Greencapt, when I used to subscribe to HBO-HD (about four years ago), almost none of their HD was OAR. So much so that I nicknamed it (in my Usenet posts on the topic) "IBC" -- you know, how the letters "HBO" would look with the left and right sides cut off.

I don't think anything has changed. Recent caps I've seen from HBO are still not typically OAR.

You do know that "OAR" stands for "Original Aspect Ratio," and that because many films -- including our favourite six (or three, depending) -- are wider than 16:9, that means there should be black bars top and bottom on an OAR broadcast, right? If there are no black bars on IBC's Ep II, then it's not OAR.

Cropping to 16:9 isn't quite as heinous as cropping to 4:3, but it still ain't right!!