I have my Sony LCD hooked up to a Comcast HD box but there's black bars on top and bottom of the screen when in HD, only way to get rid of them is when I go to Zoom. My buddy has the exact same TV but his picture takes up the entire screen when his picture mode is on 'Full'. Mine leaves 3-4 inches of space. Also his picture looks slightly better. He has the same connections as I do. Anyone have any suggestions?
Have you experimented with the screen settings on the tv? It will have the ability to change the screen size, as will the box. Is your box an SA or Motorola. Also when you say its on an HD channel, is it by chance HBO, or does the channel not matter. I've noticed that HBO shows alot of letter box movies. This will have the bars at the top & bottom. If you go to like discovery, they usually show the full wide screen ( no bars on any side).
The box is a Motorola, I've experimented with the box but it doesn't have an option to increase screen size. Every HD channel has the space on top and bottom. Only way I can get them off is if I go to 'Zoom'. In 'Full', 'Wide Zoom', and 'Normal' it shows the black bars, where as my buddies TV shows a full screen. I also noticed when my display is up its only reading 480i but on his on the exact same channel its showing 1080i.
Problem fixed, wound up calling Comcast and here's what I had to do: Turn the power off on your cable box but not your TV. Hit the Menu button. Go to the second option which will say 480i or whatever your setting is. Click whatever setting you want. Power it off, then power it back on.