Is it possible to view Now TV in native widescreen...

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  1. #1

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    Is it possible to view Now TV in native widescreen...

    ...without investing in any new hardware, i.e. HD receiver?

    Do they broadcast in 16:9 ratio?


  2. #2

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    Quote Originally Posted by mrdollars:
    ...without investing in any new hardware, i.e. HD receiver?

    Do they broadcast in 16:9 ratio?
    If you go into settings inside the NOW TV menu (menu button on NOW TV remote), there should be a setting that allows you to display your channel in 16:9 or 4:3, its the same menu that allows you to switch between 420p, 1080i,1080p output, my receiver is the one that has a HDMI output and has this menu, you should call your NOW TV customer service (I think is 1833888?) if you don't have this menu or if your NOW TV decoder does not support 16:9.

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    Quote Originally Posted by justsomebody2:
    If you go into settings inside the NOW TV menu (menu button on NOW TV remote), there should be a setting that allows you to display your channel in 16:9 or 4:3, its the same menu that allows you to switch between 420p, 1080i,1080p output, my receiver is the one that has a HDMI output and has this menu, you should call your NOW TV customer service (I think is 1833888?) if you don't have this menu or if your NOW TV decoder does not support 16:9.
    That just changes the output of the decoder, meaning it will stretch the 4:3 picture.

    mrdollars, nowTV does not broadcast in 16:9 except their HDTV programming.

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    Thanks for the replies guys, like most people I use the TV smart zoom setting to stretch the picture, but it's annoying on some channels like BBC News cos you cut off some of the news feed graphics. Seems strange that most people own 16:9 ratio TVs yet the broadcaster is transmitting an older format.


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    Just checked on my decoder.

    Menu > System Settings > Aspect Ratio

    I use Full screen which stretches everything properly in 16:9

    Zoom stretches it and the text on bottom gets cut off, normal will display the 4:3 inside a 16:9 screen.


  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by mrdollars:
    Thanks for the replies guys, like most people I use the TV smart zoom setting to stretch the picture, but it's annoying on some channels like BBC News cos you cut off some of the news feed graphics. Seems strange that most people own 16:9 ratio TVs yet the broadcaster is transmitting an older format.
    I assume that's because the material has all been modified to suit 4:3 at a time when 4:3 TVs were more common and they just keep on re-using that.
    If they broadcasted that material in 16:9 it would be as distorted as having the TV doing the streching/zooming and those that still have a 4:3 TV would miss parts of the picture.
    Thus HDTV broadcast seems to be the only way to get real 16:9 signals, but that's of course not widely available.

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by justsomebody2:
    Just checked on my decoder.

    Menu > System Settings > Aspect Ratio

    I use Full screen which stretches everything properly in 16:9

    Zoom stretches it and the text on bottom gets cut off, normal will display the 4:3 inside a 16:9 screen.
    Thanks for the suggestion but it didn't work..

    I tried the NowTV system settings but it said that they were only available on certain set-top boxes, obviously not mine...

    I'm disappointed really. Surely more people have 16:9 format TVs than 4:3?

    I don't see that attraction of buying an HD box until they offer some decent programming (like SKY). I would probably pay to watch the Premiership in HD and of course some decent movies.

    Surely NowTV buy (and own) the broadcast rights for both 16:9 and 4:3 content - and upgrading their digi boxes would just be a simple firmware upgrade and reboot?

    Or is this too simplistic?

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    hmm Im not too sure, my girlfriend has a 16:9 Aquos LCD TV and she uses a older version of the Now TV decoder, one that just stands up on the side without the hdmi output, all her channels displays properly on the TV, tho it is stretched as Raccon mentioned, but never the less, it looks alot better then having two black bars on the side or having the top and bottom of the program cut off.

    FYI, Im using composite cable (the video wire is split into 3 seperate cables, not sure what that cable is called) to connect my box to my TV, while my girlfriend uses standard audio/video (the red, white and yellow one), using the 576i output option and the full screen display.

    Which decoder do you have? I know of 3 in existence,

    1) oldest one is silver, huge, no HDMI and comes with optional DVD player, most probably does not support 16:9 televisions.

    2) black and normally stand on the side, no HDMI and its about the size of a net book.

    3) The newest one, silver, huge, has HDMI output, can fry eggs on it if left on too long, USB port in the front and looks like something left behind from Flintstones after visiting Vegas.....

    Hope this helps you, if not, I suggest you call Now TV customer service and ask them for help.

    If worst comes to worst, this may be cheaper then buying their HD box, apply to one of the HD or other channels but only if they aggree to have a tech come by and switch a new box for you?


  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by mrdollars:
    I'm disappointed really. Surely more people have 16:9 format TVs than 4:3?
    If you look at sales for sure but I dunno how many people still hang on to their bulky 4:3 sets ( ), but it's not really that long ago that 4:3 TVs were still widely used, so there was no incentive for any broadcaster to go 16:9 all the way. We should be grateful that virtually all TVs being sold now are 16:9, else we would probably not see 16:9 broadcast for a long time.

    I don't see that attraction of buying an HD box until they offer some decent programming (like SKY). I would probably pay to watch the Premiership in HD and of course some decent movies.
    Agree.

    However nowTV gave me that new box even though I don't subscribe to their HDTV channels, I guess they are not supplying the old hardware anymore, or perhaps they saw me as a potential HDTV customer and are trying to tempt me.

    Surely NowTV buy (and own) the broadcast rights for both 16:9 and 4:3 content - and upgrading their digi boxes would just be a simple firmware upgrade and reboot?
    The majority of their content will be 4:3, most TV shows are still filmed in that format, too.

    Or is this too simplistic?
    To be HDTV-compliant you need a HDMI output, as well the old decoders might not be technically capable to handle HDTV, either due to the processing power (lack thereof) or hardware limitations (often decoding requires specific ICs/chips).

    Quote Originally Posted by justsomebody2:
    hmm Im not too sure, my girlfriend has a 16:9 Aquos LCD TV and she uses a older version of the Now TV decoder, one that just stands up on the side without the hdmi output, all her channels displays properly on the TV, tho it is stretched as Raccon mentioned, but never the less, it looks alot better then having two black bars on the side or having the top and bottom of the program cut off.
    I can't stand the wide picture, the standard broadcast is already pretty poor quality due to the low resolution & heavy compresion and stretching just makes it worst, so I prefer the black bars on the side when watching TV.

    FYI, Im using composite cable (the video wire is split into 3 seperate cables, not sure what that cable is called) to connect my box to my TV,
    That would be Component aka YUV.

    while my girlfriend uses standard audio/video (the red, white and yellow one), using the 576i output option and the full screen display.
    The yellow one is composite video, red and white are for audio.

    3) The newest one, silver, huge, has HDMI output, can fry eggs on it if left on too long, USB port in the front and looks like something left behind from Flintstones after visiting Vegas.....
    Note though that the HDMI (and optical audio output) only work when you subscribe to their HDTV service.
    Last edited by Raccon; 03-07-2009 at 09:58 PM.

  10. #10

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    Thanks for the detailed reply Raccoon.

    So is your HD ready box capable of receiving 16:9 content and if so which channels are broadcast in that format? Do you get any free HD stuff?

    For the record I generally find the content I need online in 16:9 format or even HD resolutions. I just wish I could watch something similar on the channels I pay for through NowTV. Especially movies!

    And just to balance against anti-NowTV sentiment I may have expressed, I have to say their coverage of the premiership games is really quite good, especially the interactive content.


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