weird divx aspect ratio problem with sony dvpns728h

Factual Questions
1

So I have this nice dvd player: Sony DVP-NS728H.

All the specs say it plays divx and avi files from disc or usb…

However, the videos are squashed.

Both the tv and the dvd player are set to 16:9.

This problem does not happen with DVDs, either store bought or converted files.

I have tried the player on different tvs with the same result.

Google is not my friend. I seem to be the only person on the planet that this is happening to.

Could it be a codec problem?

Help! ( or else I’ll have to shudder try a sony help center! ).

2

Do you have the latest firmware installed?

3

This is my problem.

I can’t find it anywhere. ( see above Google is not my friend ).

Off to do some more searching.