Screen Size Problems on Cox Box and RCA CRT HDTV

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Hi All:

I recently bought a RCA D27F750T CRT HDTV. It was all my budget could
swing. This will be #2 TV at some future point. I have Cox Cable with
their HDTV tuner box. Initially, I had the Cox Box connected via the
component video per the Cox instructions. Everything was fine as far as
picture. This TV has a 4:3 screen, so all non-HDTV was full screen and
HDTV had black lines top and bottom. I also have the Cox cable split
before the tuner box so I can tune the "lower" analog channels via the
TV's tuner. I also have my DVD recorder hooked in to Video 1 on the TV.
So I am pretty flexible on being able to watch one thing and record
another.

But my problem started when I tried hooking the Cox Box to the TV via a
DVI cable. That appeared to work at first but the end result was that
both the DVI connection and the component video connections BOTH give
me an incorrect picture on the RCA TV.

Now, the picture from all non-HDTV channels via component video are
sized wrong. A typical analog or digital non-HDTV channel is boxed in
on both sides. I get solid black lines across the top plus solid with
some mixed color lines on the side. When the picture clearly is in the
right aspect ratio (4:3), the "info" button on the TV says 16:9. If I
switch formats, the picture fills the screen top to bottom and I have
side black bars only but it is clearly vertically stretched. So, it
appears the TV has somehow gotten "inverted" on the format (4:3 vs.
16:9). The HDTV channels are just fine.

Interestingly, I get a perfectly fine, full screen 4:3 picture through
both the internal TV tuner and through the tuner on the DVD recorder on
all the analogue channels.

I have Cox coming out tomorrow to swap my tuner box, but something
tells me it may be the TV. I can find nothing on away to "reset" the
TV to factory defaults. Any body know how to do that? I may have
torqued something when I was messing with the DVII cable.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jess
 
G

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Guest
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Just some ideas to check out.
I had a very strange signal on my TV the first time I hooked up the DVI/HDMI
cable. The screen had many weird colors and the picture was
unrecognizable. Anyway, I searched around the Directv box and found a switch
on the back for (DVI or something else). Anyway, I switched it over to DVI,
and it took care of the problem. Note this could also be a menu setting.

Also there are setups for 480i 480p, 720p and 1080i that could be either on
your box or on your TV. Could be switches or menu settings. You might want
to make sure that is setup correctly.

When the picture clearly is in the
> right aspect ratio (4:3), the "info" button on the TV says 16:9.

You might be able to set the aspect ratio up on your box. I know I can
change the aspect ratio and 480i etc. signals from my Directv box as well as
my TV. makes life ever so confusing.

noone

"jess" <jessjackson3@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1118084868.914767.106140@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Hi All:
>
> I recently bought a RCA D27F750T CRT HDTV. It was all my budget could
> swing. This will be #2 TV at some future point. I have Cox Cable with
> their HDTV tuner box. Initially, I had the Cox Box connected via the
> component video per the Cox instructions. Everything was fine as far as
> picture. This TV has a 4:3 screen, so all non-HDTV was full screen and
> HDTV had black lines top and bottom. I also have the Cox cable split
> before the tuner box so I can tune the "lower" analog channels via the
> TV's tuner. I also have my DVD recorder hooked in to Video 1 on the TV.
> So I am pretty flexible on being able to watch one thing and record
> another.
>
> But my problem started when I tried hooking the Cox Box to the TV via a
> DVI cable. That appeared to work at first but the end result was that
> both the DVI connection and the component video connections BOTH give
> me an incorrect picture on the RCA TV.
>
> Now, the picture from all non-HDTV channels via component video are
> sized wrong. A typical analog or digital non-HDTV channel is boxed in
> on both sides. I get solid black lines across the top plus solid with
> some mixed color lines on the side. If I
> switch formats, the picture fills the screen top to bottom and I have
> side black bars only but it is clearly vertically stretched. So, it
> appears the TV has somehow gotten "inverted" on the format (4:3 vs.
> 16:9). The HDTV channels are just fine.
>
> Interestingly, I get a perfectly fine, full screen 4:3 picture through
> both the internal TV tuner and through the tuner on the DVD recorder on
> all the analogue channels.
>
> I have Cox coming out tomorrow to swap my tuner box, but something
> tells me it may be the TV. I can find nothing on away to "reset" the
> TV to factory defaults. Any body know how to do that? I may have
> torqued something when I was messing with the DVII cable.
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Jess
>
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

You experience parallels mine in that the mere hooking up the DVI cable
appears to have sent the box into some "off beat" mode for non-HDTV
channels.

