Picture stretched vertically with DVR

[yurkyurk]

I have a widescreen Samsung plasma and a Pioneer DVR. Watching TV directly is fine, but when the signal is passed through the DVR, it appears slightly stretched vertically. A few centimetres is cropped at the top and the bottom, and people's faces appear long and narrow.

The DVR is set to 16:9. What could be causing this? It's a pain, because everything we record and playback suffers from this.

The DVR is a Pioneer DVR-550HX-S.

[guns1inger]

I have a similar setup (Samsung LCD/Pioneer DVR) and don't have this problem. I have the two connected via component cables through an AV amp. I have the DVDR set to 16:9, and the picture size for that connection set to 16:9, and the images are good. I have noticed that 4:3 material does appear stretched (i.e. the TV does not automatically change picture size to cater for the change in aspect ratio), so this has to be done manually. Also remember that each input has it's own settings, so you have to set the picture size for each input.

Start by cycling through the different picture sizes until you get the picture looking right. It should be 16:9, but there are also various zoom options and a 4:3 option as well. On mine, the p. size button moves you through the various states.