Incorrect Aspect Ratio on many channels

[kmason5727]

Hello, 

I have notice many channels are not displaying the correct aspect ratio.

I am in the Miami, FL market and watching on an X1 box.  I understand not all channels are HD, but when tuning to, for example, 1810, the movie is squeezed horizontally with two black bars above and below it. My 16x9 screen should be filled with the whole screen. So, in essence the movie looks stretched. Now, when I view it on the website, it looks perfect.

It seems to be a setting in Comcast because some channels look good, while others do not. 

If someone wants to contact me, I'll be more than happy to go through to help fix the channels that need to be adjusted.

In the picture.... Left side is X1 Box. Right side is XFinity Stream.

Notice how Tom Hanks is stretched on the left side. Settings on the TV are correct

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

Ken

[billmich88888]

Sometimes movies are shot with such an extremely wide screen aspect ratio that there are STILL the top/bottom bars, even on widescreen tv's

[kmason5727]

>>Sometimes movies are shot with such an extremely wide screen aspect ratio that there are STILL the top/bottom bars, even on widescreen tv's

Yes. I understand the cinematic aspect ratio. If you were able to see the pic, you would see what I mean.

I made the pic smaller... hopefully you can see it.

Sample 

Thanks, ken

[MNtundraRET]

The best thing to do is use your TV remote and test each version of Aspect ratios available: Auto, Normal, Wide (somtimes more than one), Cinema. Alot depends on the signal the provider uploaded to Comcast system: 420p, 720p, or 1080i.

Movies produced for wide-screen, Omni, etc., theators will end up with black horizontal borders. The vast majority of 3D, or 4K, movies end up that way on my Samsung curved 3D UHD television. I can change aspect to fill screen, but that means loosing part of the picture on left or right seen at the theators. It is really best to watch movies (streaming) over high-speed broadband. The copy supplied is usually 1080p (Blue Ray quality).

[kmason5727]

So, you are asking me as an end-user to adjust my tv set for every channel that is displayed incorrectly.
I shouldn't, as an end user, have to adjust my settings for different channels.
All the HD channels are correct. When I tune to an SD channel (In this case, an HD channel that has been downconveted to SD), the downconversion is not set to the correct aspect ratio.
I understand what cinematic ratio is. I understand that some movies are displayed on a 16x9 tv set that are "letterbox" and will show black bars above and below.
But, that is not the problem. The visual shows that you are taking 16x9 footage and squeezing the top and bottom. This is a setting at Comcast.
Hope this makes sense.
I will try to provide more examples.
Ken

[MNtundraRET]

I am sorry to report that I can confirm what you are seeing. I cycled through all lower channels (1 to 200). Except for very few exceptions (about 5 channels), all SD channels appear like you showed. Some with smaller picture with 4 borders (black).

I also found a bigger problem: ON DEMAND (channel 1) no longer works and shows error CL14. It started a week ago with ON DEMAND. I never watch lower channels so reason I did not notice it. I did find out I could "full screen" those channels by using the "ZOOM" setting on my tv, but you loose part of original picture doing that.

It seems Comcast has done some update to their computer system for sending out the Video/Audio to our boxes. It happened here about a week ago. I am in the Bloomington MN service area.

This is a localized transmission problem. Not our problem. I will "Escalate" this post and hope they can fix the issue.

[ComcastTambrey]

Hello, kmanson5727. 

I appreciate you reaching out to us here with your concerns about the SD aspect ratio experience you are having. 

I totally agree with you, the incorrect aspect ratio is pretty awful! We have this awesome guide here that gives you some more information about what it is, why it happens, and some tips, tricks, and guides to adjust it so you can experience the best channel view possible. https://comca.st/3i8w6Hc

For the most part, newer TV's can detect the quality of the video and automatically adjust it but this isn't always the case, so you will need to do it manually.

Please give that guide a try and let me know if you are able to find the right setting for that TV and channel. 🙂