Understanding High Definition

HD - Sidebars

When an over-air broadcast program is transmitted in standard definition (4:3) and is viewed on a wide screen (16:9) HDTV, the HDTV can center the image on the screen with black or gray bars on either side (known as sidebars).  In like fashion, the Suddenlink HD set top adds sidebars to allow 4:3 content to be viewed via the HD input of 16:9 wide screen HDTV.

The Suddenlink HD set top does not change the aspect ratio of any programming. However, many HDTV sets provide the viewer with the ability to remove the black or gray bars (stretched, zoom, expand, narrow, etc.).

If you have an HD set top and would like to use these functions of the HDTV set when viewing 4:3 aspect ratio programming, you will need to wire up the Video out (component video or S-video) of the Suddenlink set top box to a corresponding standard input on the TV.

Future versions of the HD set top box will have the “stretch, zoom expand, narrow, etc.” functions built into the box.