Topic: I've spent all bloody morning...

[Simon]

... trying to set up a new Panasonic XW380 HDD Recorder.  The reason I bought it was that it has twin Freeview tuners, so can record two channels simultaneously.  It also has Freeview HD, which I can't get at the moment, but will be able to receive eventually (I didn't actually know I couldn't get Freeview HD until it failed to find any channels, but the main reason for purchase was for the twin tuners).

The problem is a very strange one.  For some reason, under certain conditions, it won't display the TV picture in Widescreen mode.  This only affects certain channels, at certain times, and I have deduced that the symptoms are present when a channel is broadcasting in HD and SD simultaneously.

I can, therefore, record, for example, Deal or no Deal, and EastEnders, with DoND displaying correctly in Widescreen mode, but EastEnders displaying in stretched 4:3 mode, unless I manually switch the TV setting to 16:9.  This does not happen with any other TV recording equipment I have used.  I know I can manually switch the TV setting, but I shouldn't have to (that's what's annoying), and I don't want to leave it in 16:9 mode, as it's often used for playing old children's videos, which are in 4:3 aspect, and then appear overly stretched.

I have been through every setting I can find, a dozen times, and it is all set correctly.  Curiouser still, this only occurs when using the HDMI connection.  If I use RGB Scart, the picture displays in the correct ratio, but obviously, not at the best quality.

I've been setting up AV equipment for nearly 30 years, and frequently get asked to set stuff up for other people, so it's not as though I am unfamiliar with what I'm doing.  I'm starting to think the machine might be faulty, but with the issue being so specific, and only occurring under certain conditions, I'm not convinced. 

Any thoughts?

[Rik]

http://www.freeviewhd-tv.co.uk/hd-tv-technology/

HDTV stands for High Definition Television “, or” high-definition television. “While the resolution of NTSC at 720 x 480 pixels and the European PAL system at 720 x 576 pixels, is the resolution of HDTV many times to later. In HDTV resolutions is understood today, named “720p” (1280 x 720 pixels in progressive playback) or “1080i (1920 x 1080 pixels” for interlaced playback). HDTV is a pure 16:9 aspect ratio and thus corresponds to more human viewing habits as a conventional 4:3 TV. image formats an aspect ratio of 4:3 are in HDTV not provided. The acquisition of 4:3 material or advertisements appear to the left and right black bars.

Slight gibberish, but it suggests that the aspect ratio may not be transmitted with an HD channel. Possibly this is knocking through to the SD broadcast too.

[Simon]

It's got to be something along those lines.  What I can't understand is that a person on AV Forums has the same machine, and also lives in West Sussex (no Freeview HD), but his displays widescreen correctly.  I've also asked on DS, and am awaiting replies.

[Rik]

This is going to be one of those niggly and obscure problems.

[Clive]

Don't they have a help line Simon?  It's worth a shot providing thery are not charging a premium rate for it. 

[Simon]

Tried that on Friday, Clive, and they say the machine is working 'correctly', because of the nature of HD broadcasts.  The fact that the machine isn't receiving HD broadcasts didn't seem to sway him.   May try again to get someone different.  

[Clive]

It may be worth trying Digital Spy's Home Entertainment Technology Forum at LINK.

[Simon]

Thanks Clive.  I've posted in the Freeview forum, as there was already a thread there regarding the machine I have.