I don't think anyone has started a thread for this set yet, so let me do the honours!

HTPC1 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=4064990&fullpage=1)
HTPC2 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=4064995&fullpage=1)
HTPC3 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=4064999&fullpage=1)
HTPC4 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=4065004&fullpage=1)

Here's my setup:

Software:

- Windows Media Center 2004
- BeyondTV
- DVHScap for capturing HD content through firewire
- Zoomplayer for media playback
- Powerstrip for resolution management
- Girder for controlling the PC with a universal remote and for tuning the cable box\

Hardware:

- Athlon XP 2500 Moblie Barton clocked to XP 3200 speeds
- Radeon 9800 NP flashed with Pro bios and cooled with Artic Cooling VGA Silencer
- ATI DVI/Component adapter
- Asus A7N8X with Dolby Digital 5.1
- 512mb OCZ 3200 Ram
- Seagate Barricuda SATA Hard Drive (not all that quiet)
- Hauppauge PVR250
- USB-UIRT
- Logitech wireless keyboard/optical mouse
- Antec P160 case

It's all working very seamlessly with the 34XBR960 right now. I originally thought that I would need to run everything through Windows Media Center because of the 10 foot interface. But everything is so crisp on this TV that I can use the computer like normal without straining my eyes to read the text. It was very easy finding timings and resolutions that work with this TV. It could handle almost anything I threw at it. You can tell that everything is being scaled up to 1080i, but at resolutions around 1280x720, the amount of flicker is pretty minimal.

HD content being played from the PC is drop dead gorgeous! I really don't think it could look better. The colour and quality blew me away (the same can be said for regular HDTV content from the cable box).

Games also look amazing. So far, every game I've tried has supported widescreen resolutions. Last night I loaded up the Half Life 2 beta and the combination of the wide screen aspect ratio, high resolution, and 5.1 surround sound made it an extremely cinematic experience.

I honestly expected the setup and integration with this set to be more complicated, but everything went smoothly and the whole experience is pretty seamless at this point.

So, you are using DVI at 1280x720?

I had DVI->HDMI working at 1280x720 but there was some overscan that I didn't bother to deal with. My ATI component adapter came in the mail the same day I was hooking up the set, so for now I've been using that because there are already a lot of readily available timings and resolutions to worth with. I bet I could adjust the timings and get a slightly different resolution working in the 720p timings though. However, I've been using the HDMI input on the tv with the cable box and I don't really see the need to switch back to using it for the computer. Everything looks really great through the component cables.

I'm sure that at some point curiosity will get the better of me and I'll go back to the DVI cable to make a fair comparison. If I have time this weekend I'll give it a shot again.

What timings you are using in PowerStrip? I just got my XBR960 today, and haven't been able to get it to work yet. I am using a DVI-HDMI cable.

Thanks for your help.

Originally posted by phunkone
What timings you are using in PowerStrip? I just got my XBR960 today, and haven't been able to get it to work yet. I am using a DVI-HDMI cable.

Thanks for your help.

Did you have any issues with the ATI 9800 DVI > HDMI on 960?

I had no issues with 910, but on 960 I get initial post, screen goes blank on Drive detection until XP Starts...then goes blank again on Desktop and never returns.

I abandoned all hope on the DVI->HDMI connection. 720x480 was the default resolution and it worked fine (4x3 though). There's a timing in the Powerstrip default custom timings list called 1280x720 (DVI/HDCP derived). This timing seemed to work fine, but I think there was a lot of overscan. I couldn't make any adjustments to the front/back porch without losing the display though, but I'm not sure if my scan frequencies were locked (it was when I was first beginning to use pstrip). This was the only other timing that I could get to work.

The downside to the DVI connection is that it either works or it doesn't. With a DVI->component connection on this tv you can have some incorrect timings but the set will usually produce some sort of image, even if it is a bit warped. The HDMI connection just seems to black out if it isn't getting exactly what it wants. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with HDCP or just the fact that ATI's drivers don't support the regular DVI spec used on tv's.

I've had a lot more luck with the component adapter. I have at least 8 different custom timings that I can use on this set for anything from 4x3 games to widescreen HD content. I didn't really notice a different in the PQ between the two different connections, but I wasn't exactly doing an A/B comparison. Using the component adapter really seems to be the way to go with this set though. Everything looks spectacular through it!

I also just wanted to add that while I could see my computer's POST screen fine when booting with the DVI->HDMI connection, the bios would never display on the television, it would always black out. With the component adapter the bios displays fine.

I tried the DVI->HDMI connection again this morning with my scan frequencies locked and I couldn't adjust the porches enough to eliminate the overscan. Anything over 29 on the Vertical Front Porch just caused the screen to turn black.

It's interesting that this was never an issue on the 910's DVI > DVI but the HDMI on the 960 is alot more picky.

Yeah, every time I try to make any adjustments my screen goes black. I orderd a DVI->Component cable, hopefully that will work for me. Thanks for the responses!

OK....I got the ATI DVI > Component piece. Wasn't expecting the dipswitches with no info as to what they do.

What are the dipswitch settings to make this work with the XBR960?

Phantastica:

how/where did you get MS Media Center edition ? I thought it only comes with pre-built HTPC's ?

Phantastica,

Ok, I got the DVI-Component cable, but I am still having trouble getting the picture to look good. Did you tweak powerstrip a lot. or did it just work when you selected 1280/720 in powerstrip. I don't have much experience with powerstrip, so I guess I should start reading up on it.

Thanks for your help.

I am running an ATI Radeon 9800 SE by the way.

Originally posted by HDTVFanAtic
OK....I got the ATI DVI > Component piece. Wasn't expecting the dipswitches with no info as to what they do.

What are the dipswitch settings to make this work with the XBR960?

Mine didn't come with dipswitches. I thought ATI stopped doing that and controlled everything through the drivers. There should be some documentation on the ATI site detailing the dipswitches, but I think they're mainly used to set whether the tv is 720p or 1080i.

I definitely had to play with Powerstrip a lot to get all of the various standard 4x3 resolutions to work properly. I found that some of the default timings (or timings posted by other people) caused the top of the screen to bend. 16x9 resolutions seemed to works a little better.

Here are the timings that I'm using that have little overscan on my set:

PowerStrip timing parameters:
1152x648=1152,139,32,325,648,41,5,56,74166,272

PowerStrip timing parameters:
1280x1024=1280,96,48,160,1024,80,11,63,53464,280

I used to have good powerstrip timings for 1024x768 and 1600x200, but my system crashed and I lost those. I was able to stablize the picture by adjusting the porches though. There was a sweet spot for each resolution that took a few minutes to find.

The timings that are built into the latest 4.8 Catalyst drivers seem to give me a solid picture at most resolutions though, so you may want to skip powerstrip altogether.

Have you actually captured HDTV content through firewire with this TV?

I tried it in the first 2 hours I got it and did not have a successful result. Quite honestly, it's been low priority with the other things going on. I will get around to it and see if I can make it work.

I've got the firewire cable all hooked up and my PC detects the TV as "Sony KD34XBR960" but I cant properly install it for use with DVHScap 'cause I have no TV driver. Any suggestions?

bump

I'd really like to know if anyone has been able to record HDTV using the iLink IEEE1394 Firewire port.

OK.....I decided tonight to get to the bottom of this one once and for all while waiting for a Hurricane to pass (thank goodness for APC UPS units).

Here is what I have come up with using various scenarios.

