Fairchild TV East (Channel 36) in Ignite TV always zoom

[kklee]

I just switched to Ignite TV and have an annoying problem. Fairchild TV is not a HD channel so I watch it with TV box setting “Auto Zoom”None. I don’t want zooming because it will make the picture “un-natural”. After switching to Ignite TV and setting “Auto Zoom” to None, I found that Fairchild TV West (Channel 751) does not zoom, but Fairchild TV East (Channel 36 and 750) still zoom to size of screen. Anybody experience the same thing and any suggestion on fixing it? Thanks.

*Added Labels*

[RogersMoin]

Hello, @kklee.

Welcome to Rogers Community Forums! 😀

Thank you for posting your query in the Community. I can understand your point, filling the TV screen for an SD channel can cause stretching and loss of edge image. I'm assuming that the Fairchild TV East broadcast to fill the TV screen on the Ignite TV platform since you have already set Auto Zoom to none on your TV set. 

@-G-, @Gdkitty, @Biollw may have more insight on this subject. 

Cheers,
RogersMoin

[-G-]

@RogersMoin  I can't help here because I don't subscribe to Fairchild TV, and don't think that I subscribe to any other SD flex channels anymore either.  However, I did see this same problem back when I subscribed to Comedy Gold.

[kklee]

Thanks for the reply. 

Are you saying that the problem is due to Fairchild TV instead of Rogers? Do I have to contact Fairchild TV or Rogers should do that?

[-G-]

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@kklee wrote:

Are you saying that the problem is due to Fairchild TV instead of Rogers? Do I have to contact Fairchild TV or Rogers should do that?

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It could be either; it all depends on the source signal and how Rogers encodes and streams the channel.  However, I'm leaning toward this being a Rogers issue given that you are able to get the Fairchild West channel to display correctly on your TV.

[Alfred-Aurora]

Hi,

I am thinking to upgrade to Ignite TV Premier bundle.
Is Fairchild ch 750 a FLEX Channel under Ignite Premier?
I checked the Channel list in Rogers web, yes it is.
But if I go to upgrade offer, it is not included as FLEX channel.
So if anyone can help me that will be excellent.

Thanks

Alfred@Aurora

[kklee]

What is the procedure to engage Rogers Support for them to fix the problem?

[57]

@kklee : please see the following link. Click on Technical Support and then choose your preferred option - say Ignite TV Support under Chat.

https://www.rogers.com/consumer/support/contactus

Since it's the holiday season, I'd probably hold off until January 2 or later...

You can also use Share A Concern, but make it clear you're on Ignite.

https://www.rogers.com/consumer/contactus/share-a-concern

[RogersYasmine]

Good morning @Alfred-Aurora,

Thanks for joining us in the Rogers Community Forums and great first post! 😊

If you switch over to our Ignite TV service on our Premier TV package, you should have the option to select the Fairchild TV channel as one of your Flex Channels. Our Ignite TV Concierge team can always help you make this change if you are having difficulty doing so via the self-serve options.

You may also reach out to us using any of the avenues available through THIS LINK, or you may send us a Private Message @CommunityHelps so we can double-check this for you and assist with any service changes you would like to make. For more information on how our Private Messaging system works, please CLICK HERE.

Thank you,

RogersLaura

I hope this helps! 🙂

[Pauly]

Hi kklee, so your saying Fairchild TV East (36 and 750) look like its zoomed when you have the zoom setting to none? what you need to do is take a picture of it and post it here and have someone else on rogers ignite tv confirm if it happens to them too, it could be a problem with ignite or could be a source signal problem we dont know until we see a pictture so we can investigate.

[Alfred-Aurora]

Thanks a lot!!

[kklee]

I can do that but sorry I am new to the forum. Could somebody tell me how to post pictures here?

[57]

When making a post there is an icon of a camera above where you type your text. When you hover over it you should see "Insert photo". Click on that and insert a photo from your computer/device.  It may take a short while for the photo to be approved after you post.

[kklee]

Thanks for the instruction on posting photos. Below are the photos:

1. Channel 36 Zoom None

Channel 36 Zoom None

2. Channel 751 Zoom None

Channel 750 Zoom None

3. Channel 751 Zoom Full

Channel 751 Zoom Full

[kklee]

The caption for photo 2 should be "Channel 751 Zoom None". Sorry for the confusion.

[-G-]

Comedy Gold used to broadcast in 4:3 standard definition.  In my TV's "Picture" settings, I also had to make sure that it did not automatically stretch or zoom the content to eliminate the side bars.

[kklee]

Not sure I understand your comment. I don't want the auto zoom because it makes the picture out of proportion. I set the Ignite TV box setting to "Zoom None" and the Channel 751 behaves correctly. However, Channel 36/750 still zoom. I don't mind the side bars. If I want Zoom I can set the TV box setting to "Zoom Full".

[-G-]

@kklee  I was not referring to the set-top box settings.  My Sony TV also has the ability to detect 4:3 content and zoom the picture to eliminate the side bars.  I had to change the settings in my TV so that it would not zoom or stretch the picture as well.

[57]

@-G-  : If you look at @kklee 's photos, you'll see that the TV is not stretching 4:3 content. The black bars are present on the one channel.

Some SD channels are broadcast in AFD (see link below).  What this does is "zoom" a 16:9 SD channel to fill the screen of a 16:9 TV, even though the broadcast is SD.  Sometimes this can result in pretty good quality on an HDTV even though the original content is SD.  I don't think that's what's happening here though since @kklee 's photos look distorted (wide heads).  I suggest @kklee contact both Rogers and Fairchild to get this sorted out.  A good screenshot would help - either heads that are obviously distorted or circles that become oblong on one channel but not another.  It'd be good to get a screenshot that could be paused on all of the channels (using recordings) and the same programming.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Format_Description

[Pauly]

I concur with 57. I believe that it's nothing to do with the setting in the TV or box. I bet that the channel is being sent with AFD by the broadcaster or distributor of this channel and Roger's is merely passing what ever signal they receive to your set top box.

Most international channels are a 16x9 picture but anamorphically squeezed into a 4x3 frame but some have the AFD flag sent as well. So your HD box will detect it as a 16x9 picture and fill the screen.

I see this on my dad's italian channels. If you complain to Roger's not sure what they can do to fix as they are often not allowed to manipulate the signals they receive. But maybe they can pass on the complaint to fair child for you or ask you to contact Fairchild directly?

[-G-]

@57 @Pauly  That was my initial thought as well, but what if channel 36 was being sent by Rogers as a 4:3 SD stream and channel 751 a 16:9 SD stream, and the TV was stretching 4:3 content?  (From @kklee 's pictures, if Fairchild's source feed for both channels are in the same format then Rogers must be encoding one of them differently.)

I experienced a similar situation with one of my Xi6 set-top boxes connected to a computer monitor.  Comedy Gold (4:3 SD) got stretched; Stingray Retro (Widescreen SD) displayed normally.  I couldn't configure how 4:3 content was handled on the monitor so I could not fix this.  Comedy Gold also got stretched on one of my TVs (and looked just the channel 36 photo) until I disabled the option to stretch 4:3 content, after which it displayed normally, with sidebars, on the TV.)

I also concur that Rogers needs to investigate this in conjunction with Fairchild.  However, I still think it's worth confirming that the TV itself is not stretching 4:3 content.