Something i have noticed when using my DVD-Recorder for the first time (had DVD recorders and PVR units since 2001!) is that when recording from the in-built freeview some of the channels look squased or stretched. I'm recording to the HDD so it's not the +R issue.

I have a 16:9 TV and the DVD-Recorder is set to 16:9. If i watch BBC3 the screen is stretched, unless i change the DVD-Recorder to Pan&Scan! If i leave it in Pan&Scan other channels look wrong as the edges are cut off!

I know how pan&scan works, but the issue is i have to manually change from 16:9 and Pan&Scan depending on what channel i'm watching/recording! Not good if setting stuff to record whilst at work or not in!

Any ideas??

P.S. I'm using a £25, heavy duty, good quality gold plated scart cable.

It might be your TV.

A check is to compare Sky News and the Sky Sports News channel.

Sky News is now always widescreen, and should fill your screen. The same is true for BBC News 24.

Sky Sports News is always 4:3, so you should have black bars down the side of the picture. The same is true for the ITV News Channel (when broadcasting which is now prior to 6pm). If you don't, then your TV is probably stretching the picture.

As no one else seems to have done so I thought I would point out that there is 'sticky' thread for the 710/910 machines in this forum. The question of padding is dealt with there and there is a clunky workaround described which is probably easier than it sounds.

Apparently you program from the epg then modify the program to run more than once - this turns it into a manual recording which you can modify at will. See the main thread for more comment on this.

Sounds such an easy thing for sony to fix... along with Clive I actually had some quite in depth chats with sony - and they seemed unwilling to budge... Our view was that they should use the now/next data which SHOULD accurately reflect program time variations, but they said that broadcasters didn't always do it properly.

The option of turning it on and off like a VCR PDC option seemed alien to them, although they did say they'd add padding to their "wish list"...

I think we all know that "wish list" is AKA "waste paper bin"

If you could immediately modify the times when you programme from the epg it would help. I am not so concerned about large movements of programmes which I can accept that Sony would have trouble with. It is missing the odd minute from the beginning or end of a programme that alledgedly started on time which is the most annoying.

By the way what does 'update' do?