http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/ Engadget Comments for HD 101: Overscan and why all TVs do it http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 27th 2010 1:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/Well they sort of are determining what that 100% is...]]>May 27th 2010 2:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
true but 10% is a lot of information at 1920.

Worse if you are making content for playback on HDTV and say a projector or a computer then either you make two versions or the non HDTV viewers end up with titles etc looking strange sitting a long way in

and from experience it is a LONG way in on HDTV. Back in SD days it wasn't so bad. ]]>May 27th 2010 7:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/Sure it's a lot of information, but it's not a lot of actual screenspace.]]>May 28th 2010 12:31AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
However I did have a chuckle at the statement "Notice the zoomed part contains white and black dots that are used for the 1st and 10 marker". If I'm not very much mistaken those dots are a camera's 16:9 flag in the vertical blanking interval - nothing to do with football! Displays can read this and adjust their scans accordingly! I know this as I often have to mask them out when editing broadcast programmes. It could also be Vertical Interval Timecode (VITC) but this bar code like real time clock usually extends across the whole frame. Subtitlers read this 'gash' so they know where they are in the programme (for one).

Cheers

D Evans
]]>May 30th 2010 6:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
Any ideas if theres a custom firmware I can load or something, it is up to date with the official ones..]]>May 27th 2010 1:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 27th 2010 2:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
it's greyed out if the current signal doesn't support it. (e.g. non digital signals).
it can't map pixels 1:1 if it's not getting a digital signal.

try something that feeds the TV digital 1080p or i, i.e. a 360 over HDMI, a bluray player or anything like that. Shouldn't be greyed out then.
]]>May 27th 2010 3:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
TLDR: Try changing the input label of your HDMI connection to something other than HDMI 1/2. For me, setting it to "PC" opened up the greyed out picture options.]]>May 27th 2010 5:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/But wouldn't non-digital sources be the only ones that actually need it? Digital sources should be able to provide metadata without encoding it in the video itself.

If the display is smart enough to disable it for certain inputs, I would think that the digital signals would be the ones that don't use it, and the analog (which is crappy SD or ED at best) would be the only inputs that do use it. But then I don't know anything about it, I don't have a fancy TV.]]>May 27th 2010 6:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
I had a similar issue on my panasonic TH-50PZ700U. It turns out that I could only change the setting if I use a 1080i/p signal. Since the TV's native res is 1080p, I can't turn off overscan if I am sending a 720p signal to the TV. I found this out with my DirecTV receiver. I had it set to output the native res of each channel. Once I changed the box to only send 1080i signal's, I could turn off overscan on channels like ESPN HD. Since ESPN is really 720p, my DirecTV box was sending 720p until I made the change. It's something to try on a display that is greying out the overscan option.]]>May 27th 2010 6:20PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/Thanks all, I was testing it out on the builtin analogue tuner..]]>May 27th 2010 6:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
Some sets won't allow a 1:1 mode for 720p images, depending on the input source.]]>May 27th 2010 7:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 28th 2010 2:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 27th 2010 1:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/I've got a 56 inch Samsung DLP that I had to do the exact same thing to. Was driving me nuts until I updated my HTPC drivers and was able to scale it.]]>May 27th 2010 3:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/Yes, Panasonic is known to be particularly sucky sucky when it comes to this. At least that was when I decided on a TV, which was why (despite looking better and being cheaper) I decided on a more expensive Acer. That was a while ago though, when no TV could display PC input without overscan. Amusingly it is usually the VGA input that works flawlessly, while DVI employs overscan. I hope that has changed by now...]]>May 27th 2010 7:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 28th 2010 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
well...Engadget HD readers = 99.5% Videophiles and .5% lost Engadget classic readers.

So thanks for the article! I'd always wondered why I was seeing junk on the top and had to have my projector crop it out.]]>May 27th 2010 1:42PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 27th 2010 3:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 27th 2010 5:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/I'd still like it to go away though!! That way i can actually see the whole image... maybe in another 2 TV generations or so? ]]>May 27th 2010 5:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/I'm not lost, I just don't know where I am. :)]]>May 27th 2010 5:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 27th 2010 1:42PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/plasmatv/pioneer-pdp43a5hd.html

That write-up says it offers "Dot by Dot" for PC, but it does not give me the same option using the HDMI connection. So, I imagine it only works with the VGA port, which isn't really an option... :(

Any ideas?]]>May 27th 2010 1:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
Set your device's output resolution to force 1080i or 1080p. Some TVs, including Pioneers since it sounds like that's what you're using if it's called Dot by Dot, only allow that selection on 1080i or 1080p signals.]]>May 27th 2010 8:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
Actually, check that. According to the specs of your panel, its panel resolution is 1024x768, which is why you can do dot by dot on your PC input but not anything else -- because none of the "normal" HD resolutions that other devices would output have pixel layouts that correspond directly to your TV's panel.

