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  1. Hi, my apologies if someone already asked/answer this question on the forums. I tried to search for something similar and just couldn't find anyone with this same problem.

    I have a Charter HD cable box that is a Motorola DCH6416. I use it as a DVR to record TV shows/movies. When I want to record something to DVD, I use my Toshiba DR430. They are connected to my Samsung DLP TV as follows:

    Motorola Cable Box -> Toshiba DVD Recorder via S-video -> Samsung TV via HDMI
    Motorola Cable Box -> Samsung TV via Component Cables

    When I watch a recorded HD-channel show direct from the Cable Box to the TV (using Component), the show looks fine. 16:9 ratio, fills my screen, nothing cut off. Perfect.

    When I want to record the same show, I change my TV input to HDMI so I'm viewing it through the Toshiba DVD Recorder. However, now the left & right parts of the picture are cut off from the view. It will still fill my screen (no black bars on the right left) but it crops part of the picture. I've checked all my aspect settings on the Toshiba, the TV, and poked around the cable box settings and can't find anything that fixes this problem. I have the problem even in just viewing the picture (it isn't an issue with just how I'm recording it to DVD). Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
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  2. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    DVD recorders record in standard definition from S-video connections. Cable boxes and DVRs will often add letterbox bars to the top and bottom of widescreen recordings for output to a 4:3 TV using an S-Video connection. According to the manual, your cable box also provides option to use pan-and-scan for a 4:3 TV, which cuts off the sides from the picture. Apparently your cable box is using pan-and-scan to provide video to your DVD recorder.
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  3. Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Minneapolis MN
    Search Comp PM
    You need something like this:
    http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10114&cs_id=1011407&p_id=...seq=1&format=2
    It will convert WS component to WS S-video.
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  4. Member edDV's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Northern California, USA
    Search Comp PM
    Note that if you use that device, the video will be recorded horizontally squeezed like it is supposed to but without the wide flag. When you play the DVD, you will need to adjust the TV aspect ratio to wide.

    Click image for larger version

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    If you record a 4:3 show that box will output squeezed with side bars like this. It would work better to switch to the cable box direct when recording 4:3 shows.

    Click image for larger version

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  5. I found out the problem...my cable box had additional settings I could only access after shutting it off (found that little tip in the manual....) and the TV Type was set to 4:3 Pan and Scan. I changed that to 16:9 and now things work just great! Of course I get the letterbox bars on top/bottom when watching through the DVD recorder but that's ok -- I expected that.
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