DIRECTV AND HDTV HELP - BEST ANSWER = 10 points?

Question

I had my Directv installed today. Not ALL of my HD channels are widescreen! The quality of my SD channels are poor! Some HD channels are great. Should I be using an HDMI cable or leave it with the component cables that the installer plugged in? How do I make my channels stretch to fit my entire TV??!

Answer 1

You will not solve that problem with cables.  The difference between HDMI and component is very little and HDMI cable will certainly not improve a picture that is bad from the source.  The channels that are not widescreen are NOT HD.  All sources will vary in quality, but SD sources vary the most.  However, not all SD should look poor.  Recent movies on HBO or Showtime non-HD channels should look fairly good.  You may be able to have your set stretch non-widscreen images to fill the screen (look in the setup menu), but that will not improve the picture quality.

Answer 2

Welcome to the world of HD. These problems are typical regardless of who your service provider is. SD looks poor because the resolutions of your TV and signal don't match. (some manufactures do better than others to display SD signals). As for the bars on the sides of your HD channels. This is because the broadcasting network is using a SD camera and inputting it into an HD Signal. The bars are not absence of picture - they are black picture. A few tv's have a wide fit mode in the picture size settings to stretch the image to fit, most do not. (Using this mode would cause a true HD image to have the sides cut off). As for HDMI - depends how well your eye is tuned to the picture. HDMI has it's advantages but it also comes with a host of software issues. Use HDMI if it work's keep the component cable connected in case DirectTV upgrades their software and problems arise. This will allow viewing until you can upgrade your software on the TV assuming the manufacture will provide an upgrade.

Answer 3

HDMI is way better

i cant say how to make it fit the entire screen because ever tv is different but look for a setting called "Aspect"