NTL picture stretches and sides cut off

I.J.

Despite adjusting the TV settings, the box spontaneously chooses its own setting. Sometimes when I change a channel the picture seems to suddenly expand and the channel names get pushed into the corners to a point where you can barely see the bottom of them. I flick around and it eventually resets itself.

When setting my dvd recorder I had it on letterbox format to record a show that is not presented in Widescreen but usually fills in nicely. Not today!. The picture before my show was fine but then suddenly it filled in the screen too much and went beyond the frame of the TV which means I have a show zoomed into too much with heads and the sides of credits cut off.

I have contacted NTL customer service - they don't have a clue will send a servicman out in over 2 weeks!

I would switch to SKY but the NTL catch is their anologue which gives me the basic pack in my bedroom while digital is in the sitting room.

Yakuza

Are you sure it's not your TV? Mine is set to "auto adjust" its aspect ratio depending on the signal it's getting, but if I flick quickly with the NTL remote (up past BBC 3/4) it switches back to 4:3 for some of the channels (living/uk gold) but doesn't switch back to wide when I go back to a widescreen channel. The box is permanently set to 16:9

I.J.

Hey Yakuza,
its definitely not the TV. I have previously checked to see it if it was but I can still see the problem through all the formats I set the TV to.

I get just two sizes with the majority of the channels, its either correct or pushed into the corner. But RTE is the worst. That seems to come in all different sizes based on where their "RTE ONE" symbol is. At one stage its straight up with the bottom of the words showing at the top, another time its off to the side with just the "RTE" showing, at another point its way down into the screen and sometimes gone altogether.

If it doesn't stay set to the format I want it to stay it must be a problem with the box. I hope their technician can fix it for me. I just hope some can confirm for the moment that it is a problem already witnessed.

The tax man

What make of TV do you have? What model STB do you have?
RTE ONE ratio yesterday was way too wide for me as well. Could only see RTE.
Screen format on STB won't change by itself,if you chosse 16:9 and start changing channels on STB and still have the picture on your TV going too wide etc, I bet if you check the screen format on the STB it'll still say 16:9.
Maybe you've unearthed a new fault.:D

yayamark

i think i have a similar problem.
when i watch sky news i don,t get to see all the screen. never noticed this until i was in afriends house and they had sky tv with sky news on. i was amazed that i could see a lot more of the screen


actually this is a fault of chorus because this is the way that it is always

JDxtra

It's another common problem with NTL. Seems to effect mostly the smaller boxes.

Flicking to Sky News (202), and then pressing yellow to revert back to the channel you were watching will fix the issue.

The digibox seems to send the wrong aspect ratio information to the TV forcing it to go into a Zoom mode (instead of the default for your 4:3 channels).

I've seen the problem on Philips and Sony TVs - but it's defo the digibox causing the problem.

NTL customer services will probably not understand what you are talking about. It's not likely the technician will be able to fix it (unless he gives you a different type of box).

tvbrat

JDxtra wrote:

Flicking to Sky News (202), and then pressing yellow to revert back to the channel you were watching will fix the issue.

Same thing here, go to SN and back does fix the problem.

I have also noticed when viewing a show on a channel in 4:3
when the adds come on, the aspect ratio will switch to 16:9
and then revert back after the add. break.

the real pain, I find, while viewing in 16:9 mode the EPG gets cut off and I can't read it, so I either have to re-set my tv, or go to a broadcast in 4:3
to select an option from the EPG.

I.J.

I have a Widescreen JVC Tv but I know that the TV is definitely not the problem.

While it can be easy enough to sort the picture by flicking around with buttons, the problem is when you have a timer set to record something and the picture is screwed up and you are not there to fix it. These boxes should stay set on the format you want. I hope NTL can fix the problem if it means giving me a new box. This is shabby service!

As I said, i'd switch to SKY only for the convenient anologue pack that NTL provide which is handy for the bedroom.

Whatsthisabout

Aspect ratio comes from the channel source which means different channels and shows are transmitted differently. ntl can’t change the ratio they can only make the box try and deal with it this is the pan and scan option. However this wont always work. If you want to see the whole picture press menu and change the aspect ratio on the box to something more fitting.

I.J.

Unfortunately the format settings just don't do as asked with NTL digital. One minute a particular show is looking fine, chnage the channel and then go back and there it is blown up. Go to the settings, try and make the picture fit but it won't work. It only works by flicking around the channels, chancing your arm and hoping for the best. That way of operating is pretty poor.

Alun

To the OP .. Could I ask what kind of box do you have? I have the medium sized silver box, i.e. not the really small latest model, and everything works fine both with my current Philips LCD and an older Philips WS TV. This isn't the first report of the newer boxes having problems in this regard IIRC.

I.J.

Hey Alun,

I have the small box. Almost as small as a Video tape. Thanks for that info. I hope when the technican comes they can help and I'll let everybody know who has the problem as well.