KDP-57XBR2 questions

[Yurik]

Hello all,

I have several questions about SONY wide screen rear projection HDTV
model KDP-57XBR2 I bought recently. First, when I connect my Apex AD-800
DVD player to it via component RGB, a movie shows black bars on top and
bottom of the screen even though the disk is clearly widescreen, DVD player
is set to 16:9 output and the TV is in full wide screen mode. Even though
the bars are much thinner than on my old 4:3 TV, they're still there - what
to do to watch a DVD move in full 16:9 wide screen?
Second, there're couple station that broadcast in HDTV here in New York.
CBS-2 for example on channel 2.1. But even though their picture is HDTV, it
doesn't fill the entire screen there're black bars on the left and right.
Even though the bars are smaller than on ordinary 4:3 broadcast, they're
still there. And the TV says it's a 16:9 signal and Zoom options are
unavailable. How come?
And finally, I'd like to be able to use firewire i.Link connection of the TV
to record video from it to my PC. When I connect TV to PC, Windows XP
recognizes the model - KDP-57XBR2, but asks for a driver for it. Do you know
where I can download one? If not, what is the work around to use i.Link in
HDTV to PC connection.

Thanks in advance for your help, I really appreciate it.

[kevinw]

Lets start with the DVD- not all Dvd's will fill the screen. Look for animorphic WS. They are enhanced for WS tv's.

Not all Digital television is WS. Only High Def programming is. G here to see what is onTITAN TV (http://titantv.com)

[57U]

1. Not all DVD movies are the same aspect ratio (ratio of width to height). The ones that are 1.85:1 will perfectly fill a widescreen TV (the ratio is amost exactly 16:9, like your screen). Movies that are 2.35:1 will leave black bars at the top and bottom.

Enhanced for Widescreen DVDs also need to be "stretched" only "horizontally", while "normal DVDs" need to be "stretched vertically and horizontally. If people are too fat or too thin, you've used the wrong stretch mode. Some DVD movies are even in 4:3 aspect ratio (same as your old TV). These will have black bars on the sides...

2. HD channels do not always broadcast actual High Definition material. When they do, it will usually fill the 16:9 screen properly, but, due to the lack of HD material, a lot of the stuff broadcast in HD is still 4:3 material (same aspect ratio as your old TV.) This material has been "upconverted" from 480i to 480P, 720P or 1080i depending on the station.

Use the following link to see what is on in HD.

http://www.hdtvgalaxy.com/broad.html

Also, search this site for "burn in", read all the posts, so that you don't ruin your TV.

Happy Viewing