1) Windows XP sees this as a Sony KD34XBR960 (big shock). I have tried to force virtually every AVC tape and tuner drive I know of to install when asked. Windows will have none of it and doesn't accept any of them. Thus I have not been able to record to HTPC (which of course doesn't have encryption on the IEEE 1394 connection anyway).

2) I am able to record OTA HD signals from the Sony Tuner to a JVC DVHS deck.

3) I am able to record from the CableCard Connection to the JVC DVHS deck from any channels marked Copy Freely (The OTA Channels). Those marked Copy Once seem to record, but on playback after 1 second a Copy Protection notice comes up that this Copy Protected content cannot be played back. I *BELIEVE* this is the Sony TV rejecting the input (not the JVC shutting it down - but I am not sure). Either way, that's not the way it should be as you cannot playback material recorded with the Copy Once designation. This could also be an issue with the CableCard from SA if they botched this one up as bad as they did the SA3250HD IEEE connection.

4) You cannot record from the YPbPr inputs to the DVHS. It appears to record (the timer counts up on the DVHS) but the TV only displays a blank grey screen on playback.

5) You get the same results when recording from the HDMI input.

The JVC DVHS will record properly when connected directly to the SA3250HD STB so I assume the issue is the copyprotection in the Sony.

If you can modify one of the AVC drivers for this unit (I tried with no success) or can write one, I will be happy to see if I have better success recording to a HTPC.

It's frusturating because it seems clear that the hardware would allow us to record HDTV via firewire. Sad we (at least I) don't have the know-how to write the driver to let the TV talk to our PCs.

Given the output to the JVC DVHS, I think it's pretty clear you could only record OTA HD Channels or the usual commercial networks via cable marked free anyway.

I need help people.

I just bought the kd-34xbr960 and had RCN in NYC hook me up with there motorola dct6208.
I have my motorola hooked via component cables to the tv.
My regular digital cabl channels look terrible, very fuzzy and very grainy.

I have no coaxial cable going from the dct to the tv cause I was told I don't need it at all, and I even tried to do that and it didnt't fix anything.

The guy at PC Richard told me to make another input just for the regular digital channels from the extra video out in the DCT but this doesnt let me use the guide then on that input. I guess you can't use the DCT guide when using 2 inputs on the DCT box.

I tried changing the 4:3 setting from 480p to 480i and even off, and nothing seems to help.

Do I need the coaxial cable from the DCt to the tv (cable input) at all?
Everyone talks about the great quality that this yv has and I can only get that great quality onb the HDTV , not on the regular channels which I use the most.

PLEASE HELP, I will have the RCN guy come on Sunday to check it out, I might return the tv if it doesnt get better.

Right now the DTV on my tv screen is worse then the DTV I had on my 20 year old set last year.


Steve

Ok, so I have had my HTPC setup with my XBR960 for over a month now and am feeling a lot better about it lately. I am still having a few problems though, which maybe someone can offer some assistance. In any case, hopefully my experience will help someone else in the same situation.

This was my first experience with an HTPC. A friend of mine and fellow AVS member has an unbelievable setup at his apartment and basically convinced me this was the way to go. This is also the first nice TV I have ever owned. Up to this point I had a 27" Panasonic POS.

I first put the machine together with a GeForce 5700 card, and bought a DVI->HDMI cable to connect to the xbr960. I could never get this to work. I used VNC to mess around with the settings in PowerStrip for a long time. Eventually, I read this thread and saw that Phantastica recommended the ATI component adapter, and bought a DVI->component cable. Still no luck. Eventually, I got tired of fiddling with PowerStrip and bought an ATI Radeon 9800 SE and the component adaptor.

Right from the time I first booted up (I am running XP Pro), the component adapter worked like a charm. Thanks Phantastica! I set the resolution to 1280x720, but there was a bunch of overscan and a bunch of the desktop was out of the visible area. I then changed the resolution to 1152x648 and the picture was great.

My HTPC is setup as follows:

Athlon XP 2600+(333Mhz)
1024MB DDR400
ATI Radeon 9800 SE
AudioTek Prodigy 7.1
Linksys WMP54GS 802.11G (54mps) wireless card

Running:
XP Pro
Theatertek 1.5.64
ReClock
Daemon Tools

I connect to a media file server over the wireless network.

I have been trying to play DVDs using TheaterTek and have been experiencing problems with the audio. At first, the audio was way behind the picture, and there was occasional skips. I updated to XP SP2 because of some knowledgebase article I saw regarding some MS bug. After that, the audio was much better, but still wrong. I have TheaterTek setup with ReClock and everything is pretty smooth, but the audio is very slightly behind the picture, and there is still the occasional skip. Reclock makes it better, but it is still incredibly annoying.

Can anyone offer any assistance? I have read threads that mention that the refresh rate should be a multiple of 24 but was unable to find specific threads about this TV. Once I get this DVD playback problem worked out, I am going to be pumped about this setup so any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Originally posted by phunkone
Right from the time I first booted up (I am running XP Pro), the component adapter worked like a charm. Thanks Phantastica! I set the resolution to 1280x720, but there was a bunch of overscan and a bunch of the desktop was out of the visible area. I then changed the resolution to 1152x648 and the picture was great.

phunkone:

Can you recheck your setting. I think you meant 1152x864. Can you confirm that.

Thanks.

1152x648 gives me a perfect 16x9 image. 1152x864 gives me a severely underscanned 4x3'ish image with a lot of flicker. 1152x648 has been my "go to" resolution for pretty much everything. Games look great and run with good frame rates. DVDs and HD material looks great and I've been hardpressed to see any difference in going to different resolutions (1700x1000), other than a smaller, much harder to read interface.

I used to use this resolution in powerstrip, but it looks like it's supported natively in the latest (4.9) catalyst drivers.

I noticed all of you on this thread have only been using ATI based video cards with DVI output. Anyone have success hooking up an Nvidia or Matrox card to the 960 via DVI->HDMI?

I'm new to powerstrip, so maybe this isn't 100% correct, but I'm using it right now to type this message:

PowerStrip timing parameters:
1152x648=1152,184,40,272,648,38,7,57,74250,2304

Generic timing details for 1152x648:
HFP=184 HSW=40 HBP=272 kHz=45 VFP=38 VSW=7 VBP=57 Hz=60

Linux modeline parameters:
"1152x648" 74.250 1152 1336 1376 1648 648 686 693 750 +hsync +vsync

I've got a 9600SE over DVI->HDMI to the KD-34XBR960. I've gotten a very flickery 1080i mode to work too (Is the flicker just normal for 1080i?) I think if I managed a 540p mode then maybe I wouldn't get flicker at all.

Powerstrip confuses me. When Windows starts, the mode is correct but not centered, and then when I go into the powerstrip menus the screen becomes centered....not sure why it works that way.

Volfy, does the xbr960 require a "dual link" dvi/hdmi cable to attach it to a HTPC?

No. First I tried a monster cable and I'm 99.9% sure it was single link. It worked. Then I returned it and got a cable off ebay for 1/8th the price. :)

You need the latest powerstrip, and then just choose the EIA CEA 861P modes.

Last night I got it to work under Linux. To do that, you need to specify NoEDID somewhere in the X configuration file, because the TV doesn't tell the computer it can support 720p or 1080i but it can.

Originally posted by KettleBlack
Volfy, does the xbr960 require a "dual link" dvi/hdmi cable to attach it to a HTPC?

