Screen seems too big?

mastag · Post by **mastag** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 4:51 pm

I have all that set up. It is more noticeable with 720p channels and SD channels. it is still there with 1080i broadcasts, but doesn't seem as noticeable. Planet Earth looked fantastic in HD, as does shows like Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, etc. I think it is the receiver, but I haven't found any settings in the menu that can fix it. It is not a HUGE deal, just more of a smudge on an otherwise great experience with HD, since this is my first HDTV.

akirby · Post by **akirby** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:21 pm

Now I feel so stupid. And I bet Richard does too if he's reading this topic.

The answer is so simple. You have a CRT. Your problem is OVERSCAN.

Your TV is cutting off up to 10% of the picture edges. It may or may not be fixable through the service menu.

My Mitsubishi CRT RPTV has a bit of overscan on 1080i from my HR20 (it cuts off the very bottom of the on screen guide). And Richard will remind me that he can easily fix that for me, but it doesn't bother me that badly - yet.

mastag · Post by **mastag** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 9:40 pm

akirby wrote:Now I feel so stupid. And I bet Richard does too if he's reading this topic.

The answer is so simple. You have a CRT. Your problem is OVERSCAN.

Your TV is cutting off up to 10% of the picture edges. It may or may not be fixable through the service menu.

My Mitsubishi CRT RPTV has a bit of overscan on 1080i from my HR20 (it cuts off the very bottom of the on screen guide). And Richard will remind me that he can easily fix that for me, but it doesn't bother me that badly - yet.

Well, at least I know what the problem is now. Too bad the service menu is a bunch of numbers that mean nothing to a n00b such as myself. Like I said, it is not a deal breaker, just a minor imperfection.

edit: do you think it would make any difference if I used HDMI instead of Component cables? I plan to get the elite version of the xbox 360 next month, and I plan to use the HDMI outputs.

akirby · Post by **akirby** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 6:31 am

I did a google search on your tv model and there were lots of overscan complaints.

I think it is possible that a different source and/or connection type could have more or less overscan. Some devices also let you adjust the picture output to fit the display.

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:15 pm

Sorry to tell you mastag but what you purchased is an entry level display. It will give you a good taste of HD but accuracy will require far more money. Based on what Akirby found it seems to be a common problem and while a calibration could reduce it it is the nature of your beast to have a healthy overscan.

The only displays with 0 overscan by nature is front projection and flat panels and even then you would want to see a review to make sure the internal scaler is not overscanning.

Ultimately, if performance is your bag you need to work with an ISF calibrator or dealer to help you select the right products to meet your level of performance.

http://www.isfforum.com/

mastag · Post by **mastag** » Sun Apr 15, 2007 12:28 pm

If it's my TV, how come it never happens with DVD's or Video Games?

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Sun Apr 15, 2007 1:12 pm

There is what is called a safety zone that content producers for NTSC have always had to adhere to prevent the kind of problem you are having. A safety zone means they know you have healthy overscan and if they put any important content such as game scores to close to the edge some folks at home may not see all of it. For NTSC this has been set at 10%.

Without such graphics on screen you would not notice with DVD and DVD is defintely designed for 10%. Game designers are also well aware of this (they discovered this the hard way over a decade ago) and even with HD games they may still be following the 10% rule to stay out of trouble.

I don't know if there is a standard for HD content but in practice I do see some pushing things a bit closer working more at 5% instead. ESPN is definitely working with a 5% safety zone!

Folks like yourself with such complaints are few and far between and since CRT is going into yesteryear it won't be problem at all for nearly all new buyers within 1-2 years. MD projectors and flat panels are less than 5%.

Performance enthusiasts prefer 0 overscan if at all possible.

mastag · Post by **mastag** » Sun Apr 15, 2007 1:40 pm

That makes sense. However, I checked by playing a game in pix1, which has black bars, and then I put it in pix2. There was absolutely no difference in what fit the screen.

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Sun Apr 15, 2007 1:56 pm

K... but the black bars went away right? All that means is your overscan did not change.

I have never calibrated your display so I don't know the in and outs of your aspect features. You could get a rough idea of what is going on yourself with a calibration DVD and test patterns. If you are using an upconverting DVD player that will nail down what is going on with your aspect feature as it relates to 720P or 1080I content. Set the player for both and compare the difference if there is one.

Calibration DVDs
viewtopic.php?t=5143

mastag · Post by **mastag** » Sun Apr 15, 2007 2:04 pm

Those DVD's look interesting, I'll have to try one. What I was trying to say, was that when watching TV with the satellite receiver in pix2, some of the picture gets cut off along with the black bars, but with games and DVD's the picture fits the screen perfectly and only the black bars are cut off.