I just bought a WDTV Live and updated to the latest version. My main issue is that I was seeing serious cropping on all sides. I zoomed out a bit but that didn’t work, so I did a little pan too, but there’s one side of the video I’m still missing because the pan feature works in big increments and is not very fine so I can’t set it up right.
The TV I’m using is very old and I’m using composite video.
Is there a workaround for this? Or maybe I should post a feature request so they can fix it?
It appears you have a TV problem, and not a WD Live problem. Maybe you should hook your new and modern media player into a new and modern TV and see what happens – just for fun. :-)
Its your TV. There are controls inside the TV which can be adjusted to minimise this problem. You just need somebody who knows what they are doing to adjust them. It is not a difficult task and should not take a qualified person too long to do.
I guess you guys are right. But the problem is that if I change the configuration of the TV, when I go back to watch cable, everything will look bad.
I think this should be fixable from the WDTV itself, the pan & zoom options are there, it just need a little polish.
Not necessary, it sounds like your TV is probably more out of adjustment than needed. Anyway who ever adjusts it can make a compromise between cable and player. As has been said this player is really designed for new HD TV’s and WD are not going to add in functions to compensate for what is now outdated technology.
Tony hit the nail on the head; it’s the overscan adjustment that is causing the ability to see the edges of the picture from the WD player. FYI: TV video is broadcast slightly oversize so that no one sees the picture edges on their TV. This was done in the “old days” of TV to accomodate any and all TVs so that the picture (and only the picture) was seen on screen, since all TVs were (and still are) different.
This is still done today with TV broadcasts, and with my Panasonic HD TV, it even has a picture adjustment via the remote to override the overscan called (picture) Size 1 and Size 2. Since (HD) broadcast overscan is not as pronounced today as it once was, I have my TV set to eliminate overscan and chose Size 2 (no overscan). Most of the time I cannot see the edges of the TV broadcast picture, so I like it set this way for both TV broadcast AND the other video media players, including DVD player and the WD player. In fact, if I switch between Size 1 and Size 2 while a WD player picture is on screen, the overscan control still affects it, and if in overscan mode (Size 1) some of the picture edge on both sides moves off the screen (it appears as a slight zooming of the picture), and the end result is that less of the full picture is shown on screen. So, I keep the TV setting in the no-overscan mode (Size 2) at all times for all video sources.
So, to “fix” the problem of not seeing the edges of the WD picture on the older TV, the overscan adjustment would have to be even more pronounced, and when watching a TV broadcast, a little more of it’s picture would be off screen. Add this to the fact that a TV repair shop would likely charge around $100 just to tweek the overscan control, is it worth doing it?
Personally, I would not go to this expense and instead, take that potential $100 shop expense and devote it toward the purchase of a new wide screen TV. It REALLY is time to get a modern TV. Why? Because you have now bought a modern media player; a product that did not even exist when you TV was made. So, if you want the full benefit of the media player, you need a TV that can accomodate it better.
