Sony Bravia KDL46V2500 full screen option?

[hoodaguy]

Okay, this might be a silly question but here goes.

I'm in Canada and I subscribe to Bell ExpressVu satellite. I used to own a Panasonic 47 inch widescreen picture tube TV and I had the aspect of the TV set just right so it filled the whole screen.

I recently upgraded my TV to the 46' Sony Bravia KDL46V2500 LCD, and because of that I also upgraded my satellite receiver to the HD version. Watching HD is great, but the problem I'm having now is that when I watch non-HD channels, there's a black bar on the left and right side of the screen to make the picture more squared.

So I guess what I'm asking is, is that normal to keep the best viewing? I tried going into the Sony settings and no matter what you pick - full, zoom, wide zoom, etc. but it won't make much difference. I can live with it I suppose, since mostly I'll be watching HD anyways but when I switch to regular digital cable its full screen!

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Tom

[57U]

You need to read the operating manual for your STB to properly set up the STB instead of the TV. You will find that by repeatedly pressing the * button on the STB remote, it will take you through various stretch modes in the STB.

The STB will remember the stretch mode for SD and for HD signals, so you could set HD to "normal" and SD to "partial zoom" if you want, however, now that you have an LCD and don't have any burn in concerns, I'd set it to "normal" or "black bars" for SD programming anyway for the best picture quality instead of stretching SD.

[hoodaguy]

Thanks a lot, that was a huge help. :)