Well, I got my xbr960 delivered today. Connected to my HTPC using a dvi -> hdmi cable. Best resolution so far is 1177x662. Very liitle overscan. I'm using a 6600GT .

I'm a bit disappointed that the icon text is a blurry.... will try the component imputs to see if it makes a difference (it shouldn't improve the image theoretically, but if it does, there may be a problem with the hdmi connection).

edit: well, I tried the component imputs. I had to hook up a secondary monitor otherwise the computer wouldn't boot - may have to check the bios to prevent a stop if a monitor isn't found.

Anyway, using the component inputs, 1152x648 gives me completly no overscan and just a bit of underscan, so it is a good resolution for me.

But the blurriness continues. Is this normal?

I guess my thought process is how can a dvd look better being output thru a htpc compared to a stand alone player when the desktop image on the htpc is blurry. If the HTPC doesn't output a clear image of the desktop, doesn't that mean it won't output a clear image of the dvd picture?

Is the desktop image consistently soft, or is it only soft around the edges? It could just be poor convergence on the set. I would try to get as many different images (movies, games, still images) on there as possible to verify that it's softer than it should be.

It would also help if you had an AVIA or DVE dvd that you could run on your HTPC and a set top dvd player. Then you'd be able to determine whether or not your 6600GT is softening things up.

The text is sharpest in the center of the screen and gets progressively blurrier towards the edges. The last two inches on the left side are quite blurry. Not quite as blurry on the right side.

I've ordered avia so I can run some test patterns.

Also, there is a bit of "vibration" sometimes, for example the yellow text on a blue background seems to vibrate constantly. I suspect that may be just the refresh rate.

I can't set the refresh rate higher than 60ish, though, can I?

To the top... Any updates guys?


Originally posted by KettleBlack
The text is sharpest in the center of the screen and gets progressively blurrier towards the edges. The last two inches on the left side are quite blurry. Not quite as blurry on the right side.


My XBR960 and 6600GT looks exactly the same. Great in the center, blurry on the left, more so than the right.

I'm about to buy a SFF case and do a HTPC, but I'm a little leary after seeing the 6600 on the set.

But I'll go with the Radeon and the component dongle if everyone is having success with it.

BTW Phantastica, what brand cabinets are those on each side of your TV?

I've seen a couple of you talking about how the edges are blurry when connected to a compter. Mine does exactly the same thing... The far left side is more blurry than the right, and the center is razor sharp, and also a little brighter... Is there any way to fix this in some service menu? If so, how do I find out about it. It seems like on normal tv viewing the blur is there as well, it is just harder to notice.

Thanks,

Joe

Since I am new to this, would like to know if this is possible.

Can I connect my PC to the 34XBR960 using a VGA - 3 RCA Component breakout cable and use "some timings" from PowerStrip to view all SD & HD video supported by the HDTV?

OR

Do I absolutely need a transcoder to connect my PC to this HDTV?

Trying to understand the differences in the 2 approach.

Also, would like to know if anyone out here who has a PS2 tried connecting this to their 34XBR960 using Firewire (iLink) - I am temporarily using the PS2 for gaming and DVD video playback.

Any help/opinions on this would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

KOB

you cannot use a breakout VGA to RGBHV
you will either need a video card with native component output
ATI most have it 8500s, and 9500 Pro or better and Nvidia 5700 Personal Cinema, 5950 Ultra and 6600 and 6200 series

or go DVI to HDMI

or transcoder


I am running DVI to HDMI from a 6800 to my KD30XS955 (XBR little brother)

Originally posted by kny3twalker
you cannot use a breakout VGA to RGBHV
you will either need a video card with native component output
ATI most have it 8500s, and 9500 Pro or better and Nvidia 5700 Personal Cinema, 5950 Ultra and 6600 and 6200 series

or go DVI to HDMI

or transcoder


I am running DVI to HDMI from a 6800 to my KD30XS955 (XBR little brother)

Appreciate the quick response.

While you mentioned that I cannot use VGA to RGBHV breakout, was actually wondering for 3 RCA Component (YPbPr) that the XBR does support. So, would you know if this would work. If not, would you know what are the limiting factors coming to play here.

Once again, thanks for the response.

KOB

you cannot use VGA to component cause their is no Vertical or Horizontal sync like with RGBHV (HV-horizontal and vertical sync)
it will be just a mess on the screen
either use DVI to HDMI
or buy a video card with component output
do not waste your money on a transcoder

DVI to HDMI looks beautiful
if all possible use it

For all with blurry text at the sides, you might want to check this thread out in the Direct view forum. My 34xbr910 also exhibits the same problem.

"After using the DVE disc and going in the service menu several times making fine adjustments i found a few items here that will greatly improve your picture.

These items are for focus.

In the service menu look for 2170D-4, then under that look for these 2 items:

QPDC
DQP

Adjusting QPDC will greatly increase your focus by at least 10-20%

Set this to 63

DQP focuses on the sides of the picture, and improves focus also.

When adjusting focus go to the 1:78:1 crosshatch pattern on the DVE or avia disk.I had some convergence problems and these 2 focus adjustments got rid of it completely."

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=509714

Maybe this will clear it up.

I am starting to become quite concerned. I bought this tv on the 15th from Circuit City. It will be delivered this Friday. I specifically purchased a new Dell with a 3.2Ghz, 1GB DDR2, and a dual-dvi NVidia 6800 GTO (dell only) so that I could run HD content from the computer onto the new monitor. I now read that people are having all sorts of difficulty with this configuration. I purchased a DVI to HDMI cable so that I could output content from my computer to the TV. I don't have an external DVD player and was planning on using the computer for that as well. I have the new NVidia DVD decoder which is supposed to be quite good.

Will I be able to make this configuration work to my satisfaction? I plan on having the video card hooked up to my VP201b 20" LCD monitor and the 34XBR960 simultaneously. Will I have quality issues with the ouput to the TV that I cannot be resolved? I am not willing to fool around in the service menu until I learn much more about what is going on in there (much, much more). I am willing to shell out the $250 to have a ISF technician calibrate the set. Will they be able to rid the tv of these focus issues when outputing through the DVI port to the HDMI port? Will I be able to achieve the 1158 X 968 resolution without this "overscan" that everyone keeps mentioning? Please provide me with some advice. If you can't tell, I am becoming quite anxious about this whole thing.

What are we facing here in terms of getting the TV to work with a computer DVI connection? Is it totally impossible because the TV is using HDCP, or is it just a matter of getting the timings exactly right? The thing that really sticks out for me is the fact that if you hooked this tv up any hdmi dvd player, the digital input would work. There has to be a set of a few industry standard digital timings and frequencies so that home theater components with digital connectors are actually compatible with eachother. Why can't someone just find out what settings say a Samsung DVI dvd player uses, and just plug those into the control panel for the graphics card?

Mike614 - On page 2, Kettle black is using DVI to HDMI with a 6600. I think there is another user using ATI so it isn't impossible. I have a 910 and it works fine DVI to DVI.

