Does anyone know of a util that can run from DVD to allow colours etc to correct.

The black looks kind of negative.

Aspect TV has 4 modes.. Normal which I know is 4:3, but what is correct for 16:9.. we have options of wide (in this mode the picture either side seems to be about .5" off), Full (which seems to look correct), and expand (which looks correct length ways, but streched vertically)

Do a search for Digital Video Essentials calibration tool on google.

This isn't one of those God-awful Logik TVs that Currys and Dixons used to sell is it? That don't autoswitch to widescreen when fed a widescreen source? That only have one scart socket, but do have s-video and component connetions as well? Where the blacks look a muddy grey/brown at best? That looks twice as wide as it actually is because of the enormous speakers mounted either side of the screen?

If so, I sympathise. My girlfriend's got one - horrible television.

Yes, full means widescreen and standard means 4:3. Wide seems to expand the whole picture both widthwise and heightwise (so should be titled zoom) and expand seems to do that horrible stretchy routine that leaves the middle of the screen as 4:3, then stretch the sides of the picture to meet the edges of the screen, so not only is it distorted, but it isn't even uniformly distorted. Quite why this TV was ever allowed to be manufactured is beyond me.

Thank you very much.

No I wouldn't buy anything from Dixon or Currys.. Not after issues a few years back..


Good enuff. why do you need the other 2 options or for that matter standard.. surely if its a widescreen tv, you don't need it in standard 4:3 mode.

The reason a widescreen TV has a 4;3 mode is that not everything broadcast on UK TV is widescreen. Think of all those repeats from the 70s and 80s on ITV3 for example.

So a widescreen TV has to able to switch to 4:3 to display the picture correctly. Otherwise it means a 4:3 transmission is stretched out horizonatlly so everyone looks short and fat.

You need standard (4:3) for when you are feeding it a 4:3 source. Unless you're a fan of fattyvision .

As you say, why include the other two? Wide (really zoom) is I suppose useful if you are watching a letterbox transmission on something like TCM (where the picture is actually a tiny letterboxed 4:3 image in the middle of the screen surrounded by black bars), not anamorphically compressed. So, you can expand the picture both horizontally and vertically, removing or reducing the black bars from all four sides.

Expand is for those weirdos who absolutely refuse to ever have any black bars showing on their screens regardless of whether the source they are feeding it is 4:3, 16:9 or 2.35:1, so will allow them to distort and stretch part of the picture, but then admit that they don't like fattyvision, so they keep the centre of the picture in the OAR, but screw around with the edges under the misguided theory that the edges of the screen rarely contain anything worth watching anyway.

LOL Fattyvision..

This tv is not the mutts nutts.. but was only 100£ so thought I'd get it..

Check your DVD collection as you may have a THX disc there that has the THX Optomiser included on the disc, it's pretty basic but it allows you to adjust the user controls, it will also save you a few quid on a dedicated disc.

Just be aware that these settings will only apply to this particular source (DVD), you will have to adjust the picture yourself for anything else that is connected like VCR, Sky, but at least you will have an idea on what settings look good, just a case of switching back and forth between sources to get the pictures looking the same.

Okay I have been told to lower then backlight... sadly this tv, and my parents one don't have that option.