TV programs do not fill entire screen

You have some control, but not 100%.

Connect via HDMI or component cable.

Set aspect under menu options system options to one of the two HD choices.

Chans under 1000 will not fill screen. Chans over 1000 are usually full screen but may not be at times.

The zoom selection will fill the screen but use it for each case. Set it back to normal if picture is too big.

Your TV has a setting that shoud be set to normal. If not menus may be too big. 

Post your TV nodel & I will look it up.

There may be a setting in the TV that works for every case, but that does not exist in u-verse.

it is a insignia plasma tv model ns-pdp50 and is connected with HDMI. I never notice the bars before can it be something att changed recently?

I believe that u-verse did not change. I looked at the manual & saw this

I believe your TV should be set to 16:9. You can try the zoom type settings to see if you like them. Be sure to check the guide & menus before using ongoing.

If we are going to discuss what you see you need to be very specific about the channel & program& time because each case can be different.

I'm havin the same issues. I just bought a new Samsung Plasma, some commercials appear with side bars, some tv shows also have sidebars and some movies have top and bottom bars, all on HD channels. The TV and the top box are both set at 1080p and 16:9. The 5 yr. old tv that this one replaced is in another room and it works just fine like it always has. This is the 3rd. new tv I've tried in the last 3 weeks, didn't like the picture on the other 2, also the other 2 had the same screen issues. I did start using an HDMI plug when I got the 1st. new one and continue to now. It seems to me that the HDMI cord could possibly be the cause since I'm using the old RCA plugs on my older tv, and like I said, no screen issues.

I appreciate your help.

Don

As I was reading this, I see an ad on ION TV chan 1026 that is smaller than normal in both directions. The trgulat programming fills the screen. Most channels the ad fills the screen, too. There is no way to fix this example. The change is at the head end & embedded in the signal. The STB & TV think the picture is full size.

Another example of this is an old syndicated show that was originally broadcast 4:3 SD on an HD channel. You can use the zoom button to watch the show bigger. but, it does make vertical too big & should beset back to normal for watcching other shows.

There have been a number of threads on aspect problems lately. One could only make it work on SD widescreen. I do not understand that. but, you can try it, just to see what happens.

There is a difference between HDMI and component (three RCA for video, two for audio). HDMI is a two way interface. The TV can inluence the setting in the STB. IT would be interesting to try a component connection on a TV that is exhibiting problems.

That's a good suggestion, switching the HDMI to the RCA plugs to see if it makes any changes. I'll try that tomorrow as I'm gonna be glued to the tv today for football. 

One last note. Last night I watched a couple of shows on SD channels and they filled the whole screen. That being said, I flipped thru some premium HD movie channels and some movies had black bars on the top & bottom and some were full screen and I never had those black bars on the HD movies on my other LCD tv.

Thanks for your input.

I find it rather peculiar that you should believe that u-verse did not change.  One day recently, my wife and I awoke to discover that several things had changed, including the difficulty we now have with image size and aspect ratio.  We've been using the same 720p plasma TV, connected via HDMI, for more than five years, and this is the very first time that we've had this issue.

Yes, I did read up on the subject, and made changes to both the u-verse box, and the TV, to give a stable result.  The most interesting part I found while doing this, is that the u-verse box was set on one of the two standard definition selections.  It appears that using an SD setting perhaps may "fix" the problem, but at the cost of lower resolution.  Which does not feel at all reasonable, but probably in reality, our problem, not AT&T's.

Oh, well.

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@Eudaemonic wrote:

I find it rather peculiar that you should believe that u-verse did not change.  One day recently, my wife and I awoke to discover that several things had changed, including the difficulty we now have with image size and aspect ratio.  We've been using the same 720p plasma TV, connected via HDMI, for more than five years, and this is the very first time that we've had this issue.

 

Yes, I did read up on the subject, and made changes to both the u-verse box, and the TV, to give a stable result.  The most interesting part I found while doing this, is that the u-verse box was set on one of the two standard definition selections.  It appears that using an SD setting perhaps may "fix" the problem, but at the cost of lower resolution.  Which does not feel at all reasonable, but probably in reality, our problem, not AT&T's.

 

Oh, well.

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You received the download overnight that reset it to SD, just put it back at 720p and should be good to go.  Should notice some new features. 😉

Chris
__________________________________________________________

Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
Need Help? PM ATT Uverse Care (all service problems)
ATT Customer Care(all other problems)
Your Results May Vary, In My Humble Opinion
I Call It Like I See It, Simply a U-verse user, nothing more

I've been having this problem too; it all of a sudden started happening. I thought I had accidentally changed a setting. Changing the settings to 720 does not fix anything. Any other ideas that people have?

If your TV is connected via Coax or Composite cabling, this setting can't be set for 720/1080, it needs to be set for standard definition.

If your TV is connected via HDMI cable, this setting is taken care of by negotations between your TV and the TV Reciever, there is nothing to set.

If your TV is connected via Component Cable, then you should set this to match the native resolutoin of your TV.  Your TV Zoom setting can still affect what your picture looks like.  You may need to set your TV to "wide" or something else.

Hint: If the U-verse menus fit your TV correctly, then it's not the TV, it's the Aspect ratio on the TV Receiver.  If the U-verse menus are too big on your TV, then your TV is set incorrectly or you're using the wrong kind of connecting cable.

Was your resolution changed. Apparently, some were.

Change it back to 1080i.

If that does not work, try a pull the plug reboot.

If that does not work , try it with the HDMI plug removed.

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@Catarific wrote:
I noticed this today. Also the Systems Option menu has changed. The Aspect Ratio option in now called TV Screen Resolution (HD/SD). I have a Samsung whose resolution is 1080i and now my non HD programs no longer cover the wide screen. Tried zoom but those settings make my HD channels somewhat off and picture is no longer fitting in screen. I tried all zoom settings but then loose resolution on my HD channels. Something had changed. Is there a fix?

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It's said that since the last upgrade b4 the current one. 😉

Edit:  Know here that last upgrade left AR on 720p stead of the usual SD.  This should have made no difference in the Samsung's picture size.  I had to change mine to 1080i, but really saw no difference here on my Panasonic plasma.

Chris
__________________________________________________________

Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
Need Help? PM ATT Uverse Care (all service problems)
ATT Customer Care(all other problems)
Your Results May Vary, In My Humble Opinion
I Call It Like I See It, Simply a U-verse user, nothing more