MF168600 - Try not to get to anxious. I recommend getting it tweaked by and ISF tech. It was by far the best money spent on improving PQ. The issue of blurry text on the edges is most notable using 1080i as a desktop. 720p is not nearly as bad, and in my opinion (YMMV) is acceptable even at a distance of 2 feet. If you compare it to your 20in TFT, it will not be as sharp at the edges. This is common on large CRT technology, as convergence and focus gets worse at the edges with tube size because the guns travel so far. It is one reason you cannot get one any bigger. All technologies have some trade-offs. Under-scan can be controlled via the newer nvidia drivers to very close to perfect. I'm not sure how its done with ATI as i don't have one.If you want it exact, you or an ISF tech need to make some minor adjustments in service mode. I've had my 910 for about 8 months now, and I slowly got my feet wet over time with the service menu, and its not too hard. There is a lot of info and knowledge on this forum. Just take your time, read carefully, and enjoy your set. I don't regret my purchase one bit. The HD PQ is still inspiring even after 8 months, and fine tuning it over time has just made it all that much better. From what you describe, it sounds like you'll use it mostly for watching HD and movies and for some lite PC duties, but you have your other monitor to use for most non HTPC applications. This is how I use mine, and I'm a happy camper. I don't recommend trying to use it as your main monitor for all PC Applications.

are we supposed to be shooting for a 1920x1080i output or is that unobtainable? If it is, what is the cheapo samsung 1080i dvi dvd player i can pick up for a couple hundred dollars doing that my video card cannot be set up to do?

I watch my DVDs and recorded OTA HDTV at 1080i, but switch to 720p if i'm doing some computer stuff with it. Interlaced resolutions inherently have some small flicker on static images like word processing etc. its OK for a short period, but for any length of time, I prefer 720p. Photos look good at either resolution in my opinion. One thing about upscaling DVD players.(i have a Samsung 840). The Sony TV has a pretty good scaler and deinterlacer. I find it better than the samsung upscaling DVD, so I run it a 480i and let the TV do the work. When you run the dvd player at 1080, you lose some of the zoom functions also. My HTPC setup has better picture quality than the Samsung at any resolution.

Here is how I have mine setup

input 7- DVI at 1080 or 720p from HTPC- DVD and OTA HDTV PVR
input 6- Component at 1080i from satellite reciever
input 5- component at 480i from DVD player

input 7- DVI at 1080 or 720p from HTPC- DVD and OTA HDTV PVR

The question becomes- what settings did you use to be able to get DVI to work from your computer at 720p and 1080i?

I have connected the TV and a 20" LCD to my NVidia 6800GTO. How do I set this up!!!??? I am getting all these wierd images on the TV and a strange sound starts coming out of the speakers. I try to do Dual-View and I can't get a resolution that even comes close to working on the TV. I am really pulling my hair out. I am afraid I am going to blow out the television or something. I would incredibly greatful if someone would take pity on me and help me through this.

Hey all, (You can ignore my desperation post above)

I have made it past my first snafu. I have the video card outputting to the tv @ 1152 x 768 and am pleased with the results. Now an actual performance question:

I have the NVDVD Decoder and I have Smart mode + VMR9 and when I play Finding Nemo it stutters pretty badly. I have a 3.2Ghz P4 and 1 GB of Ram. I have tried shutting down a bunch of services but it dosn't seem to matter. Is this now a video card issue? I have a 6800 GTO (not a GT) and apparently some of the pipes have been disabled (12 instead of 16). I heard that I can re-enable the pipes using RivaTuner or some such. Would this solve my problem? Any advice, as usual, is greatly appreciated. I also upgraded to the new nvidia beta drivers: 6.14.10.6766.

Mikek614,

remember I have a 910, not the 960, but currently I just use the Nvidia drivers. At the moment I'm using 71.80 and choose either 720p or1080i HDTV timings and set overscan at 8%. I am not using Powerstrip. I don't play games, so I really don't need to do custom timings and sizes for that. With TT2.1 Renderless VMR9 works well, and I've never had any issues with overlay.

I encourage you all to go to
http://esupport.sony.com/EN/feedback/emailform-cons.html
and ask Sony for a windows XP firewire driver. This could be our only chance to record/playback HD via firewire (without a mac).

Help-

I want to play Half Life 2 on my new Sony XBR960 - but I am fuzzy on the best way to do this.

The Video Card on the computer is the e-Geforce FX 5700LE (256 MB). The card has a DVI output and a VGA output (obviously). The video card also includes a DVI to VGA adapter.

Right now I am looking at two connection options.

a) Monster HDMI to DVI connector - freakin expensive cable.
b) Cables Unlimited VGA to 3 RCA (Component - Red-Blue-Green) cable.

Which method is better?

I have not been able to find a DVI to Component adapter. I think it may only be possible to order it from ATI.

I understand I need to install a piece of soft ware called PowerStrip - but I only have a limited understanding as to why. Feel free to enlighten me if you have the time.

Thanks

rholt--

You can undoubtedly find less expensive DVI-HDMI cables than Monster's. In order to go from VGA to Component you'd need a transcoder (e.g., the Audio Authority one for about $100) so, I think that DVI is your best bet. You'll probably not need PowerStrip if you use recent NVidia drivers, as they have a lot of the same flexibility as PS for setting up HDTV-type timings. (But PS is free to try, so you may want to see if it's worth the $30 to you)

First time trying this, so please forgive my ignorance.

I want to use my XBR960 as "monitor two" on my PC, connected with a DVI-to-HDMI cable from my ATI Radeon 9800 Pro video card, in order to play DVD's and HD movie clips. Presumably, I will also be able to use my DisplayMate for Windows Video Edition v1.25 software to help "tweak" my Sony setup once the XBR960 is connected.

Playing video games has ZERO importance to me. I am not a game player.

Also, I have no need to use my PC as an HDTV source or DVR from OTA. I already have my XBR960 and JVC DT100U connected to an OTA antenna for that purpose. So I have no TV or HDTV card in my machine and don't plan to get one, unless I actually need to and someone tells me why that is mandatory.


That said, here's the machine setup:

I have a WinXP Home SP1 machine, with ATI Radeon 9800 Pro video (Catalyst 5.4) and Audigy/2 sound. No TV card in this machine (although I do have an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro card and TV Wonder Pro card, SD, in a second two-monitor WinXP machine that I use to work at while watching SD from D*). Currently I'm using a standard 19" IBM P96 CRT as my primary (and only) monitor, running 1152x864 85hz, using standard VGA analog connection.

My XBR960 is currently set up in its own normal standalone HDTV arrangement, connected to a Comcast 6412, JVC 40K, JVC DT100U, and Sony DVP-S9000ES. It also has an off-air antenna connection, both analog and digital (actually one single OTA coax split multiple times to feed the analog and digital inputs of the XBR960, as well as feeding both of the JVC boxes for analog and digital OTA).

The 6412 and two JVC boxes are connected to the HDTV both by component video (through a Zektor switch, and then on to the XBR960's INPUT6) and also by firewire. This allows me to watch any source via either component video or firewire, and also allows me to archive to D-VHS from 6412 to either JVC box, and also allows me to copy D-VHS from either JVC box to the other.

The DVP-9000ES is connected to the XBR960 by component video (INPUT5).

I also have a D* receiver for SD, connected to the XBR960 via S-video (INPUT1). My JVC 40K also has a split from my OTA antenna, and it's also fed to the XBR960 via S-video (INPUT3).


Now, for purposes of learning and getting my feet wet on HTPC and possibly building a separate machine down the road, I'd like to connect my XBR960 to the second DVI head of the ATI card in my PC using the HDMI input (INPUT7) on the XBR960. Toward this end, I've ordered a DVI-to-HDMI cable which should be here next week. I plan to run a L/R audio cable from the line out of the Audigy/2 to the analog audio input connectors associated with INPUT7.

