I've just got delivery of my new 440 and given it a test drive. I've got 3 immediate 'problems' that I'm hoping you folks can confirm are either inherent design 'features' or perhaps can suggest where I have some 'finger trouble'!

1) The Freeview sensitivity is a little disappointing. I'm in an official 'No Reception' area so signal strength is definitely in the 'fringe' zone. The resulting picture loss due to data errors is definitely a little worse than my Humax 9200. It's not bad but from other postings I had hoped it would be better than the Humax.

2) The picture aspect ratio for analogue is all wrong. It is setting the picture for a 4:3 output even though I've got 16:9 selected. The Freeview output is the right shape. The TV is connected via the component video output so there is no Scart AR switching going on.

3) There is a video sponsored 'buzz' on the audio. I've been here before with the Humax and I followed suit and turned off the DTS. This makes it better but unlike the Humax, there is still a little buzzing on certain shots. This is present on both the analogue and digital audio outputs and is also there with similar highly modulated video when playing a DVD.

There is an easy test that I would like another 440/540 owner to try. Does your system buzz when the Digital EPG is present on the screen? Clearly if this is unique to my 440 then I need to get it changed.

Thanks for your assistance

Analogue is only transmitted in 4:3 - perhaps it's doing the sensible thing and not artificially stretching it.

Well it actually needs to squash it (and add side blanking) so that it then gets stretched back into the correct shape by the widescreen TV. I had hoped that since the Pioneer is made in UK, it could have made an allowance for this in the processing. My widescreen Toshiba TV has a special mode for 14:9 as used (mostly) by analog broadcasters but I have to switch this manually.

Is your TV permanently set to 16:9?

No - but as it is I have to keep changing the AR to suit analog/Freeview/DVD from the 440. The Pioneer knows what the AR SHOULD be so is in the best position to do the appropriate processing. It's not rocket science!

Well, I don' t understand actually! If a broadcast is 4:3 and you've told your box that you've got a 16:9 TV then it should indeed send a 4:3 picture to the TV, with black bars either side. Is it not doing that? What shape are you getting, and is the picture distorted in any way, i.e. either squashed or stretched horizontally.

Two things you've said seem to be contradictory to me:

"It is setting the picture for a 4:3 output even though I've got 16:9 selected."

"it actually needs to squash it (and add side blanking) so that it then gets stretched back into the correct shape by the widescreen TV."

The first suggests that it's giving you a 4:3 picture with black bars either side, the second says that it's not doing this (although it doesn't need to squash the picture and generate black bars at all - it should just send a 4:3 picture to the TV and the TV displays it in the centre of the screen). If you're manually altering the aspect ratio of the TV then this could be confusing matters. It should be set to 4:3 when watching analogue broadcasts.

Sorry if I 've missed something, but I don't understand why you're saying that it's giving you a 4:3 picture but it's wrong for doing so.

Ah - are you saying that it should always output 16:9, padded with blanks where necessary, even if the broadcast is 4:3? I don't think any boxes would do that...Sky doesn't anyway. It outputs 4:3 (and sets the SCART control to 4:3). Since you're using component, you won't get the SCART control and will have to change the TV to 4:3 manually.

Maybe there are some DVD/HDD recorders that always output 16:9 if you've told it you've got a 16:9 TV, but I wasn't aware of that.

Analogue is 4:3--end of story.
The only time a 4:3 image will be presented in widescreen with side blanking is from a digital transmission.
If you want a 4:3 image stretched,use the ratio setting on the tv,the Pioneer presents analogue in the correct way

Yes, actually if boxes did output 4:3 in full 16:9 resolution but with black areas to the sides, it would render the SCART 4:3/16:9 control function redundant!

In fact, no boxes output full 16:9 resolution even for a 16:9 broadcast. They output a squashed 4:3 picture together with a SCART signal to tell the TV to widen it out. It's called Anamorphic widescreen.

Actually, I've never understood how that works and why it doesn't result in a loss of resolution...

Well with all due respect - this is nonsense! Analogue video is not any aspect ratio until you define it. Perhaps you mean that analogue terrestrial broadcating is 4:3 where you have a point. In fact the main channels are broadcast in 14:9 letterbox so even then you are on dodgy ground. There is no reason at all why the Pioneer cannot process this 14:9 image to best fit a 16:9 frame, and thus offer constant aspect ratio switching between the analogue and digital tuners.

It is simply sending the signal as broadcast, with a full width image with small letterbox bars at top and bottom. This then gets stretched by the TV as though it was anamorphic so the end result is a very 'wide' image! I can of course tell the TV to make it 4:3 (or actually usually 14:9) but it would be nice if the Pioneer gave a constant aspect ratio so that it wasn't necessary.

So the broadcast you're watching is a 14:9 shape that is letterboxed into 4:3. The box itself isn't putting the black bars top and bottom, the signal is actually broadcast like that and it's a full 4:3 picture. Again, all boxes will output this as 4:3 and the correct setting you should have on your TV for this is Zoom. My TV (Sony Wega) has a mode (aside from the SCART control) where it can detect black bars top and bottom and then automatically Zoom. This can be a pain though as moody shots where you can have dark tops and bottoms will cause it to switch!

I really don't think any STBs/ recorders etc change a 4:3 broadcast into 16:9 to suit the TV. Yes, I suppose it would be simpler if all STBs always converted the broadcast signal into the exact shape of your TV, but it just doesn't work like that. They all pass the signal along as it is broadcast, with control signals to tell the TV what to do with it, which can be overridden by manual settings on the TV if you want.

Has your TV got an RGB SCART socket? Try connecting that way - there shouldn't be much difference between that and the quality of the picture you're getting now with component, but as long as you put your TV into its Auto mode then you should find you always get the right shape picture.

Also...have you got a DVD player, and how is that connected? If you've got it connected via component then you should find it exhibits the same 'problem' when playing a DVD with a 4:3 aspect ratio, even if you've told it ytou've got a 16:9 TV. You will have to manually change your TV from 16:9 to 4:3 to prevent the picture being stretched.

Even my £30 DVD player produces the correct shaped picture for either 16:9 or 4:3 TV. DVDs are flagged as either 4:3 or 16:9 and the player has to be told what sort of TV is connected.
The trouble with 'Zoom' on Wide TVs is that this often fills the screen so that for current 14:9 broadcast it will either crop some of the image or produce a distorted (too wide) image. It needs to leave a little blanking at the sides. A lot of modern broadcasting has almost no 'safety area' and the captioning is often right at the top or bottom of the frame.
I do indeed have my DVD player/recorder connected via component leads. I'm already using an RGB scart for my Humax PVR, not sure if I've got two. Anyways, there is an issue with the Pioneer needing to have the auto switching disabled to enable the RGB connection in 'live' broadcast mode.