AT&T U-Verse TV, and the chopped off SD channels

OK, I challenge anyone that is PAYING for the "HD" channels to watch a show that has writing on it like the NEWS, and flip back and forth between say channel 10 and 1010.  You will see that it is the same picture but they have cropped the "Sides" of the picture.

"SD" refers to the lines of resolution, not the format of the picture (4;3, 16;9...), some have misinterpreted it of late.

I agree with micCheck on the likely cause.

As for as reason - probably money. Either delay expenditure or least expensive on new equipment.

A small 16:9 picture is better on a 16:9 screen than a 4:3 picture because it can be zoomed wuthout distortion to fill the screen. Expanding a 4:3 picture to a 16:9 screen causes distortion.

SD (Standard Definition) basically means 480i, and is commonly understood to match up with the analog broadcast signal used by the US TV industry for the 50 years preceding the converstion to ATSC.  As such it is 4:3.  If you don't like this...then either purchase HD or go to a different provider.

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@BenP4680 wrote:

OK, I challenge anyone that is PAYING for the "HD" channels to watch a show that has writing on it like the NEWS, and flip back and forth between say channel 10 and 1010.  You will see that it is the same picture but they have cropped the "Sides" of the picture.

"SD" refers to the lines of resolution, not the format of the picture (4;3, 16;9...), some have misinterpreted it of late.

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Not here.  Our local news in HD is 16:9 and the SD version is the same format but with a black frame around it.  It is not cropped.

As someone stated, it's what the station sends to your set.  There ARE some shows that are cropped but not all.  You cannot make that blanket statement.

It just depends on the station.  Our NBC affiliate (WTHR 13/1013) has some images that fall off the screen (ie 7 day weather forecast,  On SD days 1 and 7 are off of the edge).  This is a WTHR issue not an AT&T one.

First this is not the solution!  How can someone mark it as "Solved" when it clearly is not.

Second MicCheck please scan your dial and note that it is EVERY channel below 1000 that has the frame.  Kind of hard for the provider to be sending a poor or reduced signal when it is CNN, BBC, MTV, all of them.

No the one reducing the picture and trying to pass it off is AT&T.

Why is a company in this day and age still trying to use something like this to get more money out of the customer.

Ben

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@BenP4680 wrote:

First this is not the solution!  How can someone mark it as "Solved" when it clearly is not.

 

Second MicCheck please scan your dial and note that it is EVERY channel below 1000 that has the frame.  Kind of hard for the provider to be sending a poor or reduced signal when it is CNN, BBC, MTV, all of them.

 

No the one reducing the picture and trying to pass it off is AT&T.

 

Why is a company in this day and age still trying to use something like this to get more money out of the customer.

 

Ben

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Um... All channels below 1000 are SD channels.  See my post above. If you don't like 'em, watch the HD counterparts.

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@JefferMC wrote:

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@BenP4680 wrote:

First this is not the solution!  How can someone mark it as "Solved" when it clearly is not.

 

Second MicCheck please scan your dial and note that it is EVERY channel below 1000 that has the frame.  Kind of hard for the provider to be sending a poor or reduced signal when it is CNN, BBC, MTV, all of them.

 

No the one reducing the picture and trying to pass it off is AT&T.

 

Why is a company in this day and age still trying to use something like this to get more money out of the customer.

 

Ben

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Um... All channels below 1000 are SD channels.  See my post above. If you don't like 'em, watch the HD counterparts.

 

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@So @BenP4680, is your gripe that some (if not all) programs being broadcast in SD are either chopped off or framed?  Everything below 1000? 

Like Jeffer says...those ARE SD channels and you will not and are not supposed to get the 16:9 version of them.

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@BenP4680 wrote:

First this is not the solution!  How can someone mark it as "Solved" when it clearly is not.

 

Second MicCheck please scan your dial and note that it is EVERY channel below 1000 that has the frame.  Kind of hard for the provider to be sending a poor or reduced signal when it is CNN, BBC, MTV, all of them.

 

No the one reducing the picture and trying to pass it off is AT&T.

 

Why is a company in this day and age still trying to use something like this to get more money out of the customer.

 

Ben

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@BenP4680 a solved solution soes not mean that it's solved to your satisfaction, it means that it is a reasonable or the best answer to a given issue.  Truthfully I have never seen SD pictures cut off on National cable channels only on local's where they are plastering the HD picture on an SD screen.

Can you post sone photos of BBC, MTV etc cut off?  I ain't seeing it, on mine, lol.

Ben, many old movies released on Blu-ray are also shown on 4 X 3, because that's the way most film used back in the day was.  Standard-def TV signals are no different.  You'll have to take it up with the stations, not U-verse or any cable provider.

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@dhascall wrote:

@BenP4680 a solved solution soes not mean that it's solved to your satisfaction, it means that it is a reasonable or the best answer to a given issue.  Truthfully I have never seen SD pictures cut off on National cable channels only on local's where they are plastering the HD picture on an SD screen.

 

Can you post sone photos of BBC, MTV etc cut off?  I ain't seeing it, on mine, lol.

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Actually, there is an abomination on TNT: the reruns of Married With Children shown in the early morning.  If I remember correctly, the HD channel  has the 4:3 show in stretch-o-vision to 16:9, and the SD channel crops the 16:9 stretch to 4:3!