Forcing Resolutions

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Forcing Resolutions

eXDee

4033 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1070

Trusted

#26955 8-Oct-2008 15:35

Posted this on the MP forum, but i think i'll get a better response here. Apparently 50hz is the best to use for NZ, though i do have some NTSC based media also, so i assume it runs at a slightly different framerate.

Just got a new DVI-HDMI Cable. 8500GT > Connected to a Sony Bravia KLV-40D300A TV. Nvidia control panel tells me the native resolution is 1360x768, but i know it's a 1366x768 panel.

So i try and force it. As soon as i step over 1360x768 it auto ticks the interlace box. So i try 1366x768 @ 60hz, interlace has auto ticked (can't untick), and i get a disgusting interlaced picture which is scaled wrong. If i click advanced and manually set timings, i can untick deinterlace, but the TV says unsupported signal to each of the timing presets.

If i try 1360x768 @ 50hz instead of 60, i get unsupported signal. Same with 25hz. On the back of the panel it says 50/60hz, it has a PAL analogue tuner inside.

No idea what to do. Should i leave it at 1360x768 @ 60hz? Someone mentioned that it looked a lot smoother on their setup running at their panels native 1366 resolution.

Oh and 1280x720@50/60 is all blurry and scaled wrong, the cursor goes off the screen. Though im told using the native resolution is best since then the panel doesn't have to upscale.

Cheers.

manhinli

2483 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4

Trusted

#169890 8-Oct-2008 15:46

Sony Bravias (at least my one as well) seem to only accept 1360 from a PC, but has 1366 support from other devices.

I've experienced the same thing here, so I've accepted that.

Find me on Twitter!

I posted 1, 2 x 10^3 times!

Little

83 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 6

#169892 8-Oct-2008 15:51

I use 720p50 so that I get smooth tv playback. I get stuttering when using 1360x768 @ 60Hz, although the colours and res are perfect. You can use the "resize my desktop" function in the driver to calibrate to your tv. You should be able to get 1280x720 to fit the tv nicely.

HTPC - CASE: Silverstone LC17 Black MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L VIDEO: Asus 430GT SOUND: Onboard Realtek SPDIF out CPU: Intel C2D 8400 RAM: G.Skill 4GB DDR800 HDD: WD 500GB TUNER: HVR-2200 + HVR-3000 O/S: Ubuntu 10.10, XBMC+PVR, TvHeadend

eXDee

4033 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1070

Trusted

#169898 8-Oct-2008 16:05

Well oddly im noticing stuttering slightly on the TV now over this HDMI connection, didnt get it with VGA. Could be hardware acceleration has screwed up again, but the only thing changed is the connection so im going to assume its due to different framerates.

So what should i do? Try and get 1280x720 @ 50hz to fit? When i set it, it has what looks like 30% of the picture off screen. Where bouts is this resize my desktop in the nvidia control panel?

1gkar

722 posts

Ultimate Geek

#169932 8-Oct-2008 17:20

exdee,

Have you tried setting the HTPC resolution on various HDMI ports? Some TVs don't work native resolution on certain ports. My Samsung will only allow 1:1 pixel mapping on one HDMI & I have three on my LCDTV. You may to do a reboot & turn TV on & off for this to take effect.

Also, I run my resolution @ 60hz as this is the recommended hertz rating. What does you Sony manual say. Don't know if LCDTVs are different, but I wrecked my Sony 29" CRTTV's tube from running an incorrect resolution/hertz over an extended period of time.

Silverstone LC14 HTPC Case/Intel E4600 CPU/GA-EP35-DS3 MOBO/Asus EN9500GT graphics/2GB RAM/total 2TB HDD space/HVR-2200 & 2X 150MCE tuner cards/LG GGC-H20L BD Drive/MCE2005/Mediaportal/TVServer 1.1.0Final/LG 55"3D LED-TV/Denon AVR-1803 receiver/X1 projector

buzzy

217 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#170353 10-Oct-2008 09:21

Have you tried using PowerStrip to set a custom resolution?

eXDee

4033 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1070

Trusted

#173479 24-Oct-2008 23:49

It was suggested that i use 1280x720p @ 50hz, however even when i resize the desktop to fit, everything is blurry and the colour is all off, everything is too bright. Same result with 60hz. Its pretty much unusable.
The manual says it supports 50/60hz for 1080p/i and 720p. PC Input (D-Sub) is suggested to use the native 1360x768@60hz. The TV is detecting a PC over HDMI and auto enabling the PC menu in the settings, so i dont know if this means anything for the signal.

