What tool can auto-adjust the TV zoom in Windows Media Center?

Question

I'm running Media Center on a Vista computer, and some programs are in 4:3 format while others are 16:9 -- even on the same channel. It annoys me that I have to manually switch format all the time, using the "zoom" function in MCE, while any modern TV can recognize black bars and adjust the image accordingly.

This should be so simple, yet MCE can't do it!
Is there a tool or an add-on that can automatically select the proper zoom?

Update:
My display is 16:9. Currently on 16:9 unzoomed, there's a black frame on all sides -- WTF?
--> What I want to achieve is:

• 4:3 images should not be zoomed by default (black bars left and right remain)
  but may be zoomed whenever I want.
• 16:9 images are zoomed to fit my 16:9 display.

Details:
There's no monitor and no TV attached. Instead, there's an Acer H5350 DLP projector connected directly to the installed Nvidia card's HDMI output at a resolution of 1280x720 at 60 Hz. The graphics card is using updated Vista drivers. There's no driver used for the projector itself; it simply accepts the HDMI signal.

Update 2010 and "solution":
I've now installed Windows 7 on the exact same machine, and I've discovered the problem: with Win7 I can also receive digital TV, and MCE correctly zooms when the show on a digital channel is 16:9! So the root cause is that the computer always receives a 4:3 signal when tuned to an analog channel -- even when the current show appears to be 16:9 then it is in fact still a 4:3 image with black bars over and under the show.
Summary: MCE can detect 16:9 on digital channels only, and will zoom these correctly. MCE cannot detect 16:9 on analog channels. I still need a solution for that.

Solution

If you have a 16.9 display - any 16:9 content should fill your screen, and any 4:3 content should have black bars on by default. If you press the i button on your MCE remote (I think a right mouse click will also do the same), it will bring up an option to adjust the aspect ratio. You just need to select the one that says 'default aspect ratio' - I believe it's option 1 but I can't remember off the top of my head.

You should also make sure that MCE is setup correctly to display in 16:9 - you can do this by running the setup wizard again by going into tasks and settings. You can select various options to do with your tv, such as tv type, and aspect ratio.

Comments

[Murray Furtado]

Added details above, should be clearer now.

[Murray Furtado]

This is exacly how I use my Media Center, and I did perform the wizard. So I would expect 16:9 to fill the display, even in the cases where a channel is broadcasting an 4:3 signal (bars on the sides) that shows a 16:9 image (bars on top&bottom) = bars all around should be intelligently removed... As it is, I have to use that "i" menu to change the zoom setting from default ("1") to wide ("2") all the time. I never use the settings "3" and "4", not sure what they're good for.

[falter]

I use 3 quite a lot. They are good for different image sizes such as 16:10 and others

[Murray Furtado]

Kiran, thanks for your details; it's good to see that it can work as I want. I added details about monitor etc. in the question above.

[Murray Furtado]

Note: I edited the question to include "Update 2010 and solution", which describes the current state of the matter.

[Murray Furtado]

It turns out that this is correct. My problem was that all content is sent as analog 4:3 even when the movie was 16:9 within that 4:3 format. MCE can't intelligently zoom, but it always uses the format of the broadcast. I'm now able to receive digital content which is broadcast in 16:9 and MCE correctly shows that full-screen on my 16:9 display! So the zoom feature is only needed when watching 16:9 movies within the analog 4:3 format.