From a wiring point of view, I'm assuming that's all I have to do. Yes? I'm assuming I don't need a TV card in the machine, but can accomplish what I want simply with the dual-head Radeon 9800 Pro. Yes?

As far as planned usage, I am not a video game player. Games mean nothing to me. Zero. And since the XBR960 is already in its own perfectly adequate standalone entertainment system environment, I really don't need to connect it to my PC for any real purpose.

However I really would like to, for example, compare DVD playback from my PC (through WinDVD 6.0 Platinum or CinePlayer 2.0) to that of the Sony hardware DVD player. I also would like to be able to play back HD movie clips and WMV10 clips from my PC to the XBR960, for demo or for real. These are my primary goals, at least at this time, with this machine. I have no real need to implement OTA HDTV, involving an HDTV card such as MyHD, on this machine. I have no real need to turn this PC into an HDTV DVR or OTA recorder. I already have the 6412 and JVC DT100U for those purposes, and am quite satisfied.

Nevertheless, I'd still like to connect my XBR960 to my ATI Radeon 9800 Pro via DVI-to-HDMI as monitor two... to use it as a 16:9 display device for DVD and HDTV movie clip content at all the standard 480p, 720p and 1080i source resolutions if possible.

And also, I'd like to begin learning about HTPC in general. I thought this would be the right way to start.


So,... what do I now need to do specifically as far as WinXP and the ATI configuration to bring the XBR960 in as my second monitor, in order to play DVD's or HD movie clips to it from my PC? I'm assuming it can simply be monitor two (properly configured, of course), and doesn't have to be monitor one. Yes?

As I mentioned earlier, I have a second WinXP machine with two monitors (one 19" at 1152x864 and one 21" at 1280x960, both at 85hz refresh), so I'm quite familiar with a two monitor configuration and operation under ATI. As mentioned previously that second machine has both an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro as well as an ATI TV Wonder Pro card in it (and ATI Multimedia Center 9.06 installed, for watching SD TV fed by composite line-input from a D* receiver). On that machine monitor one is the 21" (to my left), which is where my TV window is located. Monitor two is the 19" (on the right), which is where I primarily work. Of course the Windows desktop is spread across both monitors so that I can still use 100% of the video real estate, whether or not the TV window is open. This makes sense for that machine with two monitors in front of me, but doesn't seem quite so relevant on the XBR960 machine since I really only want to display HDTV on the XBR960 monitor two.

Is the implementation of the XBR960 as monitor two on the subject machine as simple as it is if it were just an ordinary 4:3 CRT monitor which I wanted to install as monitor two... but likely at some 16:9 resolution and a refresh rate of perhaps 60hz, or some other refresh rate? I don't know, which is why I'm asking for help.

I'm thinking there's more I need to be concerned with, such as resolution and refresh rate which perhaps are something other than I might intuit, especially since there seem to be many references to PowerStrip... a piece of software I've downloaded but have not yet installed or tried to learn how to use, though it looks like it might be important.

For example, as to resolution, what resolution do I set the XBR960 to as monitor two? The only seemingly relevant resolutions available to me currently (in one-monitor mode) are 1280x720, 1280x768, and 1360x768. Will there be additional resolutions presented when I go to two-monitor mode? Will there be additional resolutions presented after I physically connect the XBR960 via the second DVI head?

Also, do I set the refresh rate on the XBR960 monitor two to 60hz? Or what?

Also, how (if at all) does one specify the DVI output mode to be 480p, 720p or 1080i as the source resolution to the XBR960 (I realize that 720p source is upconverted to 1080i for display on the XBR960), or is this automatic based on the source content being played? Will DVD's go out at 480p, or are they upconverted, and if so how and why? How does one control this functionality, if it does need to be controlled?

Also, where, why, and how does PowerStrip come into play? Why would I need it or use it, and do I have to?


As you can see, these are very basic but important questions from a first-time HTPC experimenter. I've never used DVI (or HDMI) connections before. I've only used component video and firewire for HDTV up until now. So this is new, although the new wiring method is the least of my unknowns and concerns.

I'm mostly interested in getting a "recipe" from this thread for how I can best utilize the HDMI input on my XBR960 to support connection from my WinXP PC Radeon 9800 Pro's DVI head as monitor two in a two-monitor configuration. I have no interest in using the XBR960 as my primary monitor. I only want it to be an HDTV display device from my PC, with absolutely ZERO consideration for game playing. This is going to be an ordinary non-game HDTV-content display device as monitor two. Period.

What do I have to do on WinXP and ATI Catalyst to make this happen? Do I want WinXP and ATI to "extend my Windows desktop onto monitor two" (as I currently have on my second two-montitor machine which has two true 4:4 CRT monitors connected) or should I leave that option unchecked? Do I have to have the XBR960 always powered on when I'm using the PC, even if I have no need to use monitor two at that time?

Is there anything special I need to tell WinDVD and CinePlayer for playback to what will be a 16:9 monitor two? Can I go fullscreen 16:9 on monitor two, or does it need to be monitor one for fullscreen operation (i.e. reversing my Windows setup and moving my taskbar, desktop icons, etc., over to my existing 19" P96 which will now become monitor two)?


All answers and any additional directions and comments would be most appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

Interesting.

I have the KD-34XBR960 and an ATI 9800 XT.

For laughs, I took an HDMI-DVI cable and made the connection. The TV was recongnized right away. I started with a "safe value" of 1280X720 at 60HZ. I didn't get a full widescreen picture, as many others have complained about.

I also tried 1920X1080 at 60Hz and saw a black screen. Nothing. The refresh rates, in this case, let me choose 30Hz interlaced. Still a black screen. So, I guess I can't use that resolution at all.

As I understand from other threads, the max custom rez. I could use on this is something like 1744X1004 for 1080i? Is that right?

Interesting: At 1280X720, since I had a picture to worth with, to my amazement, I saw that I had the option to turn the refresh rate up as high as 85Hz and I did so.

Now, maybe it was my imagination, but this looked GREAT! What I need to know is: What is the ceiling refresh rate this XBR60 allows, or does the XBR960 simply force any signal to run at 60Hz, no matter what?

I want to see Half Life 2 in ALL of its glory on this thing, for starters!

let me know how that works i am waiting to use the hdmi for mine also but was waiting for the next driver release which is the fix for that

let me know how that works i am waiting to use the hdmi for mine also but was waiting for the next driver release which is the fix for that

I downloaded the latest ATI Cat drivers yesterday, 5.7. I was pleasantly surprised, even before that, that HDMI-DVI worked like a charm right off the bat. I was expecting either some bizarre HDCP issue or who knows what...and there was no problems!

I may fiddle some more with this today. I have PowerStrip as well, so if I have to start punching in custom figures, I guess I can do it.

I tried out the 1152X648 resolution that several people have touted around here for 720p and sure enough, it was near perfect. Almost no overscan whatsoever. I can't imagine really increasing it much more past that before I would have overscan.

I have yet to try and 1080i scans. Again, I noticed that I was allowed to turn the refresh rate up to at least 85Hz and I did so.

I'm just really wondering if the Sony ALLOWS higher refresh rates, or if it simply converts anything to 60Hz come hell or high water.

I tried it last night and get 720 and 1080 but for some reason mce fries when it opens at 1080. I can see a few things that will make me wait for the 5.8 cats

I can see a few things that will make me wait for the 5.8 cats


Please! Tell me!

