Buzzr aspect ratio

[splinkynip]

Is it just me or did Buzzr change its aspect ratio yesterday? Shows are taking up less space on my tv screen suddenly. Black bars used to be just on the left and right sides, now they are on the top and bottom as well.

[gridlockjoe]

No change here. Watching over the air.

[Sodboy13]

Could be how your local affiliate broadcasts the feed, or how your television provider processes it. Here in Chicago, the channel gets stretched out to 16:9. They actually fixed it for a couple of weeks, but then they unfixed it.

[PYLdude]

My provider does the stretch too.

I’ve never seen a station shown in the form splinkynip described. Not that I don’t believe him but I’m just trying to imagine what that’d look like.

[splinkynip]

It's even odder than I thought before. Whether watching live or on DVR, previously the black bars were only on the sides (would that be 4:3?). Now, watching live, the image fills up the whole screen (16:9 I assume) but watching the same show back on DVR it is a smaller image with bars on all 4 sides.

[MSTieScott]

I think it's an affiliate thing. Several months ago, Buzzr started showing up on my screen too narrow -- like the affiliate had the properly proportioned feed centered in a 16:9 frame with black bars on the sides, but then squeezed that 16:9 image to fit in a 4:3 frame. That persisted for about a week, but no one else mentioned it, so I assume it was local to me.

Recently (in the past few months or so), I've noticed more artifacts when the video has a lot of elements changing at once, like the bandwidth has gotten lower. Supermarket Sweep has always had its rough patches on that front, but now it's sometimes happening even on relatively static shows like Classic Concentration. I compared my antenna feed to the feed directly on Buzzr's website -- the artifacting isn't happening on buzzrtv.com, so it must be my affiliate.

[Allstar87]

I think it's an affiliate thing. Several months ago, Buzzr started showing up on my screen too narrow -- like the affiliate had the properly proportioned feed centered in a 16:9 frame with black bars on the sides, but then squeezed that 16:9 image to fit in a 4:3 frame. That persisted for about a week, but no one else mentioned it, so I assume it was local to me.

That's exactly how my affiliate's displayed the picture since July of last year. Definitely annoying.

[PYLdude]

The one thing that always seems to happen on my TV feed is that the audio is out of sync. If you listen to it sometimes, it seems like one side is a second or two ahead so you can hear what's about to happen before it does.

[Bryce L.]

Strange... for me, the only time I ever hear "early" audio is on 1960s Password, and I'd assume that's more a case of print-through on the master tapes than an actual BUZZR fault.

[Sodboy13]

Okay, here's one for the "is it the network or is it the affiliate" crowd. Turned on Buzzr this morning and both the video and audio are skipping/stalling on frames multiple times per second. It's like watching RealPlayer on dialup.

[SuperMatch93]

Strange... for me, the only time I ever hear "early" audio is on 1960s Password, and I'd assume that's more a case of print-through on the master tapes than an actual BUZZR fault.

Do you ever hear it on Dawson Feud? That's driven me nuts for years (especially during Fast Money) and I always figured it was some kind of transfer issue with the masters.

[Bryce L.]

Strange... for me, the only time I ever hear "early" audio is on 1960s Password, and I'd assume that's more a case of print-through on the master tapes than an actual BUZZR fault.

Do you ever hear it on Dawson Feud? That's driven me nuts for years (especially during Fast Money) and I always figured it was some kind of transfer issue with the masters.

Haven't watched in ages (because of the timeslot, I generally only watch when "fresh" shows are on), so couldn't honestly answer... but I'll have to listen for it next time I do.

[SRIV94]

Strange... for me, the only time I ever hear "early" audio is on 1960s Password, and I'd assume that's more a case of print-through on the master tapes than an actual BUZZR fault.

Do you ever hear it on Dawson Feud? That's driven me nuts for years (especially during Fast Money) and I always figured it was some kind of transfer issue with the masters.

I hear it a lot on P+ (especially the 1979 eps), but that's going back to the GSN days, so I would assume you're right about the print-through on the master tapes.

I have heard it a few times on WHEW! too (notably when a block on a long shot is about to happen).

[chris319]

I watch Buzzr on KCOP channel 13.2 via Spectrum cable. Since I've retired from Rupert's evil empire I can't check the Buzzr downlink. Since some time in late 2021 the aspect ratio on Buzzr has been messed up. The logo in the lower right is supposed to be perfectly circular. It used to be perfect but since late last year it's been too narrow.

I have my TV set so that a show produced in 4:3 is displayed in 4:3 rather than being artificially stretched to 16:9. I want to see FF just as Paul Alter saw it. Buzzr is weird because so many shows are 4:3 but many commercials are produced in 16:9. I have a feeling somebody violated the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule and tried to "fix" something that wasn't broke and messed it up in the process. The challenge is to find out where in the chain the picture is being distorted; whether it's leaving the Buzzr plant that way or whether the problem is occurring on the receiving end.

If you are watching a TERRESTRIAL, OVER-THE-AIR BROADCAST feed of Buzzer, take note of the Buzzr logo in the lower right of the screen. If it looks perfectly circular to you then that casts suspicion on the KCOP.2 broadcast. If it looks narrow, it could be leaving Buzzr that way. In either case, please report here the logo's appearance along with the station's call letters, subchannel number and the station's city of license.

N.B. If you are watching a satellite or Internet feed of Buzzr, that is not a terrestrial over-the-air broadcast feed. If you are watching an OTA feed via cable, that counts as an OTA feed.

[chris319]

Here in Chicago, the channel gets stretched out to 16:9. They actually fixed it for a couple of weeks, but then they unfixed it.

My provider does the stretch too.

Are your TV receivers set up to artificially stretch 4:3 to 16:9? A 4:3 show from, say, the '70s should have black pillars on the left and right