HD 101: Overscan and why all TVs do it

[RLJSlick]

Very interesting article about overscanning on our TVs.

http://hd.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/

[ArgMeMatey]

Thanks.  I reeeeeeeally have a hard time understanding the picture size options.  

I have a Samsung and an LG and the Samsung is easier to change but the LG is more flexible.  What's missing is the "Show me exactly what the broadcaster is transmitting" button.

And then we have a situation like MI-5 on MPTV 10.1, Saturdays at 21:00.  They broadcast it with blue sidebars, but it looks like they are actually squeezing a 16:9 widescreen image down to 4:3.  So on the Samsung I have to do a "Wide Fit" just to make it look normal.  Why are they doing this?  I sent them an e-mail a while back and never heard back from them.

[LoadStar]

And then we have a situation like MI-5 on MPTV 10.1, Saturdays at 21:00.  They broadcast it with blue sidebars, but it looks like they are actually squeezing a 16:9 widescreen image down to 4:3.  So on the Samsung I have to do a "Wide Fit" just to make it look normal.  Why are they doing this?  I sent them an e-mail a while back and never heard back from them.

My guess: the version of the program that they receive from their distributor is, in all likelihood, a 4:3 aspect ratio, standard definition version. This means the distributor has "hard-matted" the program, or actually inserted the letterbox black bars into the program to permanently force it to a 4:3 aspect ratio.

And of course, because it is technically now a 4:3 aspect ratio program, MPTV then mattes out the side bars as well to fill out the 16:9 frame size.

The only way to fix it properly is for MPTV to try and see if the distributor has a 16:9 format version. (Doctor Who has this problem as well, BTW.)