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Problem
There are black
bars above and
below the picture
There are black
bars on all four
sides of the picture
Possible Solution
All 4:3 HDTVs display HD programs in letterbox format
(black bars above and below the picture) because of the
shape of the display screen.
Turn on the 4:3 OVERRIDE feature in the User Settings
menu. This enables most standard screen TVs to display
a full screen picture when the set-top is tuned to a 4:3
program.
Set the TV TYPE to 4:3 Pan-Scan. This enables the set-
top to remove the black bars above and below the
picture when possible.
Some SD programs are broadcast in the letterbox format
with black bars above and below the picture. Some wide
screen TVs offer a zoom feature that may be able to
remove the black bars (see your TV manual for
information about zooming 4:3 video).
This may occur on a 4:3 TV if the 4:3 OVERRIDE setting
is OFF. To set 4:3 SD programming to fill the screen,
depending on the capabilities of the TV, set
4:3 OVERRIDE to 480i or 480p.
This may occur on a 16:9 TV if the active video for an SD
broadcast is in letterbox format. To confirm, wait for a
commercial or look for a graphic, such as a network logo.
If the commercial fills the screen from top to bottom, or
the graphic appears below the active video, the program
is being letterboxed by the broadcaster. You can
minimize this by activating the zoom feature on the TV.
A broadcaster may include black bars on either side of a
wide screen broadcast. This is called a "hybrid" aspect
ratio and results in a black border surrounding the video
on a 4:3 TV. Because this is part of the broadcast, the
set-top cannot correct the video. You may be able to
minimize the border using the zoom feature on the TV.
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