4:3 Playback issue with LG RC797T

[yumitree]

I recently purchaced an LG RC797T which I have connected to my Olevia 27" HDTV set via an HDMI to DVI cable (it is an older Olevia which does not have an HDMI input) and all 4:3 video (non HD cable television, fullscreen/non-anamorphic dvds, vhs tapes) are stretched to 16:9. I've tried changing the upscaling/resolution on the player and the TV aspect control in the settings, but to no avail. Am I just being stupid and missing something obvious? Is this an issue with the HDMI to DVI adaptor? Is this just something the player does? The Olevia doesn't have an aspect ratio option in the DVI input setting and my older Oppo (which has issues) which was connected via DVI displayed everything in the proper aspect ratio.
If anyone has this player and/or knows what the problem is, I'd love the help.

[Krispy Kritter]

DVD player output is usually set to the TV screen type (ie. 16:9 for a 16:9 screen and 4:3 for a 4:3 screen). Your TV should be controlling how 4:3 content is displayed on a 16:9 screen. There are typically settings to display 4:3 content with bars on either side, stretch (which is how it is currently working), and various types of zoom.

[yumitree]

Interesting... on the Olevia, there is no aspect ratio option on the DVI setting (while there is on RCA, Coax, and Coposite) and when my Oppo was hooked up (via DVI), it would display everything in the correct aspect ratio (pillarboxing 4:3).

[Krispy Kritter]

Some units have the settings for each output, others have a general setting, usually listed as "TV type" or similar.

[mars396]

I am having the same issue with my RC797T, which is connected to my Ölevia 337H via HDMI.

Movies and anything 16:9 play great upconverted to 1080i.

4:3 TV shows (which is what we watch 2/3s of the time) are stretched when the output resolution is set to 720p or 1080i. (480p is how we have to watch to get the correct aspect, and 480i is not available over HDMI)

In the 797T’s menu system, “TV Aspect” becomes unavailable when 720p or 1080i resolution is selected, so we cannot change the output from the RC797T. Since the signal being output is 16:9, changing from “1:1” to “Aspect” to “Fullscreen” on my Ölevia does not correct this issue.

This is additionally baffling to me because upconverted DVD movies are being displayed letterboxed (as they should be). I just want to watch 4:3 TV shows in 1080i with Pillar Boxes !

[gshelley61]

This a common problem with many upscaling DVD players... not properly pillarboxing 4:3 sources when upscaling. Those that can are all the Oppo units, some of the Sony machines, and all of the Toshiba HD DVD players.

I'm sure there are some others that pillarbox 4:3

[mars396]

This is a deal breaker for me.

do the Toshiba XDE players upconvert 4:3 properly (1080i with pillar boxes), or do they also stretch it to 16:9 ???