Modern video card that will support my finicky Sony KV-30XBR910?

[CZroe]

My Sony KV-XBR910 from 2003 was one of the first HDCP-capable TVs with DVI and very explicitly states that it is not intended for use with a PC. The guys at AVS forum explained that it was thanks to not signaling Plug 'n' Play capabilities and having very strict timing tolerances so I followed their advice and used it with a 6600GT over both DVI and Component. Unfortunately, I can't seem to accomplish the same thing with a modern PC. This is where I need help.

I don't particularly care for the excessive over-scan but it still has the highest-rated picture quality of any tube ever made so I don't intend to stop using it! Indeed, I MUCH prefer it over my much larger KDL-52XBR910, even though I can't see all the menu options on some BD movies. I want another gaming HTPC setup because there is no longer a PS3 or BD player connected, but I clearly need some help.

The 6600GT was in a Shuttle SN45G I set up way back before "HTPC" was something people here on Anandtech generally understood. I also attempted to preorder the Phantom Lap Board and furnished the room with a lift-top cocktail table, but the whole setup never really came together (speaker/receiver problems, PC problems, Phantom never fixed their system, etc). Even so, getting video from the PC wasn't a problem. The 6600GT had a nifty break-out box with component connections, but I remember it working just fine with DVI after getting the right timing settings from AVSforum. Well, except for Windows Media Center's inability to play DVDs on digital displays over 800x600 (arbitrary limitation because XP didn't support HDCP). Component video bypassed that problem. I shouldn't have to use component with a modern HDCP-compliant video card and OS, but I can't get anything to work over DVI!

I literally went down the list with my Alienware M11x R3 notebook trying hundreds of 1080i/720p options and haven't found one that worked. I'm using the same HDMI-to-DVI cable I've always used with my PS3. Like the PS3, every dedicated HT component works just fine (only PCs have trouble). I bought a Belkin ScreenCast to try my notebook's Intel Wi-Di (Wireless Display) functionality, but it was a no-go: The WiDi screens and messages all work until I connect and send my notebook's display output, at which point I get a blank screen exactly as if I were directly connected. To add insult to injury, my brother brought his Apple TV over and AirPlay works just fine. Of course, neither is appropriate for gaming anyway (latency).

I want to build a modern 64-bit Win7/8 dedicated HTPC that I know will work with this TV instead of using an old 6600GT + Windows XP. A little help?

 

[giderac]

Maybe get a modern gfx card that still has dvi and see if you can get it to autodetect a good res/timing? I have the xbr960 fed from an onkyo 707 avr which is fed by a amd 6450 in a an old dell and it works nicely. Windows is sending a 1920x1080 signal which the avr converts to 1080i i believe. The desktop shows a considerable amount of flicker, but MPC HC with madvr and all my bd remuxes look identical as if played from the ps3.

 

[jnporter099]

I had an XBR960 and had buyer's protection when the power supply board went tits up within 18 months. I moved on to a flat panel Sony when the insurance couldn't find anyone within 300 miles of me to fix it. At that point, Sony had discontinued the line. The repairs and roundtrip shipping would have been more than I paid for the set. I loved that behemoth but it was very finicky with computer connections for sure. I was so frickin happy when I got a 1080P dot for dot set with 2, count em', 2 HDMI connections. Have you ever had to move your TV up and down several flights of stairs? A nightmare scenario with an XBR960! Enough to make 3 strong men weep.....

Please don't be offended when I say my suggestion is to play DVDs and blurays in your bedroom with the XBR and buy a modern flat panel for using with a (HTPC) computer in the front room.

Thanks for the memories, mostly....

 

[CZroe]

I had an XBR960 and had buyer's protection when the power supply board went tits up within 18 months. I moved on to a flat panel Sony when the insurance couldn't find anyone within 300 miles of me to fix it. At that point, Sony had discontinued the line. The repairs and roundtrip shipping would have been more than I paid for the set. I loved that behemoth but it was very finicky with computer connections for sure. I was so frickin happy when I got a 1080P dot for dot set with 2, count em', 2 HDMI connections. Have you ever had to move your TV up and down several flights of stairs? A nightmare scenario with an XBR960! Enough to make 3 strong men weep.....

Please don't be offended when I say my suggestion is to play DVDs and blurays in your bedroom with the XBR and buy a modern flat panel for using with a (HTPC) computer in the front room.

Thanks for the memories, mostly....

Way ahead of you. Since the Playstation 3 launched in 2006, the "front room" has been my twin brother's apartment with the 52" XBR2 LCD. The "bedroom" is a classic gaming man-cave (16x16x16 accessory building) for which the XBR910 is actually overkill (NES R.O.B., NES Zapper, Konami Laser Scope, SNES Super Scope, SEGA Phaser, and SEGA Menacer are useless!). I have actually considered getting a roll-down projection screen and a projector for watching movies there too (would roll down in front of the XBR910).

Yeah, the open-box 52" KDL-52XBR2 LCD set with no stand or remote cost us TWICE as much (open box discount was a $1,200 GC) so I wasn't prepared to see a newer $5K 1080p XBR look and sound so much worse than an older $2.3K 1080i XBR (other than black levels). Unfortunately it got worse over the years as the back-lighting grew uneven and blotchy (looks water-damaged). Even so, after a brief stint with a $2.4K 65" Olevia with Sharp Aquos panel, I'm done spending so much on TVs.

We continue to use the XBR2 for movie night and HTPC DVR and the XBR910 for gaming. I want to set up a gaming PC in the corner that will server double-duty as a gaming-oriented HTPC, which is why I'm once again interested it connecting a PC.

The XBR960 is the same tube as the 910 so, yes, I know what it's like taking it up and down stairs. D: I was renting the upstairs of someone's house when I got it and took it with me when I moved. My friends who helped me the first time were horrified to hear that I needed help moving it a year later!