New Viacom HD channels not displaying full screen???

[jbutlerde]

I am noticing that ONLY the new Viacom HD channels (MTV HD, VH1 HD, Spike HD, etc) are NOT displaying full screen and have black vertical bars on each side of the screen on every Viacom HD channel…….Is anyone experiencing this and have any idea what's going on?  This has to be more than a coincidence as its only the new Viacom HD channels.  Thanks for any guidance.

[jmcohen231]

I noticed that too last night while watching Comedy Central in HD.  Not sure why....

[spacedebris]

Depends if the show is HD or not. Just because it is a HD channel, doesnt mean that the program is HD. For example if Spike was showing Star Wars A New Hope, that was made before HD was even a dream. Therefore, the program would be in SD and you get the bars. A lot of the Viacom channels show original shows made by them for them, and until recently they didnt have HD so most of there shows were not filmed in HD. I dont know if this is the problem right now but its what I suspect

[matcarl]

As spacedebris has stated, there is not much HD content on those channels right now, but the quality is better than the SD channel.

[Justin46]

As noted previously by several posters, much of the content is 4:3 stuff on those channels as well as other HD channels, at least part of the time. One thing you can try, depending on your setup (Ihave a a QIP6416 with an HDMI connection to the TV, that may make a difference in whether the key works at all or not): there is an Aspect key on the remote, the # key (just above the D key in the ,lower right of the remote). It will cycle through four settings that I would call "normal, wide, wider, and wider and highter" (I have no idea what the correct terms are). You can use the Aspect key to see if you get a picture that satisfies you and mostly or completely fills the screen when SD content is being shown on one of the HD channels. For me the picture quality is almost as good when expanded that way.

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Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
IMG 1.6.2, Build 08.58
Keller, TX 76248