16:9 TVs showing 4:3 programs
For a wide screen 16:9 TV showing a standard 4:3 TV program,
the program is too tall to fit on the screen. The DIRECTV® High-
Definition Receiver gives you 3 ways to fix the problem:
Pillar box: If you choose the pillar box format, the 4:3 image is
shrunk until the entire height of the program fits on
your TV. Since the aspect ratio of the program is
maintained, the image is no longer wide enough to fill
your screen, so black/gray bars are seen at the left and
right edges of the screen.
Full: If you set your DIRECTVHD Receiver to the Full
setting, 4:3 images are shrunk to fit the height of the
screen,like in the Pillar box format. But instead of
applying black/gray bars to the sides of the screen, the
program image is stretched horizontally until it is wide
enough to fill your screen. Your entire TV screen is full,
but the program images are a little stretched to
compensate for the program – to – screen mismatch.
Zoom: In this option the program image is magnified until
your entire screen is filled while keeping the 4:3 aspect
ratio intact. This eliminates the distortion present in
the Full option, but as the image becomes wide
enough to fit your screen, it pushes some of the
program content off the top and bottom edges of the
screen.
Chapter 1: Technical overview
9