Will there be problems with content at 60hz, since its not a multiple of 25? Why cant i get 720p working?

Dell

Shop now for Dell laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

Nety

2584 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#173495 25-Oct-2008 08:05

I have the Sony KF-E42A10 and after a lot of stuffing around found the simple answer is the best.

Look under the TV tab in the NVidia control pannel and set the TV to 720p. Done!

This gave me 1:1 pixel mapping. However be aware that as soon as you do anything with sizing the desktop the desktop will look like crap.
However I am using Media Centre and I find that media centre is not affected by resizing the windows deskop ie the picture stays 1:1.

I don't think you should get to hung up on the refresh rate. Different material on the PC is encoded at different rates anyway.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9996

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#173497 25-Oct-2008 08:35

Does the TV support any higher refresh rates?

I actually run my Pioneer PDP506 Plasma @ 72Hz via VGA. By getting closer to 75Hz (a multiple of 25) than 60Hz I don't get the same judder with 50Hz content but the TV won't accept any higher than 72Hz.

eXDee

4033 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1070

Trusted

#173528 25-Oct-2008 11:20

Nety: I have the Sony KF-E42A10 and after a lot of stuffing around found the simple answer is the best.

Look under the TV tab in the NVidia control pannel and set the TV to 720p. Done!

This gave me 1:1 pixel mapping. However be aware that as soon as you do anything with sizing the desktop the desktop will look like crap.
However I am using Media Centre and I find that media centre is not affected by resizing the windows deskop ie the picture stays 1:1.

I don't think you should get to hung up on the refresh rate. Different material on the PC is encoded at different rates anyway.

Tried doing that in nvidia control panel. Still get the large overscan - ie half the picture's off the screen.
my TV is 1366x768 - so i can't get 1:1 @ 720p, because that doesn't make sense, since the TV has to upscale.

I was concerned about this because theres an entire MP plugin dedicated to changing the refresh rate depending on the content being played. I figured that 50hz was about right because most content is 25fps or near.
Would this be correct, providing the video im going to be playing is Freeview HD, PAL and NTSC dvdrips encoded as xvid and h264, and direct dvd dumps of music dvd's which im pretty sure are all PAL.

@Sbiddle - the TV only seems to take 50/60hz inputs, which is what is specified on the back and in the manual.

djaggar

78 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

Lifetime subscriber

#173532 25-Oct-2008 12:18

eXDee:
@Sbiddle - the TV only seems to take 50/60hz inputs, which is what is specified on the back and in the manual.

Are you sure that isn't just the cycle rate of the AC? e.g. 120/240v 50/60 Hz? Does the manual specify what the maximum and minumum horizontal and vertical refresh rates are? Will it do 50Hz, 75Hz or even 100Hz?

If you want to start with your manual settings that overscan, you may be able to tweak them to get a picture which fits and syncs. Try searching the MythTV modeline database (a modeline is how Linux decribes how to generate a signal for each refresh rate and resolution) for a 1366 x 768 50Hz.

When you understand what a mode line does, you are likely to have to adjust both the horizontal and vertical values for the front porch, rear porch and sync widths to get a hotizontal and vertical refresh rate that your screen can properly sync to. The Nvidia drivers can do this (there is a manual entry for all these values under custom resolutions, backend parameters from memory). Last time I tried to use Powerstrip to do this (about a month ago) on a NVidia card I got all sorts of bizzare interacts between the nvidia driver and PowerStrip, so I'd be a little wary of PS.

It would be really nice if there was a way to only use 1280 x 720 pixels with an unused black border around the outside on these displays so you can do 1:1 pixel mapping on the important bit in the middle ...

It's well worth doing buy the way, anything filimed 50Hz and displayed at 60Hz will get a judder every couple of seconds. On a big screen it is jolly annoying. If you want a test case, the Pink Flouyd Live in Pompeii DVD and play Echoes where the camera is on rails behind the equipment. The jumping of the speakers is very noticiable if you get it wrong. It's also a peice of music that is hard to grow tied of as you replay it 500 times, IMHO :-)

WaffleMakerMan

138 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#173533 25-Oct-2008 12:59

1gkar: exdee,

Have you tried setting the HTPC resolution on various HDMI ports? Some TVs don't work native resolution on certain ports. My Samsung will only allow 1:1 pixel mapping on one HDMI & I have three on my LCDTV. You may to do a reboot & turn TV on & off for this to take effect.

