E86

I was able to scan in about 25 different HD channels with my new Sony LCD TV. All the channels transmit either 720P/16:9, 1080i/16:9 or 480i/4:3, with one exception: channel 9.1 which transmits in 480i/16:9. Is this technically wrong? It has a couple of odd effects:

First it forces gray bands on the left and right. And when it is showing letterboxed content then I have black bands top and bottom, bounded by gray bands on the left and right. Stranger still, my set will not allow me to zoom properly on this signal. On every other channel the zoom expands everything equally vertically and horizontally, so you can fill the screen with a letterboxed picture. But, on 9.1 only, the zoom will only zoom vertically, stretching the picture up and down and leaving the gray bands. Can any one explain this? If there is anyone else out there in Seattle, can you zoom on letterboxed content on 9.1?

Thanks,

Mike