Fox Ch 613 on 4:3 TV - technical questions

[ckirksey]

I was playing around last night trying to check a couple of things and noticed on Fox ch 613 during American Idol that the displayed image had a noisy line at the very top of the image when I set the Pace box to 480i/p or pass modes but not in the 720p and 1080i modes. I have a Sony KV40xbr800 (4:3) tv. After 10:00 when the local news came on the noisy line was not there. Also noticed that the Fox format is not 16:9 or 4:3. I understand Fox does broadcast some things in 480p but not sure if it is 16:9. Has anyone else seen this?? Is it a Fox, local station, BHN, STB or TV problem? Also does anyone know what the format for Fox last night was? Another question which was way I was fooling around last night: When using the component inputs how does the TV recognize the 720p and 1080i HD formats? Horizontal scan frequency or a flag similar to the anamorphic flag on DVDs? I know this is a mouthful but would like to know if I :?: have defective equipment.

[Viremia]

The noisy line at the top is the closed caption info, at least I think that's what it is. Others have noticed it too after the latest firmware update from Pace/BHN. The only way to get rid of it is to either force 1080i in the Pace box or to use the zoom (or whatever stretch mode works for you) on the Pace box when in Pass mode.

I found that when in pass mode, the image was squashed top to bottom when watching football. I don't watch a lot of Fox shows so that's the first and last time I really looked at it. That was a 16:9 480p broadcast. Again, the only way to fix it was to put the TV in 1080i (or 720p for some sets) or to use the Zoom feature (# key) on the Pace box.

I don't know enough to answer the last question, but I would assume the TV is designed recognizes when it's being sent 720 or 1080 lines of vertical resolution versus 480. Also, I'm sure there is some flag or something that lets the TV know that it is a progressive or interlaced signal. Again, I don't know the technical details, I just know my TV recognizes them. Granted, my Mits recognizes those 720p signals and just gives me a blue screen. :(

[ckirksey]

Viremia
Thanks for the feedback. The question regarding the FOX format relates to the TV recogizing an HD signal and automatically displaying it in 16:9. But with the FOX signal I can't tell what it is suppose to be. I think 480p would be displayed as 4:3 like a DVD unless the DVD had the anamorphic flag and then the image is a squeezed letterbox with full resolution in the vertical dimension of the viewing area assuming that the OAR was 16:9. The Pace box in the zoom mode converts everything(??) to 480p which the TV accepts as a 4:3 image. So what is with the FOX format???

[millerman101]

Number 1 ..FOX DOES NO HD.... Most of the time FOX is probably broadcasting 480i unless they indicate there broadcasting enhanced digital...not HD.. Then you will get a widescreen picture and the bars on the top and bottom on a 4:3 HDTV. Hope this helps a little..

[ckirksey]

millerman101
Thanks but FOX CH 613 is not displayed 4:3 when using component inputs. That is the question. Why not if it is not HD?? 480p is displayed 4:3 unless letterboxed like a DVD. Just wondering if somehow CH 613 is coded to indicate a non 4:3 format.