I don't know of any such box. Some satellite receivers will merge 4:3 programming into a black frame, but I don't know of any cable boxes or other processors that do that.
I used to have a real objection to the gray bars like you and I made a black mask to place over the TV screen. Since then I've changed TVs and the mask went with the one I made it for and I've given up on the idea. What I do is use my SD CRT TV in my bedroom to watch SD satellite channels and the HD TVs for the HD programming and SD on my local channels which are all merged into either a black or colored frame by the stations. Rarely I will watch a SD cable show on the HDTVs because they are just too ugly looking.
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