edtv htpc with hdmi problems, please help

[breakspirit]

I have a 42" Samsung sp-r4232 and I'm having great difficulty getting it to work correctly with an htpc I just built. The system itself is built around an MSI K8NGM2-FID Socket 939 NVIDIA GeForce 6150 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard, which has component, VGA, and DVI outputs with integrated video. Anyway, the TV has hdmi input, so I figure the best picture quality would result from dvi output from the PC to hdmi input in the tv. Is this a correct assumption?

So, I bought a 90 dollar cable to do it and it looks like craaaap. Not only is there horrible overscan which I have so far been totally unable to fix, even with powerstrip, but the text look aliased at every resolution and I even think the colors might be screwed up somewhat too.

I'm under the impression I should be running at 1280x720 screen resolution, since this is a 720p tv. Well, it really looks crappy at this resolution.

Strangely, I tried using VGA on the PC and tv and the picture is far better, but it will only run at 1024x768. The nvidia drivers won't even let me select 1280x720 when using a VGA connection.

Sorry I'm rambling on here, but I'm sure you all know how frustrating these things can be. So, basically, I'm wanting to know if I should in fact be running aty 1280x720, if dvi-to-hdmi is the cable I should be using, and how to get it to look correct(yes I've attempted using powerstrip and the latest nvidia drivers and have had no success, so I'm clearly missing something or something is amiss). Thanks a lot in advance and thanks for reading all this.

 

[Rage187]

shame on you for paying $90 for a $10 cable.

 

[JBT]

No its not a 720p TV its 480p. You your self said its an EDTV which means it should have a res of 852 x 480 thats your problem. Also if it was an HDTV alot of plasma's ussually would have a 1024x768 for there resolution. Plasmas have rectangular pixels. so 1280x720 would be messed up.

 

[breakspirit]

how is it a 10 dollar cable? Keep in mind its a DVI - HDMI cable, not just a regular DVI. If you know where to get those cheap, I'd love to hear it.

Also, I got the scaling issue fixed by having the nvidia drivers treat the tv as a digital tv, which gave me the overscan options. However, the text still looks like ****** at 720p, presumably because the tv is scaling it and screwing it up. Unfortunately, 480p is not a useable desktop resolution for obvious reasons. Video looks the same to me at 480p and 720p, so I guess I'm stuck with a tradeoff between legible text and having any kind of desktop space. That sound right?

 

[jeebz]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812189056

$14.99

 

[Rage187]

cablemon.com for cheap cables, remember, digital is digital; either you get the picture or not.

don't fall for the "injected with gold" BS monster and all those other ripoff cable companies come up with to sucker poor SOBs into buying a $90 cable.

 

[Rage187]

Originally posted by: breakspirit
how is it a 10 dollar cable? Keep in mind its a DVI - HDMI cable, not just a regular DVI. If you know where to get those cheap, I'd love to hear it.

Also, I got the scaling issue fixed by having the nvidia drivers treat the tv as a digital tv, which gave me the overscan options. However, the text still looks like ****** at 720p, presumably because the tv is scaling it and screwing it up. Unfortunately, 480p is not a useable desktop resolution for obvious reasons. Video looks the same to me at 480p and 720p, so I guess I'm stuck with a tradeoff between legible text and having any kind of desktop space. That sound right?

well your TV is 480P, not much else you can do. Run 480P but have small icons and it might be ok to look at. Next time spend a little more and aim for at least 1280x720.

 

[breakspirit]

well this post has been worth it if only because i've learned of cheapo dvi/hdmi cables. thanks for the help guys.

 

[Rage187]

Originally posted by: breakspirit
well this post has been worth it if only because i've learned of cheapo dvi/hdmi cables. thanks for the help guys.

if you come away from this thread with the knowledge that buying $90 cables is a ripoff then I'm glad we could help Now you can spend that extra money on a nicer TV or surround sound system.

 

[merlocka]

Originally posted by: breakspirit
well this post has been worth it if only because i've learned of cheapo dvi/hdmi cables. thanks for the help guys.

You've also learned that scaling 1280x720 down to the supported 852x480 of that EDTV panel is the main cause of your bad text.

I had a Panny ED panel running OK on a 6600 card after some tweaks. I think I ended up sending 1024x768, adjusting the screen position a bit, and making the text bigger in windows. The screen ended up stretched though. I tried some custom resolutions but the overscan problems kicked in.

Moral of the story being, if you plan to use a windows desktop (as oppsed to a MCE or Myth-like interface), an EDTV isn't the best way to go.

 

[frankgomez75]

Originally posted by: breakspirit
well this post has been worth it if only because i've learned of cheapo dvi/hdmi cables. thanks for the help guys.

lol... damn bro... I got suckered into that Monster DVI > HDMI B.S. too when I first started hooking up my HTPC to my DLP HDTV. I sold it to a guy online for $60 and turned around and bought me $15 cable from monoprice.com and never looked back.

Anyways your problem seems to be you are trying HD resolutions on an EDTV. No need for powerstrip if you have an Nvidia graphics chip... just use the built in control panel.

Right click on the desktop, select Nvidia Display, select your monitor, select Nview Display Settings, select Device Settings, Select Overscan. From here adjust your settings and you should be good to go.

Good luck.