PC to HDTV issues ...

little dutch · 12-09-2009, 01:55 PM

Hey all.
System specs are as follows:
ASUS|M4A785TD-M EVO 785G RT (On board ATI HD 4200)
Phenom 2
1080p Panasonic Viera (40 something inch)
HDMI cable
Windows 7 (64)
This setup is used for internet videos, blue ray and standard dvd viewing.

I got the sound and overscan issues solved with minimal trouble. Finding the overscan options in catalyst were a hassle as they had them hidden pretty well. My only remaining complaint is the picture quality. It does not appear to be pushing 1080p to the television. Grainy picture in other words. I have the resolution pushed up to the max xxx/1080 (running from memory on that).

Does anyone know which settings in Catalyst I can tweak to make the picture look better? I also saw that it looks like I might be able to force the catalyst to send in 1080p, but not real sure how to go about that.

The irony is that Ubuntu had an unbelievable picture quality without changing any settings, but netflix does not support linux. So I installed windows 7 and have had nothing but trouble. I know the video can be amazing, now I just need to figure out how to make it happen in windows 7.

Thanks for any help, if you need more info let me know.

lsilvest · 12-10-2009, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by little dutch

Hey all.
System specs are as follows:
ASUS|M4A785TD-M EVO 785G RT (On board ATI HD 4200)
Phenom 2
1080p Panasonic Viera (40 something inch)
HDMI cable
Windows 7 (64)
This setup is used for internet videos, blue ray and standard dvd viewing.

I got the sound and overscan issues solved with minimal trouble. Finding the overscan options in catalyst were a hassle as they had them hidden pretty well. My only remaining complaint is the picture quality. It does not appear to be pushing 1080p to the television. Grainy picture in other words. I have the resolution pushed up to the max xxx/1080 (running from memory on that).

Does anyone know which settings in Catalyst I can tweak to make the picture look better? I also saw that it looks like I might be able to force the catalyst to send in 1080p, but not real sure how to go about that.

The irony is that Ubuntu had an unbelievable picture quality without changing any settings, but netflix does not support linux. So I installed windows 7 and have had nothing but trouble. I know the video can be amazing, now I just need to figure out how to make it happen in windows 7.

Thanks for any help, if you need more info let me know.

Does your TV accept VGA or DVI input? If so, try that and see if you still have a problem.

I've had a similar problem with ATI cards and HDMI and changing the driver (either a newer or even older catalyst version) may cure it. I always use the drivers on the install disc first on the assumption they have been tested (not always a good assumption).

Are you using dual output (to a monitor and to the TV)? If so, catalyst has a theater mode (not with single output, though).

There are a lot of adjustments you can make in catalyst, but I usually have the best luck just with settings dictated by whatever prgram you are using - you might want to check that.

I tested Windows 7 with output to a 32" LCD, but I had a dedicated video card. I used VGA instead of HDMI because of Win7s pathetic sound output options. The mobo was an ASUS like yours only the micro version. I'm in the process of reinstalling XP on this system and running HDMI, so if I get it done shortly I'll let you know how the HDMI works from the onboard 4200 (very good during setup with DVI to a 22" LCD monitor with 1920x1080 resolution.

Hope any of this helps, but it could be Win7 and the ASUS drivers - I've seen a lot of posts on the Win7 forums about HDMI problems, especially with sound, although more seemed to be with Intel than AMD.

**rbinck** · 12-10-2009, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lsilvest

Rbnick,
It's not an HDMI connection!. It's a standard DIV connection that ATI used with a DIV-HDMI adapter before HDMI connections were common on video cards. In fact, his 3rd party adapter would work with my card. The key is the ATI HDMI audio drivers.

Side note: This is the 2nd time you have jumped in to diss one of my posts with erroneous remarks. I pointed this out because you made another blanket statement that was misleading. I don't post information of which I don't have hands-on knowledge or proof. I suggest you do the same. The purpose of the forum is to help those seeking it, not pouting if someone corrects you - we all make mistakes and need to learn from them.

If it is a standard DVI connection as you state, then there is no audio in the connection. If ATI has included audio in the DVI connection then it is non-standard. I am aware of some DVI to HDMI adapters that have a connection for the spdif audio separately and perhaps that is what you have, but you can be as hard-headed as you wish, but the standard DVI connector does not have audio.

The pin-out for a standard DVI connector is located here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface

Now it would be helpful for you to provide a link to the DVI to HDMI adapter as it could be used elsewhere.

And finally, other than this paragraph I have choosen to ignore your side note as a temporary lapse of judgement on your part.

little dutch · 12-10-2009, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lsilvest

Does your TV accept VGA or DVI input? If so, try that and see if you still have a problem.