Also, I run my resolution @ 60hz as this is the recommended hertz rating. What does you Sony manual say. Don't know if LCDTVs are different, but I wrecked my Sony 29" CRTTV's tube from running an incorrect resolution/hertz over an extended period of time.

Lego

Shop now for Lego sets and other gifts (affiliate link).

WaffleMakerMan

138 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#173534 25-Oct-2008 12:59

1gkar: exdee,

Have you tried setting the HTPC resolution on various HDMI ports? Some TVs don't work native resolution on certain ports. My Samsung will only allow 1:1 pixel mapping on one HDMI & I have three on my LCDTV. You may to do a reboot & turn TV on & off for this to take effect.

Also, I run my resolution @ 60hz as this is the recommended hertz rating. What does you Sony manual say. Don't know if LCDTVs are different, but I wrecked my Sony 29" CRTTV's tube from running an incorrect resolution/hertz over an extended period of time.

WaffleMakerMan

138 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#173535 25-Oct-2008 13:04

1gkar: exdee,

Have you tried setting the HTPC resolution on various HDMI ports? Some TVs don't work native resolution on certain ports. My Samsung will only allow 1:1 pixel mapping on one HDMI & I have three on my LCDTV. You may to do a reboot & turn TV on & off for this to take effect.

Also, I run my resolution @ 60hz as this is the recommended hertz rating. What does you Sony manual say. Don't know if LCDTVs are different, but I wrecked my Sony 29" CRTTV's tube from running an incorrect resolution/hertz over an extended period of time.

What HDMI port are you using out of intrest, I have 1366 x 768 @ 50hz on HDMI 1 (I have a LA32R81BX). never tried any of the others, although the tv reports that the resolution is 1920 x 1080 even though its not, Is this the same for you?

Is it bad to run a LCD @ 50hz? im not forcing it or anything...

Nety

2584 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#173590 25-Oct-2008 17:49

eXDee:Tried doing that in nvidia control panel. Still get the large overscan - ie half the picture's off the screen.
my TV is 1366x768 - so i can't get 1:1 @ 720p, because that doesn't make sense, since the TV has to upscale.

Are you sure it is not working? Yes I get overscan (a resonable chunck of the desktop is off the screen BUT when I put the picture that tests for overscan as the wallpaper on the desktop it is perfect. I am not sure how but it does work. I might have overscan but I seems to be allowing for that. Give it a crack and check the program below. Think you will be suprised.

Here is a web site with some very good tools for testing for pixel mapping and refresh rates.

http://tft.vanity.dk/

eXDee

4033 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1070

Trusted

#173691 26-Oct-2008 13:19

djaggar:
eXDee:
@Sbiddle - the TV only seems to take 50/60hz inputs, which is what is specified on the back and in the manual.

Are you sure that isn't just the cycle rate of the AC? e.g. 120/240v 50/60 Hz? Does the manual specify what the maximum and minumum horizontal and vertical refresh rates are? Will it do 50Hz, 75Hz or even 100Hz?

If you want to start with your manual settings that overscan, you may be able to tweak them to get a picture which fits and syncs. Try searching the MythTV modeline database (a modeline is how Linux decribes how to generate a signal for each refresh rate and resolution) for a 1366 x 768 50Hz.

Well the 50/60hz on the back of the TV is probably power, but in the manual it says things like 1280x720/60/50hz or something.
Will trial and error what it can take. I wish it was in that database, but i cant even find a similar one that is (model KLV-40D300A).
Can anyone with any other bravia shed light on what they are using?

WaffleMakerMan:What HDMI port are you using out of intrest, I have 1366 x 768 @ 50hz on HDMI 1 (I have a LA32R81BX). never tried any of the others, although the tv reports that the resolution is 1920 x 1080 even though its not, Is this the same for you?

HDMI3. Tried HDMI1, same result it seems.

Nety:Are you sure it is not working? Yes I get overscan (a resonable chunck of the desktop is off the screen BUT when I put the picture that tests for overscan as the wallpaper on the desktop it is perfect. I am not sure how but it does work. I might have overscan but I seems to be allowing for that. Give it a crack and check the program below. Think you will be suprised.

Here is a web site with some very good tools for testing for pixel mapping and refresh rates.

http://tft.vanity.dk/

Cheers, will give it a go, but i dont think its going to solve the blurryness and oversaturation of colour which i tried correcting but it still looks all wrong.