Home audio & video forum: Picture too big for screen

Pardon my naivete but I am not sure what OTA means. Perhaps you could explain. As I mentioned in my first post, I tried the menu settings for the tv but that didn't help. I also tried looking at the menu setting for the HD cable box but I couldn't find any relevant settings to change.
Richard

"LOTS OF LUCK" makes sense sometimes; but primarily is used to indicate "LAUGHING OUT LOUD."

OTA as in "OVER THE AIR" TV. The correct name is "BROADCAST TV" as opposed to "SATELLITE TV" or "CABLE TV." OTA is shorthand for the lazy or uninformed. I've even used it just to communicate with those kind. Another term making the rounds is "ANTENNA TV." Pick your fave.

river.

They used to design this right into the sets years ago to help compensate for the picture loss as the set aged. It was, if I recall correctly no more than about 3-4% of the picture though, so I doubt that's the culprit.

My guess is that it's not the TV but the cable box that needs to be adjusted.

Does it do the same thing when your signal source is a wide screen DVD?

If it isn't a problem with a DVD then it's definitely your cable box. If it is then it's definitely the TV. In the former case, call your cable provider and ask for help. In the latter, call Sony and d escribe the problem.

Good luck.

In the screen settings menu for the tv, the choice of wide mode settings for the tv are Wide Zoom, Zoom and Full. The Normal mode is grayed out. According to the tv manual, the Full Mode will produce the picture at its original size for a 16:9 source. I have it set to Full Mode but still have the problem described in my first post.
The only relevant setting on the remote for my HD cable box is 16:9 which is where I have it set.
I tried to determine if the same problem happens with dvds but I couldn't tell - no writing on the sides or top and bottom of the screen. If you have nay suggestions on how I can test if the problem occurs with dvds I would appreciate the information.
Thanks again.
Richard

Isn't Roadrunner the connection provided by Time Warner or Comcast cable? Not that this makes a difference, but since Roadrunner handles both Internet and TV, I wonder if the cable company has something set weird? Have you called the cable company? The service call should be free and maybe they can figure something out. The only other idea (that isn't so great), is to hook up another 16:9 TV to your cable box that you know doesn't have this problem. Maybe a friend has a smaller TV that you could hook up?

In the settings for my Scientific Atlanta cable box, there is a setting for how to display a 4:3 picture on a 16:9 screen. I had it set to "Zoom." Once I switched that "Zoom" choice to the "Stretch" choice, the picture returned to a size that didn't exceed the screen size when I viewed a 4:3 broadcast either in 4:3 or in wide zoom.
Thanks Dan and to others for your feedback.
Richard