Insignia NS-27HTV Ratio Problem

olds cool

I hope someone can help shed some light for me. I have an Insignia 27" CRT NS-27HTV that is hooked up via component cables to a Scientific Atlantic Explorer 8300 HDC HDTV cable box. I subscribe to Grande Communications cable company.

When it was initially set-up by the cable guy, the regular cable channels were set to 480i and HD channels to 1080i settings. I have to change the tv settings to 16:9 in order to view the HD channels correctly.

About four days ago, the HD channels started to look bad. The ratio seems to be off now. Some of the HD channels looked stretched when the tv show is on, but okay when the commercials come on. Some channels look fine during the shows, but the commercials look stretched. Some of the channels look squeezed inwards. Some of the channels look like Vizio's panoramic view settting, but I don't have that setting on my tv.

My cable provider, Grande Communications, suggested I reset the cable box to 480p standard. This seemed to help a little, but the picture didn't seem like I was getting the full HD clarity. Anyone have any suggestions besides, "Buy a better tv"?