Thanks for this information. I have finally given up on my phone battle with
DirecTV and their local station offerings. Their clueless customer service
department (and people claiming to be in their technical department) keep
telling me it's my fault that their feed of my local stations is extremely cut
off on the left and right sides. They say that I need to set up my DirecTV
receiver correctly or that my "regular def" television was not set up
correctly. This is after I told them that I can get all the other DirecTV
channels (widescreen or full-screen) correctly and I can get the same local
channels over the air in widescreen on that same television. They refuse to
believe there could be a problem with their feed. Yes I could switch to the
over the air signal for the locals but if I'm time-shifting with the DirecTV
DVR I don't have that option.
I've confirmed with friends that have DirecTV that this is a problem on their
feeds as well and, like I said, if need be I CAN work around it. But should I
really have to? And it's just so frustrating when they won't even admit that
it's the way they're sending out the programming!
----- Original Message -----
From: jeffrey marousek
To: tvornottv@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 5:54 AM
Subject: Re: [TV orNotTV] But I don't have a wide screen TV!
I am gonna take a stab in the dark here and guess you are watching using
cable/satellite...and likely DirecTV (they are the worst). While the one
comment of how most new network programming is 16x9 is true, how it is center
cut by local providers changes depending on equipment and/or equipment
settings. Also, most of that 16.9 programming takes into consideration that
there will be 4x3 and puts the graphics where they can be read on 4x3 displays.
That being said, DirecTV's MPEG4 decoders zoom the image way more than
required when it center cuts. Their equipment does let you letter box format
locally. However, you must pay the 10 dollar HD access fee for that feature to
be available on your receiver. Right now, DirecTV will credit your account that
10 dollar fee for for a year if you order it. i am just assuming that most
other programming providers will do something similar, as I know the Charter
cable system by me does. Also, most convertor boxes offer the same feature for
the OTA viewers.
--
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