What about recording widescreen shows & playing them back widescreen? My unit either stretches the widescreen picture, or puts in a box on my TV
1351120
The unit should record the show from the original broadcast and it should play back exactly how it was recorded.I don't believe this unit has any extra "features." Leave those up to your TV.
1351121
The Magnavox records the show as it is broadcast. The HD broadcasts fill out my TV screen. My TV controls whether I watch shows in the different options like Nprmal, Full Screen, Stretch, etc. regardless of if it is off of the Magnavox recording or a live broadcast off of my digital antenna. Hope this helps.
2199028
Hello-If you want to record a tv show off the air you need a dvd rec/with tuner.This evening I went out to eat and before I left home I programmed my recorder to rec the Natl news....which as you know is at 6:30PM.Mike
58409
This DVD recorder is for computers, not your tv. You will have trouble finding a DVD recorder for your tv. Try purchasing a DVR instead.
1458148
Any wide screen dvds you have that are marked as "anamorphic widescreen" or "enhanced for 16:9 TVs" will work fine with you widescreen tv. You will likeley have some widescreen dvds that are not anamorphic or enhanced for widescreen TVs and they may look streched or really narrow on your widescreen tv. This however is easily fixed by adjusting the widescreen setting on you tv. I hope this has helped you.
2061937
I have exaclty the same problem. I've had comcast at with this tv, and wide screen option was availabe at my old address (using HDMI cable) but at my new home, it's now grayed out. I believe it may have something to do with the comcast reciever. Can not find a FORMAT option on my cable box remote. It does have a position picture adjust option under the menu but that does not solve the issue as it just helps you move a slightly left ,right, up .or .down. I'm geting a 32 inch picture on a 53" TV. Totally SUCKS!Samsung forman suggested
791238
Thanks for the response. I did expect that to be the case to some degree. I did some re-adjusting recently and am pretty happy with what I have now.With the dvd issue I used component video instead of the rca and it's a huge improvement. It turns out to be pretty solid tv after all.
1176283
It outputs in 16:9 and fills my widescreen being fed from a 4:3 VCR composite output. Smaller 16:9 displays these days are not that expensive.
382235
So far I find that it works but that it squashes all widescreen output in to a 4:3 display, distorting the image. We're using it for displaying laptop-to-TV, hoping there might be a resolution setting on the laptop that will fix it.
1048124
My GUESS would be to record/transfer to DVD or other device. I have never used mine. Owner's manual says "for future use"? meaning what I have NO idea-take off cover & see if connected to anything-or hook to something that records and see what happens while it's playing.
788246
Hello FolkFan! I watch movies in widescreen (16:9) format all the time without a problem. Now, keep in mind that I am using an Xbox 360 as the video source and that the Xbox does allow me to output in different formats. I would think that most dvd players you would buy today would have options for widescreen output. I hope this answers the question! -Dave
34894
I think that's the one biggest flaw with this Sony model. If it senses a 720 or 1080 signal, it won't allow you to select Normal setting. A 4:3 image gets blown up and distorted by either "full" or "zoom" settings. I solved it with DVDs by changing the setting at the level of the Sony player. But I haven't hooked up to a hdtv digital box yet, so I'm not sure how I'll deal with it then. You could use your DVD player as a tuner, possibly, but I hope there's a better solution than that or the TV gets sent back.
653417
While watching from (or via) the Magnavox (output to my TV), I am only able to watch a program pre-recorded on the HDD/DVR at the same time that another program is being recorded. Cannot tune to more than one station at a time (to record one, while attempting to watch another). . .Not sure I quite understand J. Kavanaugh's answer, but sounds like something cool to learn to do!
795286
I gave the unit to a friend last Christmas. As I recall, there was a button on the remote (aspect ratio maybe??) that changed how the picture filled the screen. May have to hit it several times to get proper proportions.
34891
A solution is available when viewing DVDs through Sony's upscaling DVD player, which permits you to set normal aspect ratio for a 1080 signal. But I hadn't thought about the problem with a cable company's set-top box. This set limits you to Wide mode and 3 settings: Zoom, wide zoom (less drastic), and full. An e-mail to Sony produced the generic response and reference to a general blurb about HD and aspect ratio. I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds it an apparent bummer.
1993012
Steve - I have no idea. BUT I can tell you a bunch of things I have recorded on Verbatim disks will not play on my Sony television. Makes no sense to me, as my DVD player is NOT a sony, buy that's one of my issues. Good luck. Hope someone else can address your specific issue. Patti
1706088
I concur. I bought a WDTV Plus and I'm sending it back. It has a lot of problems playing DVD images if they're not in a particular format.
113683
John:I bought this unit for my husband for Christmas and I just checked with him. He said that you can record directly from the TV into this unit. If you want to save the program after you have watched it, you need to save it to a disc while recording or once you watch it, it automatically deletes