I've had a similar problem with ATI cards and HDMI and changing the driver (either a newer or even older catalyst version) may cure it. I always use the drivers on the install disc first on the assumption they have been tested (not always a good assumption).

Are you using dual output (to a monitor and to the TV)? If so, catalyst has a theater mode (not with single output, though).

No, I just have the 1 HDMI going to the TV.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lsilvest

There are a lot of adjustments you can make in catalyst, but I usually have the best luck just with settings dictated by whatever prgram you are using - you might want to check that.

I am not exactly sure what you mean there, I am guessing software for DVD playback. I have not actually tried a DVD yet, and haven't bothered to install powerdvd or anything yet. Hulu and netflix are running through Firefox. Hulu uses Adobe 10 (I think) and I have no idea what netflix uses.

Do you think that running it through the Media Center with the NetFlix plugin might make a difference? I can't imagine how it would.

I did find last night that catalyst does recognize my TV as 1080p, so it is probably pushing that and I won't have to force anything. The only thing I changed in Catalyst is changing the overscan to 0 so it would fill the screen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lsilvest

I tested Windows 7 with output to a 32" LCD, but I had a dedicated video card. I used VGA instead of HDMI because of Win7s pathetic sound output options. The mobo was an ASUS like yours only the micro version. I'm in the process of reinstalling XP on this system and running HDMI, so if I get it done shortly I'll let you know how the HDMI works from the onboard 4200 (very good during setup with DVI to a 22" LCD monitor with 1920x1080 resolution.

Hope any of this helps, but it could be Win7 and the ASUS drivers - I've seen a lot of posts on the Win7 forums about HDMI problems, especially with sound, although more seemed to be with Intel than AMD.

I will hit the win7 forums and do some reading. I really think this might be a win7/ati driver issue like you stated. As stated earlier, the display was amazing on Linux, so the poor quality has to be software related (Win7 drivers).

EDIT: I should also note what I mean by "poor quality." If I had not first launched this machine on Ubuntu I would probably not have noticed the quality issue. If in doubt, boot your Win 7 HTPC from an Ubuntu disk (you can boot from the disk without doing an install and it won't mes up any of your windows stuff...) and I suspect you will notice the quality difference as well. For me it is very noticeable.

lsilvest · 12-11-2009, 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by little dutch

I am not exactly sure what you mean there, I am guessing software for DVD playback.

I will hit the win7 forums and do some reading. I really think this might be a win7/ati driver issue like you stated. As stated earlier, the display was amazing on Linux, so the poor quality has to be software related (Win7 drivers)..

What I meant was the option in catalyst to let software dictate the settings and not catalyst - this is the default, so if you didn't change it, the media you use to play videos will override catalyst settings. This is any type of media software, not just for DVD.

You might want to check out this Win7 forum (it's the best I found when running the beta).

idonutknow · 12-11-2009, 08:49 PM

K guys, got my audio working. Thanks

New problem: The max resolution on my TV is 1920 x 1080 however when I set my computer to display that resolution, it's too big for the tv. 1842x1034 is the biggest resolution I can run. What am I doing wrong here? Better yet, what do I need to do in order to run 1920x1080? Also, the max refresh rate is 60hz? Sorry if this is a stupid question. Thanks in advance

idonutknow · 12-13-2009, 05:50 PM

Interestingly enough, my tv magically displays 1920x1080 now. When I play DVD's though, and the Camera is panning, I get this nice line that splits the screen but on my monitor I don't. I'm guessing my video card is having a hard time displaying at 1920x1080. Time for a new video card? Can anyone confirm?

Horrible photo but notice the line.

idonutknow · 12-15-2009, 08:07 AM

Any help guys? Please?

eyesinsane · 12-25-2009, 04:55 PM

i have a HP g60-120us vista home prem. and a philips 47pfl3603d/f7 conneted hdmi. i have great video beautiful, audio is crazy when i set my nvidia output to default no sound ive tested everything all the little test buttons in the setting i even tested conexant hd audio 221 which is funny cuz my left speaker test tones on the laptop then the right tone come out through the tv (what in the world???) and when i play audio with the conexant it just comes out the laptop.
i can connect the the headphone jack but i want to keep the amount of cables down and use the hdmi cable.

dhman06 · 01-05-2010, 01:13 AM

Dear hdf members,
This is my first time here, so, hi to everyone. I am from MA. Anyways, I really have an issue here. I recently bought a Element ELCHW321 hdtv which is pretty good for me. Problem is, I have two older pcs. One is Emachine T3504 -3.2 processor, 1gb RAM, and ATI Radeon™ Xpress 200 graphic card and the other is Compaq SR1922X with GeForce 6150 LE graphics card. None of those computers have any dvi port. So I am stuck with vga. So, I bought vga to component adapters from ebay and hooked up my PC to the HDTV. I connect the adapter to the vga output found on the G-force LE card, and then, connect the three component cables (Red, blue and green), to the TV input. After hooking everything up, and turning on the TV, I saw all my dreams falling apart, you see, I have been dreaming with it for days. But, I have absolutely nothing! The TV sayd no signal. I tried changing the cables, but that didn't work.