(I'm using XP Pro, FWIW...)

sony has a max refresh rate of 60 hz so i would advise not to excede this. its in the cats control center it says a max of 1920 x 1080 and 60 hz. it also recognises the tv as a sony.

sony has a max refresh rate of 60 hz so i would advise not to excede this. its in the cats control center it says a max of 1920 x 1080 and 60 hz. it also recognises the tv as a sony.

So if I got some crazy idea about using say...an Iscan HD+ and trying to take advantage of this 72Hz that people rave about...no dice, huh? Just wanted to make sure.

So i guess its totally impossible to record any content via firewire from the 960 directly to a PC. Correct me if i'm wrong here.

I just built a MythTV box that I'm very eager to connect to my KD34XBR960, and I'd be very grateful for any help relative to coming up with a workable modeline. I'm going to be connectiing it via a VGA-->component transcoder (the HDMI port is already used by my DVD player) and only intend to use the MythTV box at HD resolutions--the HD-3000 is the only card I have in there. Any specific parameters/guidelines would be much appreciated...while KnoppMyth provides sample configuration files for all sorts of cards, it's sadly deficient where sample HD configs are concerned.

Any updates from XBR owners?

I am trying to get this TV working with my NVIDIA 6800 (latest drivers)....

Using DVI --> HDMI...

Picture comes out perfectly clear no blurriness, etc... (probably better than my SONY monitor)

But there is significant overscan....

The refresh rate is at 60Hz, give me a slight headache when too close to the TV...

Anyone know of a good setting to make the overscan go away?

Do I need Windows Media Center edition to do this?

AMD 64 3500
Nvidia 6800 (81.XX)
2GB DDR 400

But there is significant overscan....




As there is with the default input settings on this monitor - why should the HDMI be any different?

I just put a post on the other xbr forum (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6512215&&#post6512215) that might have belonged here. Oops. Well, if there are no takers over there, maybe you folks can pick up on it. I did skim the 3 pages of this forum, but could only do a few key word searches on their 87 pager.

Bottom line question is how to make lemonaid out of PBS sending a shrunk 16:9 inside of a 4:3 when the "Wide Mode" button on the TV won't zoom it.

--Dale--

Did anyone ever find/create a driver for this tv to work on xp with firewire?

Just got myself a 960

WOWSERZ! This is a NICE TV!

Anyhew, 9800 pro DVI-HDMI with powerstrip @ 1152x648 works great and looks amazing.

I cant get any 1080ish settings to work. I either get black screen or a picture that blinks black every half second or so. I assume that means the timings in that setting are close but I have no idea what to start tweaking.

Has anyone gotten their 960 to work with this connection at a 1080ish setting?

TIA,
Kevin

If i remember you start with 1776 x 1000 and nudge it down just a hair to get it to fiy.

I have tried that resolution with the same results as all the 1920x1080i choices in powerstrip.

I have also tried all of the 1080ish timings in the Karnis custom resolution sticky. They all give the same result.

I hope I'm not beating a dead horse by posting in this topic, or if anyone's even still listening...I've been trying to get the best performance out of this tv with output from my pc for months, but don't really know how high I should be aiming.

I've got the KD-34XBR960N hooked up to an nvidia geforce 6200 via dvi-to-hdmi. After briefly fiddling with the settings in the nvidia drivers, the picture worked fine at a resolution ~720, with overscan perfectly adjusted. The clarity at 1080 is atrocious and I don't expect any improvement in that area. At 720 though, (not sure of the exact resolution output at the moment) the picture is very good; videos are fantastic, and general PC tasks are do-able...I'd like the clarity on details like text and icons to be improved, but I don't know if I'm already at the upper limit.

I've seen a lot of posts here claiming that the display functioned great right out of the box, and I've seen a lot that admit its limitations, and I'm just wondering how what I'm getting out of it measures up to these standards. What kinds of tasks do people use this display for, and to what degree are you satisfied with the results? Can I ever expect display quality approaching that of an LCD HDTV, and if so....how'd you do that???

I'm running at a 720 based resolution. I tried at a 1080 based resolution, but the fonts were too small. I find the 720 based resolution okay, but I don't think you will ever get the same kind of 'perfection' from a geometric standpoint as you would from an LCD; I see a bit of imperfection in the 'rectangularness' on the edges. Of course you would never notice this when used as a TV, where the edges are in the overscan area, but with a desktop, it becomes more obvious since you have to see the edges to be effective. I presume you are using powerstrip and the 1152x648?

--Dale--

Thought I should post and report that I *have* managed to get recording via firewire working with KD-34XBR960's ATSC receiver and Windows XP (MCE 2005) using CapDVHS ...

This might sound odd, but I really can't tell you exactly *how* I managed to get it to work, other than to say it involved plugging/unplugging firewire cable several times when installing the drivers, and possibly some uninstalling/reinstalling of certian related drivers ....

Follows is a bit of what I discovered in case some of it is hopefully of use for others .. Sorry it is so long, and much of it is quite "nebulous" and probably confusing ....

first -- *disclaimer* -- If you mess with this -- *count* on spending quite a bit of time with it and having to do quite a bit of "experimenting" -- and also It would probably be an excellent idea to *make sure* you have a good system backup before you mess with it - as you might need it, especially if you want to have things as "clean" as possible -- I'd also probably turn OFF system restore while you're messing with this, and then if you use it, turn it back on after you're done and satisfied everything is "working" :

#1). -- when you first plug in the firewire cable between the PC and TV(or maybe the 2nd or 3rd time you do it) -- XP actually *does* automatically find, and install a "61883 Bus device(I think)" and a "AVC Device(definitely)" for the KD34XBR960 -note - I tested this using a system restored from a "clean" backup on DVD, it wasn't just something that was already "swimming around" on my system --

But, they are *hidden* from device manager .... *completely hidden* - checking "show hidden devices doesn't show it ----- You'll only see them(or only one of them depending upon circumstances) later when other devices(AV/C tuner, AV/C monitor and/or more instances of "KD-34XBR960" show up in device manager/etc..

If you Uninstall/remove these devices then "scan for hardware changes" -- You may also quickly see it/them(at least the one for "AVC device") for a time pop up in device manager as multiple instances of "KD34XBR960" in the "other devices" section until XP "automatically" installs them ....

At this point, it may be the case that* XP may not *allways* automatically install those "correctly", and it may be necessary in some cases to manually install "AVC device" or "61883 device" for further instances of "KD34XBR960" causing multiple "instances" of "AVC device" or "61883 Class Bus device" to "show up"(well sort of) in device manager -- in which case, one of them won't work "right", and therefore THEN it may be necessary to "uninstall"(and reboot/etc) the one that isn't working (which *may* not be the instance of it XP "says" isn't working).

-----------------------------

#2). Even if device manager says the MEI "AV/C tuner" driver installs cleanly -- in some cases it still might not work -- In which case *I think* you will have to mess around with some of what is described in #1 -- also, even though it may not be apparent, rebooting the machine may be necessary as well ... I also came across instances when MEI "AV/C tuner" would not work, in which case you will get a "code 19" message, saying the driver isn't working because registry settings for it are corrupted or missing. Also - other driver Inf's may work as well ... "Motorola AV/C tuner motorla DCT-xxxx" from firestb package or Motorla DCT-6200" ... Keep in mind, All we are doing here is capturing a transport stream via 1394 .... In fact, working on a system just completely restored from a "clean" backup from DVD -- for some reason, I *had* to install the Moto DCT-6200 driver first, then uninstall it, then install the MEI AV/C tuner driver in order for the "generic" A/VC tuner driver to work ... It didn't work by installing the "generic" AV/C tuner driver, first for some reason ......

