Question about HDTV

[Orrex]

We've had a flatscreen for a few months, and today I finally picked up the HD converter box from the good people @ Comcast. Two issues:

1. The box itself appears to have a glitch, such that it completely powers down when it's shut off for any period of time. By "completely," I mean that it needs to go through the entire 10-minute reboot sequence when you turn it back on. We've gone through this four times today, so I'll be returning the box tomorrow for a replacement.

2. The HD channels look pretty good, but now all of the standard channels are squished into a square as though we're using a conventional CRT television. The TV is set for widescreen format, but the channels still come through in this odd aspect ratio, and everything looks kind of attenuated. Is this normal, a sort of sly incentive to get you to watch only the HD channels? Or is it another glitch?


Any guesses?