I did discovered how to get into the TV factory setup (turn set off,
hold vol-down and channel-down for 15 seconds and there you are). I
reset the TV to factory default but no fix there, so I am more confident
it is in the box. Cox has sent me a remote reset and reload on the box,
but that did not help. I cannot find any relevant set up adjustments on
the box. So, I will wait for the Cox guy tomorrow. I will post the outcome.

Thanks,
Jess
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

On 6 Jun 2005 12:07:48 -0700, "jess" <jessjackson3@gmail.com> wrote:

....
> This TV has a 4:3 screen, so all non-HDTV was full screen and
>HDTV had black lines top and bottom.
....
>Now, the picture from all non-HDTV channels via component video are
>sized wrong. A typical analog or digital non-HDTV channel is boxed in
>on both sides. I get solid black lines across the top plus solid with
>some mixed color lines on the side. When the picture clearly is in the
>right aspect ratio (4:3), the "info" button on the TV says 16:9.

The Box thinks your TV is of 16:9 format, so it scales the 4:3 signal
to a 16:9 signal with bars on the side.
When your TV receives the 16:9 signal, it does the right thing which
is to display it with the added bars top and bottom.

The Box needs to "be told" that your TV is 4:3 format.
(But I have no experience with digital HDTV I/F, so someone else can
fill in that part...)
/Jan
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

Cox Cable, if you can get someone willing to give you the information, can
tell you a whole lot more regarding the operations of their supplied
equipment, and the additional features available. Too bad they don't supply
the user manuals for these, but that may be a waste since who reads them
anyway?
"Jan B" <nospam@nospam.se> wrote in message
news:42a52627.29511184@wingate...
> On 6 Jun 2005 12:07:48 -0700, "jess" <jessjackson3@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> ...
>> This TV has a 4:3 screen, so all non-HDTV was full screen and
>>HDTV had black lines top and bottom.
> ...
>>Now, the picture from all non-HDTV channels via component video are
>>sized wrong. A typical analog or digital non-HDTV channel is boxed in
>>on both sides. I get solid black lines across the top plus solid with
>>some mixed color lines on the side. When the picture clearly is in the
>>right aspect ratio (4:3), the "info" button on the TV says 16:9.
>
> The Box thinks your TV is of 16:9 format, so it scales the 4:3 signal
> to a 16:9 signal with bars on the side.
> When your TV receives the 16:9 signal, it does the right thing which
> is to display it with the added bars top and bottom.
>
> The Box needs to "be told" that your TV is 4:3 format.
> (But I have no experience with digital HDTV I/F, so someone else can
> fill in that part...)
> /Jan
 

THUMPer

Distinguished
Apr 12, 2004
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On Tue, 7 Jun 2005 06:16:39 -0400, "Art" <plotsligt@comcast.net>
wrote:

>Cox Cable, if you can get someone willing to give you the information, can
>tell you a whole lot more regarding the operations of their supplied
>equipment, and the additional features available. Too bad they don't supply
>the user manuals for these, but that may be a waste since who reads them
>anyway?
Should be able to find the user's manual online.
Thumper
>"Jan B" <nospam@nospam.se> wrote in message
>news:42a52627.29511184@wingate...
>> On 6 Jun 2005 12:07:48 -0700, "jess" <jessjackson3@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> ...
>>> This TV has a 4:3 screen, so all non-HDTV was full screen and
>>>HDTV had black lines top and bottom.
>> ...
>>>Now, the picture from all non-HDTV channels via component video are
>>>sized wrong. A typical analog or digital non-HDTV channel is boxed in
>>>on both sides. I get solid black lines across the top plus solid with
>>>some mixed color lines on the side. When the picture clearly is in the
>>>right aspect ratio (4:3), the "info" button on the TV says 16:9.
>>
>> The Box thinks your TV is of 16:9 format, so it scales the 4:3 signal
>> to a 16:9 signal with bars on the side.
>> When your TV receives the 16:9 signal, it does the right thing which
>> is to display it with the added bars top and bottom.
>>
>> The Box needs to "be told" that your TV is 4:3 format.
>> (But I have no experience with digital HDTV I/F, so someone else can
>> fill in that part...)
>> /Jan
>
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 04:57:16 GMT, nospam@nospam.se (Jan B) wrote:

