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OldBob2

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Contour2 box not showing movies full screen

After having to exchange my contour 2 recording box, a lot of commercials and moves are no longer showing full screen like they used to.  Is cox no longer sending a 1080p signal which I have it set to?  I have changed nothing on Sony TV (would not think a new Contour box would do anything with TV settings) and the device setting on Cox is set to default the set up selected as 1080p.

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Bruce

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Try enabling the Zoom option beneath your resolution setting.

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OldBob2

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In the section where you select your resolution?  the Zoom has two options Full and None..The Full setting is a bit blurry so None is clearer.  I tried Zoom set to Full and alas HBO still panoramic .

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OldBob2

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We were afraid of that..so what is the purpose of having a TV set to 720 which is very old quality?

Will this same thing happen on an  new OLED set?

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Bruce

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You may still have SD channels in your Program for your market.  If you click the Guide button and then click it again, there will be View options.  I'd explore with the HD Channels as opposed to All Channels.  With HD Channels selected, test for the 4:3 ratio.

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OldBob2

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nope--still not full screen..very annoying as the old box never did this

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Bruce

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What do you mean by not full screen?  Do you see a complete picture albeit in a 4:3 ratio or is the picture full horizontally but not vertically or vice versa?  Meaning is there anything missing on the screen?  You could probably best test on a cable-news channels because these have graphics on the bottom and sides.

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OldBob2

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on HBO movies there are black bars on top and bottom.

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Allan

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@oldBob2, Most movies are formatted for widescreen meaning that it is very common to see a black bar on the bottom and on the top of the screen while watching them. Other programs may not have those bars (such as some series) since they may not have been originally formatted for the big screen theater. -Allan, Cox Support Forums Moderator.

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Bruce

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what is the purpose of having a TV set to 720

I originally didn't know what you meant by this.  Your TV shouldn't be configured for any extraneous video processing after the cable-box.  Meaning, let the cable-box decode and process the video and the TV to accept the signal as is (native, normal, default, etc.).  You can tweak your TV settings after resolving this letter-boxing effect.

Using your Contour menu, you could also Refresh the cable-box in case the Solution Store failed to do so.

Reconnect cable-box to another HDMI port on your TV.

...and if all else fails, exchange the cable-box.

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OldBob2

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thank you Bruce..I get the same if I connect to another HDMI source.  I reset the box too-a Zoom setting is burred. .  I did find a setting>preferences>General>Prefer Best Available Resolution was set to Off..so I put back to ON but still some movies on HBO still have the top/bottom black bars.  Is this something new that we cannot control from Cox since they went to 720?  Before this replacement box, we never noticed all these shows and even commercials with the bars..even some commercials are part full screen and part with bars. 

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Bruce

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if I connect to another HDMI source

Another HDMI source, such as a Blu-ray player?  You connected another video source and got the same letter-boxing (top/bottom black bars)?  This means your TV is altering the aspect ratio.  Unless you meant you connected Contour to another HDMI port on your TV.  Perhaps swap the HDMI cable.

There is no "Reset" on Contour.  Did you Restart or Refresh?

"Prefer Best Available Resolution" is the number of horizontal and vertical pixels on a screen.  This should be "On."

Cox didn't go 720p.  The networks decide the format of their programming.  Some networks are SD, 720p or 1080i.  Contour "de-interlaces" 1080i to 1080p.  If it's an HD program, however, the aspect ratio is 16:9.

Commercials don't letter-box...unless they're being crafty to get your attention.  I haven't seen this, yet.

I think the issue is with your TV.  Check its setting for Closed Caption or Extended Data Services (XDS) being enabled.  Again, try another HDMI cable.

What's the make/model of your TV?

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OldBob2

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Changing my HDMI source was to try a different HDMI port on the TV.. We did replace the cable too.  "Prefer Best Available Resolution"  was off and now is on.  Thank you for clarifying the 720 1080I issue for me.     It seems now this panoramic (black bars on top and bottom) are on movies on HBO channels and Netflix.  With my old box I did sometimes have this panoramic view but now it is all the time on these movies and I have not changed any setting on my TV.  Puzzling..  I have a Sony Bravia TV about  years old..beautiful picture..changed the hdmi cord and it is the same..and closed caption is off...cant find the XDS setting you mentioned to check

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