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On my older set, some content was letterboxed on all four sides. Very irritating, and the zoom function only partially handled it. Very frustrating. Sometimes made me miss my poor man's wide screen - my old 20" tube set, where we sat about 2 feet from the screen...
With my new Sony, the scaling problems have gone away. Not sure if it's better content or better hardware, though. We don't do cable, never have, so at least we avoid certain kinds of screw ups. I've heard that some cable companies also over-compress content, with some quality loss. Does that still happen?
It may indeed have to do with our cable....but....I notice that we have one local (secondary) station that splits time between MeTV and MyTV networks and when they switch back and forth, it's like sometimes they forget that one network is formatted different than the other and the picture comes out really screwy.
Do you do streaming? If so, do you have less issues than with over the air?
Do you do streaming? If so, do you have less issues than with over the air?
I can only stream, and have had no issues since we got a more modern screen. We can't receive OTA without a very high antenna, which we won't do. We also do DVD/Blueray, believe it or not, through netflix since that's the only way to get some content, although we're thinking of paying through Amazon on occasion.
On my older set, some content was letterboxed on all four sides.
Black bars are typically added by the device for proper display on the display device. This is special case where it gets complicated.
The broadcast is 4:3 but the source is 16:9 so the black bars top and bottom (letterboxing) are added to the broadcast, they are part of the video. If you were watching this on 4:3 display it would look fine. The widescreen TV sees a 4:3 broadcast so it adds the black bars left and right (pillarboxing) so now you have black bars all the way around.
Look into a Harmony Universal Remote. I put my original TV remotes away and use this one exclusively. It handles all of the buttons on all of the remotes. The 650 (batteries) or 700(rechargable) will do what you want with up to 8 devices. They start around $35 when on sale, the regular price is higher. I think there is a newer model, the 665, https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harm...3QTCB47JFFV09R
That said, my Samsung does have a button for picture mode. My LG (I think) has a button labeled "Aspect". It will vary by manufacturer and model. Do the research before you buy.
I just checked that out, since I should spend something on my Amazon CC, but I couldn't justify pulling the trigger.
I seem to remember a touch screen tablet remote from years ago that had more flexibility, but I can't remember the name or anything other than it was expensive. What I would like is something more along those lines for my crazy setup. I really need something with an IR blaster, unlimited learning capabilities from existing remotes, and a simple language to where I can set up macros.
I have: DVD player, DVD recorder, Blu-ray player, VHS recorder/player, Onkyo receiver, Computer interface for MP4 files, Ben-Q projector, Roku, tivo, security cam system and more. Thankfully, no more DTV or Dish to add to the mess. All of this is just one setup. I have more remote controls than Carter has little liver pills.
On the bright side, it does keep my mind sharp going from remote to remote.
I just checked that out, since I should spend something on my Amazon CC, but I couldn't justify pulling the trigger.
I seem to remember a touch screen tablet remote from years ago that had more flexibility, but I can't remember the name or anything other than it was expensive. What I would like is something more along those lines for my crazy setup. I really need something with an IR blaster, unlimited learning capabilities from existing remotes, and a simple language to where I can set up macros.
I have: DVD player, DVD recorder, Blu-ray player, VHS recorder/player, Onkyo receiver, Computer interface for MP4 files, Ben-Q projector, Roku, tivo, security cam system and more. Thankfully, no more DTV or Dish to add to the mess. All of this is just one setup. I have more remote controls than Carter has little liver pills.
On the bright side, it does keep my mind sharp going from remote to remote.
Plug the remote to your PC via a USB cable, select the devices, upload codes to remotes, done. Even if the batteries die the remote will remember the codes. The number of remotes they support is in the tens of thousands I would venture to guess. You can also add your own.
It's the same size as a standard TV remote.
As long as the devices' remotes are controlled by IR, the remote will handle it and up to 10 devices and ALL of the buttons on every remote will be there as well. I don't think $36 is that much but whatever.
