I just purchased a used Mitsu WS55819 for $375. I'm very pleased with it, but a bit disappointed with the amount of control I have over the settings. It's my first HDTV.
I downloaded the PDF user guide from the Mitsu website, and have been using that to configure the TV. One roadblock has been the ability to turn off "Stretch Mode" for standard OTA NTSC signals. According to the manual, I should be able to cycle through the formats with the "format" button on the remote. The only problem is that the remote I have doesn't have a "format" button.
According to the guy who sold it to me, the remote I got with it is the original.
I've been through all the menus, but can't find any way to tell the TV not to "stretch" the Ant-A or Ant-B inputs.
Is there something I'm missing, or is the only way to change the picture format tied to the particular remote I have?
I know about burn-in, but I'm just annoyed by the fat arms and stretched heads of the folks I'm watching on TV. 4:9 would be great.
Unfortunately with any widescreen TV, all your TV pictures will be stretched unless you go into a mode that produces the side bars, hence turning your screen to 4:3 ratio.
Your remote (if it is the original) will have the FORMAT button on the left column by the bottom before the controls for the DVD player.
You keep pushing that button and the TV will cycle through the different screens.
If you downloaded the PDF guide from mitsubishi, check the remote on the cover of the manual. It should match the remote that you have.
Actually Bob, I think I know your problem. If you have a high def cable box or dish box you probably have it connected through high def cables (either component or hdmi/dvi). When you do this, the tv thinks that no matter what you are watching the signal is high def and therefore cannot stretch/compress it. If you want control over this for standard def programs, you must either do the adjustment within the set top box or run sep s-vid/rca connections and switch over for watching standard def material. If you have dish network there is a simple fix. Just push page up/down buttons on your remote to cycle through the different picture modes. They are set different for standard and high def so when you go from one to another you get the picture size you want.
Also bob, keep in mind that if you leave those black bars on for the majority of your tv watching, you may get burn in. There will be permanent shading in the areas that the black bars are in even when you watch widescreen material. Just be careful not to watch like that all the time and you should be fine. Mix it up a little.
Unfortunately, the remote I have does NOT match the picture in the PDF file. It's a bit less fancy, but was represented as the original remote that came with the box. I bought the set from the original owner. It is a Mitsubishi remote, and all of the functions on it do work, it just doesn't have the DVD, V-Chip, or Format buttons. AWWW, what the heck?!?! What do I want for $375???
I'm aware of the problem with burn-in -- I worked on dumb terminals and CRTs for years (showing my age!)-- but I just wondered if there was an alternative way to cycle through the format settings. Thanks for the warning in any event...
Digging through the menus hasn't uncovered anything.
I'm watching the OTA NTSC channels, via an antenna connection, labelled "Air-1" and "Air-2", so my guess is that they are just standard 480i images. The set seems to automatically go into stretch mode.
I'll eventually get DirecTV or an ATSC tuner (there are 4 HD stations within 30 miles of me, and I have an external VHF/UHF "fringe" antenna on the house), so that shouldn't be a problem in the future.
My current setup is: Outside Antenna -> preamp (in basement) Preamp -> Splitter (behind TV) Splitter1 -> ElCheapo (Insignia)/Combo DVD/VCR Splitter2 -> Ant A -> Loop Out -> Ant B DVD/VCR (component out) -> Component 1 IN YPrPb (for DVD) DVD/VCR (video out) -> Input 1 (for VCR)
Audio (from the Mitsu and the ElCheapo) goes to an old Sherwood AV receiver (AM/FM/TV1-2/VCR1-2/blah blah blah), that does 5.1 Dolby decoding.
If I get either the DirecTV box or an ATSC tuner, I'll make sure it's got a DTV-style output, e.g., YPrPbGRBHV.
This set doesn't have an HDMI interface -- I think it was manufactured (2001) before the HDMI spec was finalized.
I managed to figure out the "consumer" convergence -- and have the thing pretty well aligned, but I still see a shade of pink when the background on the left third of the display is supposed to be white. It was very noticeable the other day watching a hockey game - "white" ice on the left side had that pink tinge to it. The pink tinge diminished a bit after I did the convergence.
Other than that, I'm pretty impressed with the job it does with both the ElCheapo DVD and a good off-air NTSC signal. Turns out, the channel with the best signal will be carrying the Super Bowl on Sunday. It's a quantum leap above the 15 year old 25" TV it replaced.
Any other suggestions, howtos, etc. are very welcome, and thanks again for your replies...
The only choice you have with ota is to change channels to the std def number (usually one or two dots above/below hd channel) whenever a std def show comes on. This will give you the option to watch at 4:3.
