OTHER TECH

Overscan Blues

Q. My rear-projection HDTV has an overscan problem. When I watch high-definition baseball games, the scoreboard gets cut off. Also, on regular TV the heads get cut off. Anything I can do to correct it? Richard Taddonio Brooklyn, NY

A. Al Griffin says: Overscan, or the amount of picture area that gets hidden behind a TV's screen, is typically set by the manufacturer at around 4% or less - a level that shouldn't interfere with onscreen graphics, heads, or anything else that falls within the "TV Safe" area of the image as monitored by the broadcaster. But it sounds as though your TV is set to the wrong display mode (aspect ratio), such as zoom, or suffers from abnormally high overscan. Try selecting the TV's various display modes to see if that solves the problem. If not, you may be able to have its overscan adjusted by a trained technician. Check with the manufacturer for a local service center. You could also contact the Imaging Science Foundation (www.imagingscience.com) to see if there's a qualified technician in your area to tackle the job.

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