Now, the definite question ; What should I do? Do I have to download any new driver, do I have to buy something else? Or, isn't there any compatibility between the PCs & HDTVs? Should I use a vga to hdmi cable like this that can be bought on ebay?

Should I get a vga to hdmi adapter and then use hdmi cable to connect the pc to tv?

Should I use vga to composite cable?

Someone Please help me. I have a HDTV, and can't watch it, due to this problem. I bought a pc internet software that isn't being used either. How can I make the image get through? Crisp and clear (well, at least visible)?

My kindest regards to anyone who can save me,

dhman06

guile42 · 01-05-2010, 05:09 AM

great, i think adjustments can be done in your tv on hdmi menu. but I like the first suggestion, it works.

goodluck,
Cesar Anthony Villas

lsilvest · 01-05-2010, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhman06

Dear hdf members,
This is my first time here, so, hi to everyone. I am from MA. Anyways, I really have an issue here. I recently bought a Element ELCHW321 hdtv which is pretty good for me. Problem is, I have two older pcs. One is Emachine T3504 -3.2 processor, 1gb RAM, and ATI Radeon™ Xpress 200 graphic card and the other is Compaq SR1922X with GeForce 6150 LE graphics card. None of those computers have any dvi port. So I am stuck with vga. So, I bought vga to component adapters from ebay and hooked up my PC to the HDTV. I connect the adapter to the vga output found on the G-force LE card, and then, connect the three component cables (Red, blue and green), to the TV input. After hooking everything up, and turning on the TV, I saw all my dreams falling apart, you see, I have been dreaming with it for days. But, I have absolutely nothing! The TV sayd no signal. I tried changing the cables, but that didn't work.

Now, the definite question ; What should I do? Do I have to download any new driver, do I have to buy something else? Or, isn't there any compatibility between the PCs & HDTVs? Should I use a vga to hdmi cable like this that can be bought on ebay?

Should I get a vga to hdmi adapter and then use hdmi cable to connect the pc to tv?

Should I use vga to composite cable?

Someone Please help me. I have a HDTV, and can't watch it, due to this problem. I bought a pc internet software that isn't being used either. How can I make the image get through? Crisp and clear (well, at least visible)?

My kindest regards to anyone who can save me,

dhman06

What is the native resolution on your TV? Make sure the resolution you are using is one the TV will accept. From the model number I would guess it's a 32". If so, 720p will look fine on it. Does it have a VGA input on it? If so, try the VGA connection. Even if your TV only supports 720p by VGA (or 1366x768), you should get an excellent picture. I use VGA on my 32" LCD and it's great.

I believe both your systems are onboard video, and the ATI 200 should be a lot better than the 6150, but either may be hard pressed for HD output. Try the ATI and see if it works any better. Might not hurt to try updating the ATI drivers if the present ones don't work.

dhman06 · 01-05-2010, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lsilvest

What is the native resolution on your TV? Make sure the resolution you are using is one the TV will accept. From the model number I would guess it's a 32". If so, 720p will look fine on it. Does it have a VGA input on it? If so, try the VGA connection. Even if your TV only supports 720p by VGA (or 1366x768), you should get an excellent picture. I use VGA on my 32" LCD and it's great.

I believe both your systems are onboard video, and the ATI 200 should be a lot better than the 6150, but either may be hard pressed for HD output. Try the ATI and see if it works any better. Might not hurt to try updating the ATI drivers if the present ones don't work.

The native resolution on my tv is 1360*768 at 60hz. It doesn't have vga port. It has dvi. So I tried connect via vga to dvi adapter, but that didn't work. I connected my laptop via hdmi-that worked. So should I try connecting the desktops using vga to hdmi adapter/ vga to hdmi cable from ebay? Do you think it will work? Which one do you guys think I should go for- vga to hdmi adapter/ vga to hdmi cable from ebay?

Thanks for the reply by the way.

**rbinck** · 01-05-2010, 03:34 PM

VGA is analog and the DVI input is probably only digital. Thus the VGA to DVI cable or whatever won't work.

dhman06 · 01-06-2010, 09:38 PM

How about an adapter? Will that do the job?

