SD : sky 1 the Simpsons

[braysoj1]

how come on vm channel 121 it got them black lines on each side never been like that before it only like that on sky one 122 HD

[Graham M]

Older 4:3 episodes?

[braysoj1]

yh but it used 2 be in wide screen

Originally Posted by braysoj1

how come on vm channel 121 it got them black lines on each side never been like that before it only like that on sky one 122 HD

It also happens on Sky when you watch the simpsons in HD (sky 1 ch106) switch to the standard definition channel the same episode will fill the screen ,so i surmise that it's something to do with the screen ratio on HD channel 106

[madlewis]

Ive noticed this for the past few weeks to. They always used to have the black bars on 122 (Sky 1 HD) as most of the episodes are not HD. They never had the black lines on 121 (Sky 1). The past few weeks any episode has black lines whether on SD/HD. Annoying!

Older Simpsons were made 4:3 any that fill the screen are either stretched or cropped

[Stephen]

HD channels always keep older 4:3 shows in their original ratio, where as the SD channels will stretch the image width, keeping the same height.

Also those 'black' bars on the HD aren't actually black bars but empty space as there is nothing there.

[andy_m]

I think the op's saying that the aspect ratio is now also kept on the sd channels.

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by Stephen

Also those 'black' bars on the HD aren't actually black bars but empty space as there is nothing there.

They are really black bars. HD is always widescreen, so the broadcaster has to add the bars if broadcasting 4:3 content on an HD channel.

It's easy to demonstrate on TiVo by setting the Letterbox Colour to Grey. If the bars are still black, they are in the broadcast.

[WillPS]

I can explain this one.

Since the introduction of DVB standards, broadcasters have been able to 'flag' that broadcast is either 16:9 or 4:3 - it was up to the receiving equipment to do the right thing with it (or not).

HD broadcasts are *always* in 16:9, at least in the UK, meaning that broadcasters either have to stretch, crop or centre 4:3 content.

Until a few weeks ago Sky 1 and Sky 1 HD were effectively operated as 2 separate channels (separate playout streams) playing the same content (but often different adverts/trails). Now, Sky 1 is simply a downscaled version of Sky 1 HD.