How To Fix A Stretched Picture On Your New TV

Why does the picture on my TV look "stretched" and how can I fix it?

You picture on you high definition TV my look all stretched out because you view standard definition content. It was filmed in a different resolution or a different aspect ratio 4-3. What's happening is your TV is stretching the picture to fill the whole screen. You really have two choices: One is to select that you want to watch it in its original aspect, which would give you the proper ratio so things wouldn't stretch, but you'd see bars on the side or the top or the bottom of the TV. Other than that you can select another one of the aspect ratio formats that are typically available on flat screen TVs like full, which tries to maintain the ratio as best as it can. You will lose some detail around the sides because what it's doing is blowing up the picture slightly to fill the whole screen.