Aspect problems with my new TV

[cheetosandmovies]

I got a new TV in January or February. It's a Panasonic TC-L32C12. I've been having a problem with the HDMI inputs:

I plug my DVD player into 1 of the 2 HDMI inputs (doesn't matter which, same problem on both), put a fullscreen (4:3) movie in, and push play. With the TV aspect ration set to "Full" (16:9), the image is stretched horizontally, as it should be. But when I switch the aspect to "4:3," all it does is chop the sides off that stretched out image. This doesn't happen to devices (including my DVD player) when plugged in via composite, component, or VGA. I've tried different devices connected via HDMI to my TV -- all had the same problem. I've connected my DVD player to another TV via HDMI -- no problem at all.

Is this a problem I can fix myself? Or is it a manufacturing defect and I'll have to either contact Panasonic or buy a new TV?


EDIT (10/17/2010 @ 7:00pm)
I read another thread that someone was having a similar problem, and changing the DVD player to output 16:9 (where it already was) at 480p (which it wasn't on, had it on auto) fixed the problem. Well, it fixed my problem, too. But why would this happen in the first place? Is there a problem with Panasonic TVs (common factor in the 2 threads -- my DVD player is a Toshiba)? I'll probably switch the input for the DVD player to component for now. Will using a receiver (don't have one yet) with "analog to video upconversion" fix this?

[MrBoylan]

I got a new TV in January or February. It's a Panasonic TC-L32C12. I've been having a problem with the HDMI inputs:

I plug my DVD player into 1 of the 2 HDMI inputs (doesn't matter which, same problem on both), put a fullscreen (4:3) movie in, and push play. With the TV aspect ration set to "Full" (16:9), the image is stretched horizontally, as it should be. But when I switch the aspect to "4:3," all it does is chop the sides off that stretched out image. This doesn't happen to devices (including my DVD player) when plugged in via composite, component, or VGA. I've tried different devices connected via HDMI to my TV -- all had the same problem. I've connected my DVD player to another TV via HDMI -- no problem at all.

Is this a problem I can fix myself? Or is it a manufacturing defect and I'll have to either contact Panasonic or buy a new TV?


EDIT (10/17/2010 @ 7:00pm)
I read another thread that someone was having a similar problem, and changing the DVD player to output 16:9 (where it already was) at 480p (which it wasn't on, had it on auto) fixed the problem. Well, it fixed my problem, too. But why would this happen in the first place? Is there a problem with Panasonic TVs (common factor in the 2 threads -- my DVD player is a Toshiba)? I'll probably switch the input for the DVD player to component for now. Will using a receiver (don't have one yet) with "analog to video upconversion" fix this?

If setting the output to 480p on the player works around the problem, then why worry about it? This just means you're having the DVD player do the interlacing instead of the TV, and the TV is then upconverting from 480p to its native resolution. There shouldn't be any problem with that.

-CB

[cheetosandmovies]

This was really bothering me (how will it effect the video input from a receiver?), so I ended up switching TVs with my sister. She also has a 32in TV, but it's a Sony. Everything works the way it should. She didn't mind switching because she'll never use the HDMI inputs (because they don't come with devices). She also prefers the stretched out 4:3 video than the 4:3 video with black bars, which confuses the heck out of me.