Ad: Manage updates with the Download App
ie8 fix

Home audio & video forum: Comcast DVR with HDMI - elongated and off-center pictures

by: evillella April 28, 2010 10:44 AM PDT

Like this

0 people like this thread

Staff pick

Comcast DVR with HDMI - elongated and off-center pictures

by evillella - 4/28/10 10:44 AM

I have a 42 inch Samsung Plasma with a Comcast DVR HDMI receiver plugged into it.

For the second time in a year with different receivers, I am having issues with the centering of the picture.

On the non-HD channels, the picture will elongate and fit my television screen. On the HD channels, it will do the same thing, but also sometimes go off-center or go off the screen (e.g. with scrolling information on ESPN or CNN the scrolling information will be truncated because it does not fit on the screen). In addition the picture quality is not the same.

I think this is a Comcast issue. I have played around with the Samsung screen view and all Bluray/Roku inputs appear as normal. In addition, I had this exact problem with another receiver six months ago. I traded in the receiver for another one (Scientific Atlanta for a Motorola) and the problem was resolved with the new receiver, but that has only lasted five months before reverting back to the same issue.

I am not sure if others have experiences similar issues. There should be a better solution than swapping out Comcast receivers every six months.


Reply
Report offensive post
Email to friend

If you already dug through the

by minimalist - 4/28/10 11:12 AM

In Reply to: Comcast DVR with HDMI - elongated and off-center pictures by evillella

menus on the TV as well as the menus on your other components, that leaves one thing: your DVR's settings. Go into whatever setting are there and make sure its set to output correctly.

Keep in mind, even if your DVR output is set up properly you will still sometimes experience weirdness with broadcast info (cropping, stretching, aspect ratio changes during commercials, HD to SD quality drops during news update screen-crawls broadcast by local channels, etc). Usuallly this is due to bad decisions on the part of the channels themselves... the worst being when they stretch SD content (or crop the tops and bottoms) to "fill" a 16:9 screen.


Was this reply helpful? (0)   (0)

Staff pick

Reply
Report offensive post
Email to friend

See if this helps

by Pepe7 - 4/29/10 7:58 AM

In Reply to: Comcast DVR with HDMI - elongated and off-center pictures by evillella

Minimalist is 110% correct. Their feeds are sometimes less than desirable in how they interact with a display. Luckily though, you can go into the hidden DVR settings to make proper adjustments. Keep in mind this will likely not solve each and every formatting issue for their whole lineup.

Tutorial-
http://www.ehow.com/how_4617491_hdmi-display-settings-comcast-dvr.html


Was this reply helpful? (0)   (0)

Staff pick

Reply
Report offensive post
Email to friend

Thanks!

by evillella - 4/30/10 6:59 AM

In Reply to: See if this helps by Pepe7

The eHow link worked and I am back to normal. Thanks for sending the link...I had looked around for something close to that, but did not track it down because getting to the settings piece of the DVR is not intuitive.

The funny thing is that I have discussed this with multiple Comcast support people and they have no idea how to fix the issue. Leave it to a static website to outdo the 5 support people I spoke with. All the 800-number people can do is a hard reset; then they say that they need to schedule a service appointment.


Was this reply helpful? (0)   (0)

Staff pick

Reply
Report offensive post
Email to friend

Yeah

by Pepe7 - 4/30/10 9:04 AM

In Reply to: Thanks! by evillella

That sounds about right. Most of their front line reps IME do not have anything but the most basic knowledge of the hardware they sell/lease. It's a rare treat to get someone with depth to assist. Plus, sometimes they make $30-50 per service call wink.


Was this reply helpful? (0)   (0)

Staff pick

Reply
Report offensive post
Email to friend

More Discussions

Forum Icon Legend

  • UnreadUnread
  • ReadRead
  • Locked threadLocked thread
  •   
  •   
  •   
  •   
  •   
  •   
  •   
  • ModeratorModerator
  • CNET StaffCNET Staff
  • Samsung StaffSamsung Staff
  • Norton Authorized Support TeamNorton Authorized Support Team
  • AVG StaffAVG Staff
  • avast! Staffavast! Staff
  • Webroot Support TeamWebroot Support Team
  • Acer Customer Experience TeamAcer Customer Experience Team
  • Windows Outreach TeamWindows Outreach Team
  • DISH staffDISH staff
  • Dell StaffDell Staff
  • Intel StaffIntel Staff
  • QuestionQuestion
  • Resolved questionResolved question
  • General discussionGeneral discussion
  • TipTip
  • Alert or warningAlert or warning
  • PraisePraise
  • RantRant

You are e-mailing the following post: Post Subject

Your e-mail address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the e-mail and in case of transmission error. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose.

Sorry, there was a problem emailing this post. Please try again.

Submit Email Cancel

Thank you. Sent email to

Close

Thank you. Sent email to

Close

You are reporting the following post: Post Subject

If you believe this post is offensive or violates the CNET Forums' Usage policies, you can report it below (this will not automatically remove the post). Once reported, our moderators will be notified and the post will be reviewed.

Offensive: Sexually explicit or offensive language

Spam: Advertisements or commercial links

Disruptive posting: Flaming or offending other users

Illegal activities: Promote cracked software, or other illegal content

Sorry, there was a problem submitting your post. Please try again.

Submit Report Cancel

Your message has been submitted and will be reviewed by our staff. Thank you for helping us maintain CNET's great community.

Close

Your message has been submitted and will be reviewed by our staff. Thank you for helping us maintain CNET's great community.

Close

You are posting a reply to: Post Subject

The posting of advertisements, profanity, or personal attacks is prohibited. Please refer to the CNET Forums policies for details. All submitted content is subject to CBS Interactive Site Terms of Use.

You are currently tracking this discussion. Click here to manage your tracked discussions.

If you're asking for technical help, please be sure to include all your system info, including operating system, model number, and any other specifics related to the problem. Also please exercise your best judgment when posting in the forums--revealing personal information such as your e-mail address, telephone number, and address is not recommended.

Sorry, there was a problem submitting your post. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem generating the preview. Please try again.

Duplicate posts are not allowed in the forums. Please edit your post and submit again.

Submit Reply Preview Cancel

Thank you, , your post has been submitted.

> Click here to view your post. > Manage your tracked discussions. > Track this discussion. Close

Thank you, , your post has been submitted and will appear on our site shortly.

Close