What's even stranger is that 1024x768 isn't a widescreen resolution but rather a 4:3 resolution. The only way that 1024x768 is fitted onto a widescreen display is if the pixels themselves have a 4:3 aspect ratio rather than being square, which if you do the math does indeed give a 4:3 resolution a 16:9 aspect ratio. That means that either 4:3 resolutions are being stretched out, or widescreen resolutions are being displayed in their proper aspect ratio but with a lot of pixel information dropped out.]]>May 28th 2010 8:32AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/Actually, I believe the resolution specs for my TV are consistently wrong on the web... I almost positive about that.

This TV model is unique. It was actually only made for Tweeter's Black Friday Event back in 2005. The TV uses the same panel and internals as the Elite PRO-930HD of that same year -- which itself is 1366x768. The only real difference between mine and that Elite is the lack of an external media box for all connections.

When connected directly to the TV, my HTPC's current output resolution, using Nvidia's overscan correction tool in the Nvidia control panel, is set for 1218x688. 720p mode is detected by the TV and then up/down/sideways converted to 768p by the set.... right?

So, my HTPC is fine. The problem is that I can't correct the overscan from the STB or Bluray player sources since normal HDMI input does not allow for "Dot by Dot," and neither of those sources has a tool/mechanism of its own... right?

If I'm wrong, PLEASE let me know!]]>May 28th 2010 11:55AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 27th 2010 2:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 27th 2010 5:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
My set has a THX mode, which forces 1:1 pixel mapping (ie. while in THX mode, "HD Size 2" is set and cannot be changed.)]]>May 27th 2010 6:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
i have always wondered what 'overscan' was and why it matters]]>May 27th 2010 2:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
18 wins, 1 GIANT loss! We sent Tom Brady running home to mommy. What a glorious Sunday that was. :)]]>May 27th 2010 7:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 27th 2010 2:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 27th 2010 4:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 27th 2010 2:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
@erh: is it at the left and right edges? Top and bottom can be explained with the slight mismatch in aspect ratios, fitting 1.85:1 in 1.77:1 nets thin letterboxing bars if you don't crop the sides.]]>May 27th 2010 3:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 27th 2010 3:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/ So if CRTs are dead then why do we still have overscan?
Hold on there, cowboy. I'm still sitting in front of an HD CRT, and love it. Keeping my Sony KV-34XBR910 @ 7' until it dies.

The overscan on it can be quite annoying, I will admit. And i celebrate games that support overscan adjustments/tuning. I just can't calibrate all of the overscan out, it's a CRT after all. ;) ]]>May 27th 2010 3:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/Me too! I've just bought a new (to me) telly - sony KD-28DL10, I call it. £10. 28 inch screen, flat as a pancake at the front. Size of a washing machine at the back. Great picture (trumps any lcd I've seen), beautiful sound.
Roll on, world cup, tour de france, wimbledon. I figure lcd technology is moving faster than £10 a year so if I get a year from it, I'm up.]]>May 27th 2010 5:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/I sold mine and it took 3 guys to lift it]]>May 27th 2010 5:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
]]>May 27th 2010 3:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 27th 2010 3:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 27th 2010 3:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/,,The ideal approach to handle a pixel or two of "garbage" around the border is to crop but not scale. That is, the TV should be configurable to allow one or more rows/columns of pixels on each side of the image to be blacked out,,

NO. THE IDEAL IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE FOR BROADCASTERS TO FIX THE PROBLEM AT THE SOURCE.
BUT YOUR "BLACKED OUT IDEA" IS ONE THAT IS WAS GOING TO MENTION:
MANUFACTURERS SHOULD HAVE A BLANKING OPTION SO THAT PEOPLE LIKE ME CAN TURN OFF THE 'OVERSCAN' AND THEN BLANK OUT THE OUTER EDGES TO HIDE THE 'GARBAGE'.
THIS WAY YOU KEEP THE CORRECT RESOLUTION, BUT SIMPLY MAKE THE BEZEL LOOK A LITTLE WIDER THAN IT REALLY IS...]]>May 28th 2010 12:07AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
And yes, I get the random junk on top and sides of the screen sometimes - I deal with it.
]]>May 27th 2010 3:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
I've heard of some Westinghouse TVs that don't have overscan, but it is the exception and not the rule.]]>May 27th 2010 4:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 27th 2010 11:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/May 27th 2010 3:15PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/hd-101-overscan-and-why-all-tvs-do-it/
I recently bought a mini-displayport to hdmi adapter. Hooking it up to my macbook pro running Snow leopard and plugging it into the tv I get options in OS X for adjusting overscan (and putting sound out through hdmi). Hooking up my mac mini which doesn't have snow leopard, I can turn overscan on/off but not adjust it and have no option to pipe sound out through the hdmi. Turning overscan on cuts off the desktop at the edges, turning it off leaves black bars around everything.

Is this purely hardware related? or will upgrading to snow leopard on my mac mini allow me to better adjust the overscan? I'm doubtful the sound through the hdmi can be helped but that would be nice.]]>May 27th 2010 3:18PM