#3). After getting AV/C tuner driver properly installed/etc, You're still going to end up with a "extra" instance of "KD-34xbr960" showing up in device manager -- while you CAN install it as AVC device" and it will "work", and will add a second "AVC device" to the tree -- when you reboot machine it will either show as "AV/C device" not working, or will be back to showing up as "KD34XBR960" again ...It's probably best to just disable this (so a red X shows up with it after you reboot), as it might end up messing things up again and getting the "wrong" thing installed for AV/C device ... What is this "extra" instance of it? I don't know ... Maybe it's the "memory stick" or "panel device"(I tried that, but it didn't work), but I certianly can't get it to work ...

4). There is also "AV/C monitor" device found -- while I've played around with it a bit, I have also just disabled it, as I don't know what driver would work with it -- and even if there were a driver that would work with it, I'm not sure if any of the software I'm using would actually send the transport stream back to the TV so it could be decoded/displayed -- I think firebus DTV recorder may be able to do this, but I tried the evaluation version of it, and couldn't get it to work with either the driver for my PC's 1394 Host controller(VIA chipset) supplied with XP, or with the Firebus supplied 1394 driver(with the latter, it can't even find anything to show the Sony is hooked up via firewire) ... Of course, in the FAQ section on Vividlogic's website, it does say they don't support Win XP MCE ....

----------------

In any case, "somehow" I've gotten it to work quite nicely with CapDVHS --- which is nice for me, as #1), OTA HD recording is really all I'm interested in here, #2). The TV is only going to occasionally and temporarily be hooked up to the PC via firewire, and #3), CapDVHS really does all I need it for ...

Well, I'd also like to be able to play it back to the TV as well via firewire, only way I can get it back to the TV now is to downrez it and put it on DVD - I'm not going to be using DVI connection as the PC is in another room ....

Anyway -- I've been testing this for about a week now, and Everytime I plug the firewire cable in, it works, and finds everything it needs to in order to work, even though everything with the AVC drivers and XP isn't necessarily 100% "fair and a middlin' ... However, if I reboot machine *while* firewire cable is still plugged into PC, I do have to unplug then plug back in the cable after restarting for it to work.

Also note that at one point I tried using the MCE DVR and the firestb package -- but couldn't get it to work (maybe because the AV/C panel driver isn't installed?) There was a "microsoft Video/TV connection" added to my network connections --- But alas, even though the recording off the MCE analog TV tuner in the PC worked, nothing was recorded from the Sony via firewire.

Hope some of that makes some sense, and others so interested meet with some success with this ....

Follows are descriptions of attached screen shots :

device manager1.jpg is how it is "working", with "show hidden devices" option selected for device manager --- added arrows to the items of interest - Note that under "location" in Device manager "general" tab, the "AVC Device" entry says it is attached to "61883 Class Bus Device" ....

devicemanager2.jpg shows what happens if I "enable" the "KD34XBR960" device(no driver installed for it) - Don't ask why there's still a red X next to "KD-34XBR960", as I certianly clicked on "enable" device in order to take this screenshot! do note that after I took the screenshot, everything related to the KD34XBR960's devices disappeared, and I couldn't get them back by unplugging the cable ... It was as if the 1394 port on PC "locked up" -- I was able to reboot machine, and THEN get them back, and disable the "KD34XBR960" entry(with no red X) and everything then "returned to "normal" .... Oh, note that for 61883 Class Bus device in "location" in Genral tab of device manager "properties" for this device, it says it is attached to my PC's 1394 controller .

Capdvhs.jpg - Shows a recording via firewire from XBR960 "in action" with CapDVHS -- If you get it to work, it should work something like this ....

I have been waiting for 2 years trying to figure out a way to play the HTPC back into the Sony via Firewire. Let me know when you get that figured out :)

First Quick update to last post -- Or in other words, a shorter version of it ...

Looked at this a little more, and on my system at least (XP MCE 2005, 1394 controller is VIA chipset) -- when 1st detecting the hardware on a "clean" system anyway -- I can just plug+unplug firewire cable from PC several times, and "eventually" "AV/C tuner" and AV/C Monitor" will pop up in device manager ... I then can install driver for AV/C tuner, then disable the AV/C monitor and "KD-34XBR060" and am ready to go to record HD from the KD-34XBR960 via firewire with CapDVHS (Note : It works with VLC Player's "open capture device" as well(stream locally to display or dump raw output to file), just don't choose "configure device" or it will probably lock up ...

Another note : Also, as noted in last post -- Note that the "generic" MEI driver for "AV/C Tuner device" which is what would be installed "automatically" if you point it to subdirectory a MEI Inf/have XP search that subdirectory(folder)/etc "automatically" to install the driver --- does *not* work if I've never installed another driver for the AV/C tuner, previously, but *does* work if I install another driver that does work first, then update it to the Generic AVC tuner driver .... Quickly looked a bit at the Windows registry entries involved with that, but being lazy didn't spend enough time to document it .... In any case, However MEI drivers for Motorla AV/C Tuner DCT-xxxx" or DCT-6412 are two that I've tried that do work right off the bat, and there's really no reason I can find to install anything else ..

I have been waiting for 2 years trying to figure out a way to play the HTPC back into the Sony via Firewire. Let me know when you get that figured out :)

Same here ... be sure to tell us if you run into any success .... at this point looks like I'm going to run out of luck on that one ...

I haven't taken the time to read up on the AVC specs/and or how it works however -- other than to quickly glance over some stuff on a 1394 trade site and some info on AVC driver development on Microsoft's MSDN site --- From what I gather, Seems like it's mostly been more widely "implemented" and used so far for DVHS decks and for getting DV from camcorders to PC's and back/etc ...

For instance --- I can't even seem to dig up a AVC "Type 0" driver(for AVC monitor subunit from what I can find) for *any* display out there, and, In one case, I found info on one of Sony's Professional displays which has ilink port, but in some of the literature says something along the lines of : "but does not support the full AVC command set " ...

I'll be damned if i didn't just record right from the tuner by using the unplu and plug back in method of installing the TV.
I have installed the Motorola box drivers previously as well as drivers for a little K-World usb tuner that I have. I didn't point to any particular drivers but chose the ones it found. I'll let you know if can come up with any other details.
I can record from the TVs tuner, but not from any video signal.

I was able to record from the OTA tuner in 2004 to PC. That wasn't a trick. The trick would be recording YPbPr from Input 5 or Input 6 back to PC, which obviously didn't work. I could always hope :)

Phantastica, excellent thread. What's funny is I have almost the same setup has you (same TV, computer case and video card). I'm looking to use Windows Vista on my TV as a primary monitor, as you know, our TV only have component and HDMI for inputs and our video card (mine is unflashed unlike yours) has DVI out- what would you recommend?

I have been waiting for 2 years trying to figure out a way to play the HTPC back into the Sony via Firewire. Let me know when you get that figured out :)

I play back MPEG2 transport streams to my KD-34XBR960 from my Pentium 4 computer with Mac OS X loaded. The application I use is VirtualDVHS, it is included in the Apple Firewire Dev kit.

You can make transport streams from DVD with VLC Media player.

This may not be news, but I have my TV connected to my Motorola DCT3412 and the 3412 connected to a PC. This daisy chain lets me record either source with CAPDVHS.

Although it seems that anytime I rip directly from the cablebox I have to eventually reset (unplug) the box as it gets fouled up.

