HDTV help?

Question:

i recently purchased an hdtv television and until recently i had 5 plugins for the cable. now i have one cable called HDMI but now all my channels except soem hd channels are not full screen. why?

Answer:
The non-HD aspect ratio is 4:3, not 3:2. In a few years, when everything is broadcast in HD, you won't see the sidebars any more.

Since HD channels are aimed at HDTVs, their images match the aspect ratio (the ratio of width to height of the picture) of nearly all HDTVs, which is the widescreen format. The old standard aspect ratio is 3:2 (rather than HDTV's 16:9), so a lot of non-HD programs are made w/that ratio. Some of the broadcast networks' shows (e.g., The West Wing) were broadcast in widescreen for the past few years, and there should be a way to tell your set to make that picture fill the screen. Likewise, you can tell it to stretch a 3:2 aspect ratio show to fill the screen. It'll look a little off (everyone looks fatter), but I'm surprised how quickly I got used to it. Still, I think it's easier to get used to black areas on the sides of the 3:2 pictures and watch things with their normal proportions. The key thing is to look in your TV's instructions for "aspect ratio" or "widescreen". You'll be set in no time.

A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF HDTV IS BROADCAST IN 4:3 ASPECT RATIO. CONGRESS HAS MANDATED A SCHEDULE WHEN ALL TV BROADCASTS WILL BE DIGITAL, THEY DIDN'T MANDATE THAT THEY HAD TO BE HD, OR EVEN GOOD. THE BEST YOU CAN DO TO FILL UP THAT VALUABLE REAL ESTATE IS USE THE ZOOM SETTING (MY PREFERENCE, OR STRETCH.

HDTV help?

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