Screen resolution issues with my WD TV Live

Hi everyone,

I just bought my WD TV Live to hook up to my old CRT TV. I use the Composite cable (RCA A/V cable) to connect my WD TV to my TV. In the WD TV setup menu under Video Output I selected Composite. Then under Aspect Ratio, I select Normal (4:3). However I find that the WD TV is still running widescreen. The menu items, the fonts, etc, all look as though they are squeezed. If I switch to Widescreen, that has no effect, switch back to Normal and that too has no effect, everything looks the same. When I go to a service such as Netflix, the writing is barely legible. The video is fine on Netflix. I also notice that the menu items are being cut off to the left as you can see from the screen shot I attached to this post. Any ideas as to what is happening here?

I have firmware 1.13.18 installed.

That setting only affects video playback, not the UI. What you’re seeing is normal.

Thanks for the reply.

That is very annoying. Like I said, it’s very difficult to read the writing on Netflix.

Try the screen size calibration setting under the appearance menu in setup.

I have the screen size set to 95% so that the menu items are not cutoff, but that doesn’t help when I’m in Netflix or YouTube.

I’m new to the WD TV system, but I have to think that this is some sort of bug. Even with the unit set to normal 4:3 ratio, the unit seems to be stuck in widescreen.

No, it’s not a bug.

The box *is* intended for use primarily on HD displays.  (It’s called the WD TV Live HD, after all…)

The issue you’re seeing is that, particularly in older CRTs, the displays expect a significant amount of “Overscan.”  HD TVs generally need little to none.

The GUI designers know this and design their UIs to make the maximum use of the real-estate they have.

To rule out a bug, here’s what you can try:

Set the display to NORMAL.

    Playing a 4:3 video should fill the screen.

    Playing a 16:9 video should be letterboxed.

If set to WIDESCREEN, the results can be unpredictable, but if your CRT can adjust to the timing, you’ll see:

   Playing a 4:3 video should be “pillarboxed,” and the video will be squished.

   Playing a 16:9 video will be similarly squished but should appear full screen.

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5746

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3804

Thanks for all the info guys. Good to know that at the very least my WD TV is not broken. What I find odd is that when I use my Wii to access Netflix on that same TV, the Netflix UI looks great with the Wii.

The important thing is that when I’m watching movies or TV shows, the video is displayed properly.

The Wii is SD only, so no surprise the UI would be better on a CRT.