HD2600XT and 32" LCD TV

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lorenzo Sandini
  • Start date Start date
L

Lorenzo Sandini

Hello,

Just curious about some details on resolution. My LCD TV (Philips
PF5320, 32") has DVI-in, but no HDMI. The DVI plug can be used to feed
analog component signal or digital signal, and the TV apparently does
the rest. Strange behaviour, but that's the way Philips designed it.

When feeding analog digital signal, I select "HD" as an input method,
for example from my DVD/BluRay player. Works fine. No idea about the
displayed resolution though. 720p probably, and fullHD is scaled down to
fit the screen (?).

When connecting the computer to the TV, as it is now, I must select "PC"
as the input method. The accepted resolutions are various, but the
highest is 1024x768 according to the TV manual. However, in the display
settings of the HD2600XT I get 1280x768, which looks crisp and sharp on
my TV.

When I got the TV, they told me the resolution would be 1366x768 (aka HD
Ready) or something like it, and earlier using another graphic card I
indeed managed to get that resolution, but the quality was quite poor.

In the catalyst control panel, I notice there is an option to force
specific resolutions, but trying 1280x720 for example required a hard
reboot to get fixed, the desktop was garbled.

I use MediaPortal as a media center solution for watching TV, also Vista
Media Center for other functions occasionally. In MediaPortal, I need to
stretch standard definition (SD) and HD channels vertically a bit,
otherwise I get 2 thin black bars on top and bottom of the screen. I
guess it's the difference between 720 and 768 pixels. But what about width ?

What is the width of the original image watching a DVD in full screen
mode ? I thought the resolution was 720x576... is the resizing done at
the ATI card or at the LCD screen level ?

Any good link with explanations about that ? Thank you !

Lorenzo
 
* Lorenzo Sandini:
Just curious about some details on resolution. My LCD TV (Philips
PF5320, 32")
Click to expand...

So it's a 32PF5320
When connecting the computer to the TV, as it is now, I must select "PC"
as the input method. The accepted resolutions are various, but the
highest is 1024x768 according to the TV manual. However, in the display
settings of the HD2600XT I get 1280x768, which looks crisp and sharp on
my TV.

When I got the TV, they told me the resolution would be 1366x768 (aka HD
Ready) or something like it, and earlier using another graphic card I
indeed managed to get that resolution, but the quality was quite poor.
Click to expand...

From a short search with google I found that this TV limits the VGA
(means: analoge) input to 1280x768. Digitally connected 1366x768 should
works fine.

Benjamin
 
Benjamin said:
* Lorenzo Sandini:


So it's a 32PF5320
Click to expand...

Yep, without any doubt.
From a short search with google I found that this TV limits the VGA
(means: analoge) input to 1280x768. Digitally connected 1366x768 should
works fine.

Benjamin
Click to expand...

The HD2600XT has 2 DVI connectors, and is connected to the DVI-in of the
TV. Source of the signal is "PC" in the TV menu. Is is digital enough or
does it mean there is a digital to analogic converter in the TV set ?

With an Abit F-190HD, and using an HDMI to DVI convertor to connect the
TV to the HDMI connector of the motherboard, I got 1366x768 in the
display settings options, but 2D desktop image quality was poor and the
fonts were blurred, even when using 120dpi fonts. With all the catalysts
I have tried, the display setting offer me 1280x768 as the highest
resolution with the HD2600XT.

Does this mean that I should select "HD" as an input method, and not
"PC", in order to get a "digital" connection ? Doing that, the HD2600XT
does not seem to recognise the TV set, and all I get is a
disproportionate and offset picture, without a possibility to change the
resolution of refresh rate.

Should I use a normal TFT monitor and hook the TV set as a secondary
monitor to set up the right resolution ?

I am using Mediaportal with monochrome as a skin. Monochrome was
designed to be a 1366x768 skin, and it looks perfect on my TV, so I
guess it is not being scaled to 1280x768, or is it ?

Puzzled.

Lorenzo
 
* Lorenzo Sandini:
The HD2600XT has 2 DVI connectors, and is connected to the DVI-in of the
TV. Source of the signal is "PC" in the TV menu. Is is digital enough or
does it mean there is a digital to analogic converter in the TV set ?
Click to expand...

The DVI output of your gfx card delivers analog and digital signals (the
analog signals are used if you connect a monitor via DVI-VGA adapter). I
don't know the TV but if the TV can accept also analog inputs over his
DVI connector then it's possible it falls back to analoge even when your
gfx card also provides digital signals.
With an Abit F-190HD, and using an HDMI to DVI convertor to connect the
TV to the HDMI connector of the motherboard, I got 1366x768 in the
display settings options
Click to expand...

Well, in this case only digital signals were transmitted so your TV
can't fall back to analoge.
, but 2D desktop image quality was poor and the
fonts were blurred, even when using 120dpi fonts.
Click to expand...

How is the image quality if you set up the Abit F-190HD rig to output
1280x768?
With all the catalysts
I have tried, the display setting offer me 1280x768 as the highest
resolution with the HD2600XT.
Click to expand...

From what I found out in a quick search with google is that your TV's
analog input is limited to 1280x768. So it really seems as if your TV
would use the analog signals of your gfx card.
Does this mean that I should select "HD" as an input method, and not
"PC", in order to get a "digital" connection ? Doing that, the HD2600XT
does not seem to recognise the TV set, and all I get is a
disproportionate and offset picture, without a possibility to change the
resolution of refresh rate.
Click to expand...

"HD" and "PC" probably only change the setting for overscan.

Benjamin
 
Bringing up the old thread...

Did some testing, and indeed when setting the TV input to "HD", I get
the 1280x720 resolution (not 1280x768), but I still don't get the
1366x768 that was available with the ATI X1250 chipset on the Abit
F-190HD motherboard. However, the 1280x720 "HD" looked poor compared to
the 1280x768 "PC" setting, so I guess that's what I'll use.

Thanks for your suggestions though.

Lorenzo
 
Back
Top