Grey bars on side of picture?

Question:

I recently got a 19" Samsung LCD TV. I use iO as my cable and it's an HD box. When I watch in HD, I have three choices: Zoom, Stretch and Normal. Everything is ok there. When I go to the non HD channels, I have no stretch option. This makes these very annoying grey bars on each side of the picture. Why can't I pick stretch on normal channels? I'd do zoom, but it cuts stuff out. Thanks

Answer:
Everything with your tv and HD box is displaying the picture exactly the way it should be. The majority of programming (non-HD) is broadcast in 4:3 format. Because you have a 16:9 HDtv, the picture will be displayed with the gray bars on the side when watching 4:3 format programming to show the proper dimensions. That's the way it should be, but some people don't like it.

I personally can't stand to watch 4:3 programming stretched out to fit a 16:9 screen, but some people prefer to have the entire screen filled. Most tv's have the option to stretch it out, but it sounds like yours doesn't with non-HD programs for some reason. You are watching the programs in the proper format if that makes you feel any better. Good luck!

Grey bars on side of picture?

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