Virgin Media Community

[wyre]

i can be watching these channels  and  can be watching something   and theres a full picture and then all of a sudden  a bar  comes down each side of the  screen . i have  seen  some of the progames  before  and there has been  no bars .. i have reported this twice . the first time i was told to change the  hdmi lead  and swap box over to see  if it made  any difference (i did have2 other things wrong then but those are ok now) second time i was told i should try different hdml lead  which i said i had done . when i said i tried  swapping boxes over  to see  if  that  made a difference. i was told i should never have done that. can you give me some idea what causes it   

[japitts · Accepted solution]

This will likely be to do with the aspect ratio that the programmes were originally filmed in (4:3 probably), and they're now being shown on (more than likely) 16:9 widescreen TVs.

I can't explain it very well beyond that so won't try...

[nodrogd · Accepted solution]

When widescreen was introduced it caused several issues with programmes made in the previous 4:3 format. The biggest of these was “screen burn” on the latest plasma screens. To combat this 4:3 images were “stretched” to fill the 16:9 screen. Widescreen was also an anomaly transmission wise, as standard definition broadcasts are still 4:3 with blank slots transmitted at the top & bottom which the receiver discards when a widescreen trigger signal is sent.

With the advent of HD, the transmission is true 16:9 widescreen, which Gold has now moved too. This means the older 4:3 programmes have generated side panels to fill the 16:9 picture. Hence the SD +1 channel requires reprocessing to convert everything back to 4:3, then add the top & bottom panels & trigger signal. Plasma screens are about as rare as hens teeth now, so the added expense of reprocessing the older programmes is now unnecessary & both the HD & +1 service can be transmitted in the same format.

Expect more & more 4:3 “strechyvision” broadcasts to disappear as broadcasters remove the unnecessary reprocessing & return the programmes to their original format.

[wyre]

thanks i realised. that think i worded question  slightly  wrong  what i was on about these programs started in 16.9 and during  programme  altered to 4.3