Does this really even make a difference?
BigDaddyTees
Enthusiast - Level 2

Does it really upscale the picture quality when you turn off the SD override under options or select stretch? I notice a slight difference when turning it off the picture looks a bit better but also there is alot less screen usage and only a fraction of the screen gets used with those black side bars that look a bit like viewing something in wide screen on the sides. Stretch varies greatly it says that the single is at 720p (my native resolution) but some things actually look worse than they would if I simply left them in 480I or 480p.

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Re: Does this really even make a difference?
Justin46
Legend

I suppose it will depend most on your TV and your eyes Smiley Very Happy

In my opinion, on my 40" LCD using 1080i output from the DVR, 480p looks best, 480i looks next best (or maybe a wash, very hard to tell), OFF is next, and STRETCH is almost unwatchable (odd shaped fat people, squashed cars, ghosts, just awful). However, since I use an HDMI connection, using OFF eliminates the 3-4 second delay when changing between SD and HD channels, in either direction. So for me, OFF it is. But I must also admit that my watching of SD channels has dropped to almost zero now.....

And by the way, try both HD output settings, 720p and 1080i, with your TV. Even if your TV has a native resolution like 768, you may find that 1080i looks better (it does on mine).

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
QIP6416-P1, IMG 1.7.1, Build 09.97
Keller, TX 76248

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Re: Does this really even make a difference?
film111
Specialist - Level 1

@BigDaddyTees wrote:

Does it really upscale the picture quality when you turn off the SD override under options or select stretch? I notice a slight difference when turning it off the picture looks a bit better but also there is alot less screen usage and only a fraction of the screen gets used with those black side bars that look a bit like viewing something in wide screen on the sides. Stretch varies greatly it says that the single is at 720p (my native resolution) but some things actually look worse than they would if I simply left them in 480I or 480p.


NEVER use "Stretch".  As Justin said, it merely distorts the picture.  People should really stop thinking that black bars (top or sides) mean that just because an image does not fill the screen, the TV is not being fully utilized.  The wider screen of your TV is a compromise (approx 1.75:1 ratio), but does not actually serve ANY of the major broadcast ratios.  (1.33:1, 1.85.:1, and 2.35:1)

Older TV programming (and movies filmed before 1955 or so) have a ratio of 1.33:1 (aa different ration than the 16X9 ratio of your TV screen), so bars on the side are necessary to watch the programming in the way it was intended.  Widescreen movies are 2.35:1, again wider than your TV's ratio, so bars are needed at the top and bottom to see the complete image. Some channels, like HBO and EPIX, elimanate the bars by eliminating at least one-third (or more!) of the picture! And yet, even though  that terrible practice fills your TV screen, sharpness and detail is also lost when those channels do that (as any side-by-side comparison shows.), which, to my mind, defeats the purpose of HD..

Also,, using Stretch,  the TV is overscanning, therefore softening the image as you lose 1:1 pixel mapping of most HDTVs.

In a nutshell,  leave the override on OFF. Using artificial means to eliminate black bars actually lessens the quality of the image. (How noticable it is usually depends on the size of the TV and viewing distance.)  But even then, we still have to deal with some channels ruining HD, like HBO/EPIX/STARZ cropping,  or IFC-HD which shows movies in a distorted "stretch" mode already! Absolutely unwatchable. No need to make matters worse in those cases!

Re: Does this really even make a difference?
BigDaddyTees
Enthusiast - Level 2

I don’t really tend to notice the black space when the SD override is turned off unless I’m looking for it. Sometimes its more noticeable than others if a person or object seems to be getting partially  cut out of a shot that they would have other wise appeared in. On my tv this viewing mode seems to look the best when it comes to standard def programming. I only really watch a total of 3 standard def shows and all of them are older programs that aired way before the era of HD.

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Re: Does this really even make a difference?
prisaz
Legend

Would be nice to have native pass through like on my Tivo. I hope the new Verizon DVR will have that feature. I would miss it and refuse anything less. I may get a Verizon DVR again when the new ones come out, and move the Tivo upstairs. Otherwise I would not accept a Verizon DVR on any new order. I have a store near by and would insist on picking it up. If it was not the new model I would not accept it. They say you get what they have when the tech shows up. Yes it does make a difference. I would not get it. Historicly the TVs have done a better job at adjusting and compensating to the difference. IMO.

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Re: Does this really even make a difference?
BigDaddyTees
Enthusiast - Level 2

My Verizon DVR has been acting somewhat weird. It reports being full when it isn’t and insist that I clear space in order for it to record additional programming. If I clear space it’ll freeze and reset itself. Once its reset it’ll reveal that it was never really anywhere close to 100 percent full and in fact was only 40-50% full at the most. It also cuts away from shows inexplicably even when nothing else is scheduled to record at the same time, and many times it won’t honor my wishes to record shows that have a tendency of running long for extra time so that I don’t miss anything, in fact it seems to do the opposite and might cut out of a show I set up to record 10-20 minutes after ending 2 or more minutes before the show’s scheduled end time so I end up missing more of it. These are indeed weird programs and I’m wondering if they are affecting other DVR users as well.

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