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.