I’ve noticed while editing my footage and confirmed in PMB, that all my down-loaded footage has a thin black edge on the left and right of shot*.

Has anyone else noticed this and is there a way of getting rid of it?

The SR11 is set to PAL and HD HQ 9Mbps (1440 x 1080)

*There is a thin black line down the left and right hand side of the shot as if either the format is 16.05:9 with the image centred or the image is 15.95:9 centred in a 16:9 format

set to the highest quality mode (1920x1080). Those lines are no doubt because PMB is trying to display the added pixels, and you're recording in a lower mode.

I don't know that those narrrow "pillarbox" lines are actually there, have you tried changing your pixel ratio in the editor? You could always do a crop if they are recorded. I've always used the highest resolution when recording, FWIW.

Thanks Dave, I've worked out part of my problem
HD HQ 9Mbps (1440 x 1080) is what it says 1440 x 1080
PAL Standard Definition Widescreen 16:9 is 720x576

720 x 2 equals 1440 but 576 x 2 is not equal to 1080*

I'm editing using Vegas so if I find a solution I'll post the solution in the Vegas forum. Basically the Sony SR11 is doing exactly what its supposed to be doing.
Also PMB is showing the raw footage without the black lines, my mistake.

for more detail see http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/what-happens-vegas/146516-tried-convert-avchd-hdv-sd-dvd-vegas.html