Plug the remote to your PC via a USB cable, select the devices, upload codes to remotes, done. Even if the batteries die the remote will remember the codes. The number of remotes they support is in the tens of thousands I would venture to guess. You can also add your own.
It's the same size as a standard TV remote.
As long as the devices' remotes are controlled by IR, the remote will handle it and up to 10 devices and ALL of the buttons on every remote will be there as well. I don't think $36 is that much but whatever.
Update: I went ahead and ordered the one you linked to. Had some time today to try to get it to work. First, the model is a 665, which logitech doesn't even list on its website. (The remote label only says "logi", not "Logitech". Second, it is no longer current anyway as LT has gone to smartphone apps and other areas. Third, LT no longer has the accounts, but the installation wants to set one up. Fourth, the remote I bought is not recognized by the software downloaded at the LT site. After 90 minutes, I invoked the Cartman rule - "********* guys, I'm going home!" and deleted the software and packaged the thing for return. I am NOT going to waste time on Chinese of Indian third party support, try to be patient with glitching and learning a different way of handling things - including NOT resorting to using existing remotes in a pinch because it might upset the LT remote.
Update: I went ahead and ordered the one you linked to. Had some time today to try to get it to work. First, the model is a 665, which logitech doesn't even list on its website. (The remote label only says "logi", not "Logitech". Second, it is no longer current anyway as LT has gone to smartphone apps and other areas. Third, LT no longer has the accounts, but the installation wants to set one up. Fourth, the remote I bought is not recognized by the software downloaded at the LT site. After 90 minutes, I invoked the Cartman rule - "********* guys, I'm going home!" and deleted the software and packaged the thing for return. I am NOT going to waste time on Chinese of Indian third party support, try to be patient with glitching and learning a different way of handling things - including NOT resorting to using existing remotes in a pinch because it might upset the LT remote.
Huh?
I had no problems whatsoever. I have the 650 though. Could you have got a bootleg product or just a dud?
I bought my 650 at best buy and use it daily as my ONLY remote. I put the rest away in a drawer.
I bought my parents a 600 new many years ago, it also worked great. They got a new TV and I never had the chance to reprogram it for them yet. The only issue with it is the LG TV they had did not have discreet on and off so if the TV missed the signal it would get out of sync with the what the remote understood to be on or off. In other words if you hit the watch TV button it would power on the cable box, home theater and the TV. Hit the power all off button and suppose the TV misses the signal, the remote thinks it's off because the signal has already been sent. Hitting the power all off again does not resend the signal because it would turn it back on if it was off which it should be .
When this occurs there is help button on the menu and it will run you through some questions to turn on or off the device correctly.
Not really anything the remote manufacturer can do, it's limitation of the hardware it's controlling. While you may not see buttons on the remote that comes with the device many devices have discrete on and off in addition to "power". If they have that it will work without this issue because it can send a discrete on or off signal.
Last edited by thecoalman; 08-15-2019 at 09:58 AM..
I bought my parents a 600 new many years ago, it also worked great. They got a new TV and I never had the chance to reprogram it for them yet. The only issue with it is the LG TV they had did not have discreet on and off so if the TV missed the signal it would get out of sync with the what the remote understood to be on or off. In other words if you hit the watch TV button it would power on the cable box, home theater and the TV. Hit the power all off button and suppose the TV misses the signal, the remote thinks it's off because the signal has already been sent. Hitting the power all off again does not resend the signal because it would turn it back on if it was off which it should be .
When this occurs there is help button on the menu and it will run you through some questions to turn on or off the device correctly.
Not really anything the remote manufacturer can do, it's limitation of the hardware it's controlling. While you may not see buttons on the remote that comes with the device many devices have discrete on and off in addition to "power". If they have that it will work without this issue because it can send a discrete on or off signal.
I have an LG as well and mine has a "Toggle" as well as "On" and "Off". Using the toggle would resolve the issue for you. I do not, however, use the macro features.
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