try them all at the same time?

Glad you're pleased anyway.

[Hiddenmission]

I followed the System Setup menu as you proposed - already had the SCART connection.

I'll have to think of another question now - that was such a good result!

[barr6868]

Great Forum this, innit?