TV cuts off 1/5 of picture on each side
disgusted2010
Enthusiast - Level 3

Ever since I have been stuck with Verizon, and later the much-touted FIOS, my TV picture has been cut off on each side. About 1/5 on each side.  So I am not getting the full picture I am paying for.  Yes, I know all about the aspect ratio, etc.  That was bad enough with my old TV. But earlier this year I got a brand-new TV. And guess what?  Still cuts off picture.

Over the years I have talked on the phone with inept and incompetent "techs" who only know enough to read off a screen.  I even had one come out, but he didn't fix the problem.  Another one came out and changed the box.  Didn't fix the problem.

The remote on my new TV offers several ways of viewing the picture.  I have danced around them over & over.  But NOTHING gives me a full picture!!!

Any wisdom much appreciated.

Hypatia

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Re: TV cuts off 1/5 of picture on each side
questioning_old
Contributor - Level 2

Don't you just love incompetence?  And isn't this funny...I was just resolving a similar issue with my own TV picture display last night and I succeeded!  I try to resolve whatever I can on my own before calling customer serivce.  In my case, the black bars on either side came up when I switched the "source" on my TV to HDMI.  This is what you need to do when using HDMI or the component video cable:

On your remote, hit "menu".

Scroll down to "settings".

Click "settings" and then scroll down to "video settings".

On the "video settings", you need to change the "SD override".

Your option for "SD Override" is probably set on "off", which has the black bars on either side of your screen.

Change that to "stretched" and then your picture should fill up the entire screen.

If you're not using HDMI or component, check the picture settings on your TV itself.  It might just be from that.

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Re: TV cuts off 1/5 of picture on each side
tns
Master - Level 2

There is an aspect button (#) on the fios remote. Make sure you select the one that shows the most.  And of course make sure your STB is set to output the right mode 1080i or 720P.

After that its probably a setting on yur TV.  My Samsungs, for a HD signal on a hdmi input, has 4x3, 16x9, wide fit and screen fit.  16x9 will cut a little off but hides some live channels tendency to have some stuff just off the normal picture.  Screen fit will display every pixel of a 1080 picture.  A Sony I have allows adjustments but defaults to all pixels for a HDMI input.

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Re: TV cuts off 1/5 of picture on each side
questioning_old
Contributor - Level 2

That's what I have on mine too.  Thanks for mentioning the aspect button (#).  I was just fooling around with that too and I didn't realize that it can stretch out the picture across the whole screen as well, if you don't want the black bars on the top and bottom.

On the settings part of the menu, the video format 1080i 16:9 is recommended for most HDTVs.  I have my TV set to 16:9 also.

Working with the settings isn't that bad but when I step back and look at the whole thing, it's a lot like operating a new computer - it really has gotten more complicated with all of these updates and changes. 

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