PT-43LC14 help!?!

[clarksonknight]

Hey everyone,

It seems that a lot of people on here know what they are doing so I thought I'd post my question. I just got a PT-43LC14 LCD the other day and I've been really pleased with the picture when it comes to HD and my Xbox - it's spectactular. I'm really disappointed with the way DVDs look, though. I use component cables for everything and the TV happliy displays that it's playing in 480p but no matter what viewing aspect I try, the picture seems out of focus, stretched horizontally, vertically, or just plain crappy. I've tried two different Sony progressive scan DVD players, both with the same results. I'm watching a widescreen movie and it feels like it's not taking up enough of the screen in the normal aspect - the black bars above and below the picture take up about 4-5 inches, vertically and it looks like the picture itself is compressed vertically. I feel like I've tried everything to get it to look right... any advice? Thanks!

[57U]

Please read the FAQs on "Black bars" and "Widescreen stretch modes" to understand what the various stretch modes do and when to expect black bars.

Some DVDs may be 'crappy'. Find a good one like Spiderman, or Star Wars 2, or Shrek, or Nemo. If they look good, then you know it's not the TV. If they look bad, then you need to do some work on the TV.

See also the FAQ "What you need to do to your new HDTV".

[oman321]

If your black bars are that thick, it might be that the DVD player needs to be set to a 16:9 picture. I had a progressive scan dvd player that was part of a HTIB system that I returned. When I first put in a DVD the black bars were about 4-5 inches. In the menu I was able to switch to 16:9. The bars went to about 2 inches. When a DVD has an aspect of 2:35 you can use the Zoom to get rid of the black bars. It does a pretty good job of strectching without cutting the sides. For DVD with an aspect ratio of 1:85 just use the Full mode.

[clarksonknight]

Thanks for the advice, everyone - I can't believe I didn't think about the DVD player settings ::embarrased looking face:: it looks gorgeous now! I have another quick question but I'll post it under a new topic since it's a little different...

[oman321]

No problem, I kind'a freaked too when it first happened. Enjoy.

[cjpatel]

Same problem here, after I figured out the DVD settings the bars are gone.

Just got HD service with DVr yesterday, the HD PQ is amazing. We're glued to the Discovery HD. The DVR rocks too.

cheers,
Jay.