Forum Discussion

Gruntled's avatar
Gruntled
New Contributor
5 years ago

Why does Cox shrink the picture on some of the TV channels?

So I noticed Cox seems to zoom out or shrink some of the TV stations that they rebroadcasts, like CHARGE! and LAFF Networks.   

If I watch them on my TV OTA with HD antenna, the TV shows have the black bars on the sides to emulate the old 4:3 ratio like it should be.

But if I switch the TV output to the Contour box and switch to channel 94 (LAFF) or 109 (CHARGE) it will have black bars all around the top, sides, and bottom and the picture zoomed out so it's harder to see.   Why does Cox do that?  Or do I need to make a change on the Contour settings somewhere so it looks like it's does on the OTA?

Thanks.  

cable
contour
  • Bruce's avatar
    Bruce
    Honored Contributor III
    5 years ago

    OTA signal is from your local affiliate and the other from Cox distribution.  It's 2 different compression and formatting schemes.  Why does Cox do it?  Using a higher compression scheme saves bandwidth.

    I zoomed an SD channel and it filled the screen.  It looked awful but it's just the native aspect-ratio of older programs.

  • JonathanJ's avatar
    JonathanJ
    Former Moderator
    5 years ago
    @Gruntled

    Have you check the video display setting on the contour box and if so what are they set to?

    Jonathan J
    Cox Moderator
    • Gruntled's avatar
      Gruntled
      New Contributor
      5 years ago

      Video output shows 16:9 1080p60 HD

      Zoom: None 

      But I tested andcand to Full and it didn't seem to help except stretch the picture to the sides a little on Charge network, other HD 16:9 channels didn't seem to affect the zoom.

      • ChrisL's avatar
        ChrisL
        Former Moderator
        5 years ago
        Can you try checking a different TV and see if it also does the same thing?

        -Chris