>On 6 Jun 2005 12:07:48 -0700, "jess" <jessjackson3@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>...
>> This TV has a 4:3 screen, so all non-HDTV was full screen and
>>HDTV had black lines top and bottom.
>...
>>Now, the picture from all non-HDTV channels via component video are
>>sized wrong. A typical analog or digital non-HDTV channel is boxed in
>>on both sides. I get solid black lines across the top plus solid with
>>some mixed color lines on the side. When the picture clearly is in the
>>right aspect ratio (4:3), the "info" button on the TV says 16:9.
>
>The Box thinks your TV is of 16:9 format, so it scales the 4:3 signal
>to a 16:9 signal with bars on the side.
>When your TV receives the 16:9 signal, it does the right thing which
>is to display it with the added bars top and bottom.
>
>The Box needs to "be told" that your TV is 4:3 format.
>(But I have no experience with digital HDTV I/F, so someone else can
>fill in that part...)
>/Jan
>
I agree with Jan, although it's strange that the box would change the
output mode by simply hooking up the DVI out. Perhaps the box has
some auto setting that detects when the DVI is used. So, this may be
a simple matter of going into the box setup menu and changing the
aspect ratio setting for the output from 16x9 to 4x3. Perhaps the DVI
out on the box only supports a 16x9 set?

As you can probably tell, I'm not that experienced with these sorts of
cable boxes. so perhaps another poster knows or the cable person will
figure it out. I would guess that swapping the box is unnecessary.

Gary E
--
|Gary A. Edelstein
|edelsgNO@SPAMyahoo.com.invalid (remove NO SPAM and .invalid to reply)
|"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Walt Kelly's Pogo
 
G

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Guest
Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

Thanks -- All who said the box was confused about the TV and was sending
a 16:9 signal are correct. The Cox tech rep showed me how to access the
setup menu. Turn off the box and quickly hit "Menu" on my particular box
remote. Sure enough, it had changed to 16:9 AND was sending a 480i
signal. He reset the Cox box to 4:3 and 1080i and I was a good as new. I
am not inclined to try it again but it appears that merely connecting
the DVI cable switched modes in the box.

Thanks for all the help...
 

rjolson

Distinguished
Oct 9, 2009
1
0
18,510
WOW!!!

Thanks for this info, even as dated as it is.
I was having a horrible time with my Cox Cable.
I have HDTV service with DVR.
My Toshiba 65HX93 Cinema Series is connected via DVI for the video and the audio runs directly from the CoxBox to my receiver.
Whenever I would go to a high definition channel and then back to the lower analog signals, all of the colors would be messed up (lots of greens and yellows, no reds).
If Cox sent a reset signal to my box, it came back with the lower channels working.
If you unplugged the CoxBox, it would come back with the lower channels working. Simply hitting the power button on the box would not do it.
If you would simply unplug the DVI cable, and plug it back in (leaving both TV and CoxBox on) the lower channels would again regain their normal colors.
In all cases, switch to HighDef channel, and it's lemon-lime time again on the lower channels.
After reading this thread, I too hit power-off on the cable box and then immediately hit the Menu button (use the face of the box).
A wonderful, yet simplistic menu popped up where I could set the TV to 4:3, lock in 1080i, and then turn off the auto-detect feature in the cable box.
Problem is now gone, gone, gone.
My lower channels display in regular format and when I switch to the high-defs, I get the wide-screen view.

Thank you, thank you.