A solution to letterboxing!

[Tim R.]

Hi all,

I thought sharing this might be beneficial to y'all. Like many people here I can't stand the black bars that appear alongside, or on top of, the image when using a converter box.

A few years ago I found a partial workaround that eliminated the problem, providing the video was 16:9. A HDMI to composite converter with a zoom function enabled the 16:9 image to fit the 4:3 screen with no black bars, although a small part of it was cut off.

This worked fine for the most part with my Apple TV. Much of the content on Netflix and Amazon Prime is 16:9, as are many YouTube videos. But when something with a 4:3 aspect ratio is converted to 16:9, it displays as a square with those annoying black bars flanking it. Unfortunately, most older content online has this problem, and by and large that's what I watch on my TVs.

For a while I just grudging accepted this as the way things were going to be, but then I happened to stumble upon this thread:

http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=266358

In it Kamakiri has success using an Extron IN1502 scaler to eliminate the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Meant for converting a composite signal to RGB (VGA connector) for use with a monitor, the scaler has a wide range of picture adjustments that can help with video issues. Another converter is necessary to re-convert the output back to composite again.

The box does eliminate the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, but frustratingly the horizontal size adjustment maxes out before the sides of the screen can be filled. Thankfully, the VGA to composite converters sold on eBay have picture adjustments of their own, and by changing those settings I was able to eliminate most, but not all, of the black area around the image. By experimenting with the zoom function on the HDMI converter, and tweaking the settings on the other two boxes, I can get a 4:3 video to display correctly on my TVs and declare victory over those annoying black bars!

It's rather kludgy but it does work. The Extron scaler, HDMI converter with zoom, and PC to composite converter get the job done with some tinkering. When I want to watch videos with a native 16:9 resolution, I switch the scaler and VGA converter out of the circuit - it's quicker and easier than messing with the settings.

Anyway, the whole setup cost less than $75 on eBay, and is well worth the investment if you want 4:3 videos to display correctly.


-Tim