12-09-2009, 01:55 PM	#181
little dutch My plasma is High Def. Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 7	Picture Quality on 1080p television with HD 4200 and HDMI Hey all. System specs are as follows: ASUS\|M4A785TD-M EVO 785G RT (On board ATI HD 4200) Phenom 2 1080p Panasonic Viera (40 something inch) HDMI cable Windows 7 (64) This setup is used for internet videos, blue ray and standard dvd viewing. I got the sound and overscan issues solved with minimal trouble. Finding the overscan options in catalyst were a hassle as they had them hidden pretty well. My only remaining complaint is the picture quality. It does not appear to be pushing 1080p to the television. Grainy picture in other words. I have the resolution pushed up to the max xxx/1080 (running from memory on that). Does anyone know which settings in Catalyst I can tweak to make the picture look better? I also saw that it looks like I might be able to force the catalyst to send in 1080p, but not real sure how to go about that. The irony is that Ubuntu had an unbelievable picture quality without changing any settings, but netflix does not support linux. So I installed windows 7 and have had nothing but trouble. I know the video can be amazing, now I just need to figure out how to make it happen in windows 7. Thanks for any help, if you need more info let me know.

12-11-2009, 08:49 PM	#186
idonutknow How can anyone watch standard def? Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 16	K guys, got my audio working. Thanks New problem: The max resolution on my TV is 1920 x 1080 however when I set my computer to display that resolution, it's too big for the tv. 1842x1034 is the biggest resolution I can run. What am I doing wrong here? Better yet, what do I need to do in order to run 1920x1080? Also, the max refresh rate is 60hz? Sorry if this is a stupid question. Thanks in advance Last edited by idonutknow; 12-11-2009 at 09:01 PM.

12-13-2009, 05:50 PM	#187
idonutknow How can anyone watch standard def? Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 16	Interestingly enough, my tv magically displays 1920x1080 now. When I play DVD's though, and the Camera is panning, I get this nice line that splits the screen but on my monitor I don't. I'm guessing my video card is having a hard time displaying at 1920x1080. Time for a new video card? Can anyone confirm? Horrible photo but notice the line. Last edited by idonutknow; 12-13-2009 at 07:10 PM.

12-25-2009, 04:55 PM	#189
eyesinsane What is HD? Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 2	help i have a HP g60-120us vista home prem. and a philips 47pfl3603d/f7 conneted hdmi. i have great video beautiful, audio is crazy when i set my nvidia output to default no sound ive tested everything all the little test buttons in the setting i even tested conexant hd audio 221 which is funny cuz my left speaker test tones on the laptop then the right tone come out through the tv (what in the world???) and when i play audio with the conexant it just comes out the laptop. i can connect the the headphone jack but i want to keep the amount of cables down and use the hdmi cable.

01-05-2010, 05:09 AM	#191
guile42 High Definition Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 17	great, i think adjustments can be done in your tv on hdmi menu. but I like the first suggestion, it works. goodluck, Cesar Anthony Villas __________________ Cesar Anthony Villas Satellite Access Fanatic

12-15-2009, 08:07 AM	#188
idonutknow How can anyone watch standard def? Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 16	Any help guys? Please?

01-05-2010, 01:13 AM	#190
dhman06 My plasma is High Def. Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 5	Dear hdf members, This is my first time here, so, hi to everyone. I am from MA. Anyways, I really have an issue here. I recently bought a Element ELCHW321 hdtv which is pretty good for me. Problem is, I have two older pcs. One is Emachine T3504 -3.2 processor, 1gb RAM, and ATI Radeon™ Xpress 200 graphic card and the other is Compaq SR1922X with GeForce 6150 LE graphics card. None of those computers have any dvi port. So I am stuck with vga. So, I bought vga to component adapters from ebay and hooked up my PC to the HDTV. I connect the adapter to the vga output found on the G-force LE card, and then, connect the three component cables (Red, blue and green), to the TV input. After hooking everything up, and turning on the TV, I saw all my dreams falling apart, you see, I have been dreaming with it for days. But, I have absolutely nothing! The TV sayd no signal. I tried changing the cables, but that didn't work. Now, the definite question ; What should I do? Do I have to download any new driver, do I have to buy something else? Or, isn't there any compatibility between the PCs & HDTVs? Should I use a vga to hdmi cable like this that can be bought on ebay? Should I get a vga to hdmi adapter and then use hdmi cable to connect the pc to tv? Should I use vga to composite cable? Someone Please help me. I have a HDTV, and can't watch it, due to this problem. I bought a pc internet software that isn't being used either. How can I make the image get through? Crisp and clear (well, at least visible)? My kindest regards to anyone who can save me, dhman06

01-05-2010, 03:34 PM	#194
rbinck Administrator Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Katy, Texas Posts: 15,636	VGA is analog and the DVI input is probably only digital. Thus the VGA to DVI cable or whatever won't work. __________________ www.highdefinitionblog.com www.BlogOfHawaii.com

01-06-2010, 09:38 PM	#195
dhman06 My plasma is High Def. Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 5	How about an adapter? Will that do the job?

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