Insignia Roku beginner: Can't Set My Sony Blu-ray Player to 4:3 Aspect Ratio For Older DVDs

[scottybear27]

Hi. I'm hoping this is a stupid-easy fix.
Just got a new 1080 Insignia Roku TV with remote. All streaming and broadcast content displays/adjusts automatically for the appropriate aspect ratio.
But when playing standard DVDs on my Sony Blu-ray player, the screen image stays wide no matter which "Picture Settings" option I select. I get multiple variations of a widescreen image, but never the old-school 4:3 image the original content often requires.
[The "Advanced Picture Settings" don't include aspect-ratio adjustments, at least not that I saw.]
I did not have this issue with my last TV (Samsung): the remote had a "picture size" button that specifically included a "4:3" option. The Insignia remote doesn't.
The Blu-ray player has a few picture-size set-up options; none work.
I'm hoping this is dope-slap simple. Any Insignia-Roku-literate folks out there?

 

[SkyBill40]

You should be able to force the output to 4:3 in the options on your Sony BD player. What model is it specifically? What about the TV?

 

[scottybear27]

The TV is a brand-new Insignia-Roku 39". Its included remote is compact, with very few buttons, with which you click through options in an onscreen window. The Blu-ray player is Sony Model BDP-S185/BX18. It includes a "screen format" option called "Fixed Aspect Ratio: Changes the picture size to fit the screen size with the original picture aspect ratio." It also has "DVD Aspect Ratio" options of letterbox or pan-and-scan. None of these options, in any combination, influenced the screen image. I'm pretty sure the trick lies in the TV controls--remember, with my last TV, the only thing I ever had to do with the player was turn it on and off. I'm still holding out hope for an obvious solution from someone who's had the same issue getting started with this TV. But I do thank you for your time and thoughts.

 

[SkyBill40]

I'll do some digging into the manuals for each and see what can be found. How do you have it connected? HDMI or something else?

I looked at what I believe is your manual on your TV and suggest you go to: Options > picture mode or picture size. It should be adjusted from there and only on the input being viewed. It's on page 48 of the manual. Try that.

 

[scottybear27]

I'll do some digging into the manuals for each and see what can be found. How do you have it connected? HDMI or something else?

 

[scottybear27]

HDMI, designated the "Blu-ray Player" port on the onscreen menu. Thanks for your interest; I'd hate for you to make a project out of this, but if a solution jumps out at you, that would be great.

 

[SkyBill40]

Apparently you responded before I could edit my post. I put in something to try. Give it a go and see if it helps. You can also download the manual online. I'm on my phone and it wouldn't let me grab the link for it.

 

[scottybear27]

Thanks, I'll try it.

 

[SkyBill40]

Got on my rig.

Here's the manual I used for reference:

https/files.bbystatic.com/ggtHBMC0lZ4RXLqQBiMA2g%3D%3D-NS-39DR510NA17_16-0747_WEB_V2_EN_Final%2Blr.pdf

 

[scottybear27]

Well, you're turning out to be a true friend! I did manage to find this, will try it when I get home. Thanks again.

 

[SkyBill40]

Just trying to help a brotha out.

 

[scottybear27]

Turns out the Blu-ray player settings were, in fact, the key to this problem. For all DVD images to appear as they should, I needed to set the "TV Type" setting to "16x9," the "Screen Format" to "Original," and the "DVD Aspect Ratio" to "Pan & Scan." That last option was what tripped me up -- I thought "pan-and-scan" was an obsolete dinosaur and was positive it would be wrong. Uh -- wrong!

Problem solved -- thanks again for your input and shared research.

 

[SkyBill40]

Glad you got it sorted. Enjoy your viewing.