# TV picture too wide **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 23, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-picture-too-wide/500709 "2009-06-23T13:29:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-picture-too-wide/500709/21 "2014-08-02T22:49:20Z")
> [@The\_Whatnought](#): > > So, when my roomate called them they said that this issue has a setting in the cable box. Apparently not mine as I’ve looked through ALL the menus. Twice. and twice again. More research to be done. As the technology keeps changing, it might be worthwhile to resuscitate this zombie. My cable settings also have absolutely no references to aspect. My 3 year old $99 tv from Walmart has a setting for Aspect on the TV remote itself, offering Automatic, 4:3 , 16:9, Panoramic, and Zoom. Auto is always exactly the same as 4:3. Panoramic appears to be the same as 16:9. I get two PBS stations on my cable system, and the same program comes in different aspects. Sometimes, on many channels, I get a 4:3 aspect, which is cut off on all four sides, and I have to choose Zoom to get full screen with normal ratio. It is necessary to manually choose the setting for every program, and sometimes on the same network, I have to change from one aspect to another when the program changes. For example, right now set at 4:3 or Auto (it doesn’t matter which), most cable channels, the picture has a black border, and I have to switch to Zoom for full screen. Some, such as CBS and WE, are already full height, but 4:3 with black bands on the sides. NBC, though, is distorted with everyone looking skinny, and I have to switch to 16:9 in order to see things on the screen in normal proportion. If I set most channels to 16:9 or Panoramic, they are displayed on wide screen and everyone looks fat. I see a lot of other peoples TVs set like that, and I don’t think many people even know about the aspect disparities, or notice the distortion. I would have thought, after 3 or 4 years, there would be some conformity in the aspect ratios of the transmissions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-picture-too-wide/500709.md?page=1)