Can't control picture settings on HDMI inputs

[bodgerd]

Hi All, Apologies if this has been asked numerous times, I must confess to flicking through a few previous threads but couldn't immediately see what I was looking for.

I have a KD-49X8305C and a HT-CT80 and a BDP-S4500 that all work OK together whilst viewing TV using the TV's internal YouView (YV) receiver (Digital TV channel). However I also have a BT TV UHD YouView box plugged into HDMI1 and this is what I use mainly as I want to be able to use the features of the STB. However I have two main issues.

1. When viewing the input from the TV's internal tuner I have full control over all Picture Settings (Wide Zoom, Normal, Full, Zoom, etc), however when watching input from HDMI1 I can't control any Picture settings at all & I get a message saying "Not available with current signal". I have also noticed that ALL HDMI input settings are defaulted to Wide Zoom, which is clearly not ideal from an image quality perspective, as whilst the image appears slightly larger, I am assuming it is effectively stretching & cropping the image :(.

2. On some channels received via the HDMI1 port via the BT UHD YV STB I get either a series of white dashes or a flickering in the top row of pixels of the screen. That is why I was looking at Picture Settings to see if I could throw this top line off the screen.

Here are some photos to show what I'm seeing:

With both the TV tuner (referred to as “Digital TV” in the photos) and the BT YV box (referred to as “HDMI 1” in the photos) both set to Channel 101 (BBC One HD):

Starting with the Digital TV Options

You can see the Bravia settings available to me, and you can see that the Wide Mode setting, which seems to automatically default to whatever type of signal it is receiving per channel, is set to “Full” mode. The photo below shows the options that this could have selected, or I could over-ride if I chose to:

Now, if I change the input to the TV to be HDMI1 and do the same, this is what I get:

You can clearly see that the TV has automatically selected “Wide Zoom” mode, which explains why people look “bigger” when I’m watching from the BT YV box. However, when I try and change this option I get the following message “Not available with current signal”:

Now, for my next experiment!

If I set both the TV tuner and the BT YV box to a channel where I know I have “flickering” at the top of the screen, like (Drama - Channel 20).

I start with viewing the options set for the TV Tuner, and this is what I see (you will see Wide Mode set to “Wide Zoom” by default and the picture fills the whole of the TV screen:

However, when I switch the TV to the HDMI1 port, this is what I see (you will see the Wide Mode is set to “Wide Zoom” by default, but this time the picture is only showing in a small window in the centre of the screen and is not “stretched” at all.

If I try and adjust ANY of the Picture settings when watching any of the HDMI input’s I get the following message (Not Available with Current Signal):

Any help, most appreciated as I am totally baffled, and only want to a) get the flickering top line to go away when I am watching the channels afected whilst watching from my BT YV box and the ability to control Picture Settings on my HDMI ports - it's not too much to ask of a load of new Sony kit, surely?

[bodgerd]

OK, I might have made some progress through trial and error after seeing this article.

My UHD BT YV box has by default worked out that my TV is UHD, 50fps, 8bit, so has set it's output at that. The article linked to above seems to indicate that for my model of TV, with a UHD input I don't get an option to change any Picture Settings on an HDMI port (a bit strange)! Also it is strange that I have also noticed in my pictures above that ALL HDMI input settings are defaulted to Wide Zoom, which is clearly not ideal from an image quality perspective, as whilst the image appears slightly larger, I am assuming it is effectively stretching & cropping the image in this mode - not great.

So, I just "downgraded" the output quality of my UHD BT YV box to 1080p and guess what? I can then change Picture Settings on my HDMI port.

This defeats the whole point in purchasing a UHD YV box to go with a 4K TV.

At least I now know why the Picture settings weren't available to me, maybe this will help others.

BUT THE QUESTION REMAINING IS THIS? With a UHD signal being sent to my TV from a BT YouView box, why does the TV default the HDMI port "Picture settings" to Wide Zoom?

[sthwestguy]

i have same problem as you , i have notified sony an update is rquired to unlock facility for adjustment to wide and screen picture settings in 4k hdmi input as at present there locked to say not available with current input , its the same if when viewing 1080 box setting and you adjust the screen setting from normal to full pixel you get the same problem its the screen mode setting default in 4k view is set to full pixel as default plus wide mode set to full unable to stretch a 4.3 picture for some sd programs in 4k bt box , i found that i would have to keep box set to 1080p and change it when viewing 4k ultra hd channel . 

[romipat]

 wow its a few  years on  from your initial post and I'm  having a similar issue on my xe9305.  the  HDMI display are asettings are greyed out and I  an unable to change them on that input. its fine on the other inputs but HDMI 2 is one of thefaster ports on  my tv and I have a 4k device connected to it but it set and stuck on auto  wide, 4:3 default,  wide  zoom,auto display area/ Display +1 its creating black   bars on  both sides of  the screen  when playing content on the device.  I   havea   Tivo  plugged in on the other fast port  HDMi 3 and I'm able to  change all the  display options and the picture is  very good on that input

[Vote4sony]

I have a similar issue with the a8h, and I believe it’s based on the chip not being natively built by Sony and slapped on the panel. 

So giving an unlock to this problem is much more complicated.

but as a result as consumer I am dealing with a inferior product or rather, something that I should not be dealing with as a consumer when comparing this product to other tvs that do not have this problem. So this problem not being covered by tv reviewers allowed for this deception and for this problem to continue for so long.

any tv reviewer that did not mention this problem should not be trusted. As far as a I can tell, no tv reviewer can be trusted which means when buying Sony, I will have to do a lot of on-site research to make sure it has basic things like the proper aspect ratio. Which means compared to other tvs I put in a lot more work. Sony should care and rectify this, may be even with a recall.

[HannahEd01]

Hey guys, why don't you contact Sony to pass y our feedback?