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General discussion

Top & bottom of 16:9 gets cut. All TV's or just Philips?????

Dec 7, 2004 11:21AM PST

I just bought a Philips 30PW8402 HDTV. I don't have digital cable or satellite yet but when I watch a widescreen DVD I put the TV into zoom 14:9, zoom 16:9, subtitle zoom, superwide, or widescreen and the picture gets cut off from the top, bottom, and the sides. It seems as if the movie is being stretched, even a widescreen movie. It doesn't seem to be in true widescreen mode. I called Philips customer service and they were of no help. The cust serv rep said that most of the calls he has been getting are regarding the same thing. He said at this time nothing can be done. I told him it looks like the picture is being enlarged and he said that's exactly what it is. I asked, shouldn't a widescreen movie not have to be stretched. He had no response. I don't know if another TV is going to be the same or if Philips makes an inferior product. Please let me know if you can help.

Discussion is locked

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Re: Top & bottom of 16:9 gets cut. All TV's or just Philips?
Dec 7, 2004 2:53PM PST

My guess is that it's normal. Any time when zoom is being used; part/s of the pictures will get cut off.

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Re: Top & bottom of 16:9 gets cut. All TV's or just Philips?
Dec 7, 2004 4:49PM PST

THEIR ARE SOME MOVIES THAT ARE SHOT IN A WIDER THEN 16:9 FORMAT SO BLACK BARS MAY NOT ALWAYS BE AVOIDED. IT IS NORMAL FOR ZOOM FEATURES ON BOTH DVD PLAYERS AND HDTVS TO DISTORD OR CUT OFF THE IMAGES. IF YOUR WATCHING ON NORMAL WIDESCREEN (16:9) MODE AND THE IMAGE IS STRETCHED, IT COULD BE YOUR DVD PLAYER.

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Re: Top & bottom of 16:9 gets cut. All TV's or just Philips?
Dec 8, 2004 9:27PM PST

my maxent is the same way, im calling them today when they open ask what's up w/it b/c its annoying. im watching door in the floor and thats a 2:35 anamorphic so it has bigger black bars. really annoying, i thought this is why i bought a widescreen tv, to get rid of those

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Top & bottom of 16:9 gets cut. All TV's or just Philips?
Dec 19, 2004 4:16AM PST

I'm amazed at a few of the posts in this thread. The last post remarked:

"im watching door in the floor and thats a 2:35 anamorphic so it has bigger black bars. really annoying, i thought this is why i bought a widescreen tv, to get rid of those"

Your widescreen TV is 1:85 aspect, so you will always have bars if the source aspect ratio is larger than that. If the ratio is smaller you will have bars on the side. All TVs will display bars on at least some material. There is nothing wrong with your TV. Regarding the top and bottom being cut off....if you are zooming you will probably cut off information if you zoom to the point of losing bars. If you want to ensure you are not losing info, just stop zooming.

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Check your DVD player
Mar 3, 2005 12:00PM PST

I have the same TV, it's your DVD player. First did you connect your dvd player with component cables? If you did, check for a switch in the back of your dvd player or in the setup screen for your dvd player to make sure it is outputting 480p or 1080i. That isn't completely neccessary but it will ensure that your are watching the best possible picture. Now while in the setup menu for the DVD player, you should have a picture option, go into it and it will give you aspect ratio options(full or wide), select wide. I am assuming that you have a fairly recent DVD player with progressive scan technology. I had the same problem but I fixed it on my TV. The problem is that your DVD player think that you have regular TV still, you have to tell it that you have a widscreen TV.