What I'd like to figure out is a more efficient way to get the transport stream from either to a useable computer file.

What I'd like to figure out is a more efficient way to get the transport stream from either to a useable computer file.There are tuner boards for PC's that do a great job of laying-down a transport stream, which is basically a wrapped mpeg. It takes a lot of CPU to transform it into, say, a DVD format, but if you just want to 'catch and release', the transport streams are great. MyHD and Fusion are a few of your choices. You not only get your shows on hard disk, you also get Tivo-ish functionality including season pass-ish functionality... that's pretty efficient.

--Dale--

I agree with Dale on the hardware playback options - but you can also playback with software (I have used TT2, Nero Showtime, VLC player) or hardware over the network from computer files (eg Avel LP2) so the comment on useable computer files doesn't make sense. These options always worked for me on ts files captured from cable via firewire.

Hi, I wasn't sure based on the previous posts, but I was wondering if there was a way to run a video out from Firewire on a computer to the xbr960, ideally at 720p.
Also, I am running just XP Pro, not MCE.

Hi, I wasn't sure based on the previous posts, but I was wondering if there was a way to run a video out from Firewire on a computer to the xbr960, ideally at 720p.
Also, I am running just XP Pro, not MCE.

Hi Nirvelli,

I think this thread is in hibernation and I'm not an expert on such things. However, I have an XBR960 and can successfully send HD material via FW to the set by way of my Macintosh. Clearly this is something that also can be done on a PC, I would guess. I think you need some program that can mimic a DVHS deck and all should be fine. I bet a quick Google search (or search on this site) can yield some good info.

Cheers,
Joe
Philly
--------------

Hi jwbausch,
Thanks for your help. I have tried a few of these programs, but none of them will actually find my TV as a device. It shows up in the Device Manager as "Sony KD34XBR960" or sometimes as "AVC Device", but it always reports some kind of error.
As you have a Mac, I don't know if you could help me, but any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Nirvelli

Have you tried Vividlogic's Firebus DTVR software (http://www.vividlogic.com/products/dtvr_overview.html)?

Update: Hmm...VL's site seems not to point to the actual product anymore, although you can still find the trial download here (http://www.vividlogic.com/products/dtvr_download_now.html). Maybe it's not supported any longer??

Just In case there is any useful clue here(I have no idea! ) for anyone who hasn't noticed this who is working on getting any sort of playback from windows based PC to KD34XBR960 via firewire to work:

Mainly, it Looks like some sort of memory address is listed in a ilink "device list" screen present in the "QM/info" section of Service menu when PC is connected to the TV via firewire.

Attached screenshot "ilinkstatus1.jpg" is screenshot showing a "ilinkstatus" info screen present in KD34XBR960 Service menu(Section QM/Info/#0, value 3), with PC hooked Up to XBR960 via firewire.

Attached screenshot "ilinkdevicelist.jpg" is screenshot showing a "ilinkdevicelist" info screen present in KD34XBR960 Service menu(section QM/Info/#0, Value #4), with PC hooked up to XBR960 via firewire. Note, you can't tell it, the brightest bar about 1/3 way down contains a text label of "ilink device status, page 1".

Attached screenshot "ilinkdisconnected.jpg" is with firewire cable disconnected, and shows only the differences from the other two screenshots -- At left, for "ilinkstatus" screen, at right for "ilinkDevice list" screen.

Noticed several months ago, sorry It's taken so long for me to post it in case it's useful to someone ...Also, sorry for the poor quality of the digital camera screenshots ...

Hi jwbausch,
Thanks for your help. I have tried a few of these programs, but none of them will actually find my TV as a device. It shows up in the Device Manager as "Sony KD34XBR960" or sometimes as "AVC Device", but it always reports some kind of error.
As you have a Mac, I don't know if you could help me, but any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Nirvelli

Any luck with this?

Uh, at one point, I was able to record HDTV through some kind of program, but I only had the demo version, and the program was bloated, and only recorded into some odd format that I couldn't figure out how to convert to something else. I couldn't stream video with it, and I couldn't output to the TV. I ended up buying a VGA-to-component adapter.

I'm trying to calibrate my 34xbr960 that is connected to my HTPC using a dvi/hdmi connector. The HDMI is video input 7 on the tv. The htpc is rather old (p4 socket 478) using an older gfx card (nvidia 6800GT).

I can see output from the htpc fine through the 34xbr960. My problem is that when I enter the service menu, there is no picture and the "video 7" on the upper left of the screen does not go away. It shows beneath the green letters of the service menu on a dark screen. If I leave the menu by turning the tv off then back on, the desktop appears again (but with horrible gamma). The gamma is what I am attempting to fix by tweaking the service menu codes but I need the image from the computer to use to calibrate against.

Seems like I might be doing something wrong but can't figure it out. Anyone have this experience or know of how to fix it?

Oh, BTW, while in the service menu I can switch sources and see the picture from other inputs with no problems. Its only the HTPC that's giving me this problem. I have the desktop resolution at 1080i.

Are you using a program like PowerStrip or are you just using the nVidia drivers?
Also, do you have the newest driver set for your card?
I have a PC running an nVidia 8800GTX through a DVI/HDMI cable into Video 7, and the picture comes across great.

I'm using the nVidia drivers. I can see the picture fine otherwise. Its only when I go into the service mode that there is no picture.

Oh, I see.
I don't really know much about the service menus.
That sounds like quite an odd problem though.

I quickly browsed through this topic and I can't seem to figure this out. I have a KD-34XBR960 and I just bought a pc with an nvidia graphics card with dvi. I have a dvi to hdmi adapter running to my tv. It's displaying a picture but most of the screen is cut off. I just get the middle of the screen but I have cut off at all 4 sides of the screen. I changed the resolution to o1920X1080 but that didn't help as well as other resolutions. No matter what res I change it to it never changes the amount of viewable area, higher res gives smaller font but I still have the same amount of cutoff. PLEASE! If anyone can help I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,
Rick

I don't quite remember where, but somewhere in the nVidia control panel there should be a screen-size setting. It has a slider bar that will control your overscan.
Also, if you are using an 8800 series card, make sure to check out this link (http://nvidia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/nvidia.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2064&p_created=1177972007&p_sid=P65G2sWi&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=2007&p_li=&p_topview=1).

Actually, the nVidia Knowledge Base (http://nvidia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/nvidia.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php) is quite a helpful place all-around.

I don't quite remember where, but somewhere in the nVidia control panel there should be a screen-size setting. It has a slider bar that will control your overscan.
Also, if you are using an 8800 series card, make sure to check out this link (http://nvidia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/nvidia.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2064&p_created=1177972007&p_sid=P65G2sWi&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=2007&p_li=&p_topview=1).

Actually, the nVidia Knowledge Base (http://nvidia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/nvidia.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php) is quite a helpful place all-around.

The overscan slider was very helpful for me as well. I am using XP with a DVI>HDMI adapter from my GeForce7300 to my XBR960. I prefer setting the 7300 to 720p in the general resolution settings, then using the overscan settings to tweak it to where I want it. And if you are using XP instead of Vista, you may want to try using an older video driver for your card. I've tried upgrading to the latest and greatest drivers when they come out, but always wind up rolling them back. I am still using the drivers from 2005, Forceware 77.77, they seem to work best for my setup. If you want to give them a shot, here's a link:


http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_77.77.html

^^ crap, I just gave up and ended up getting rid of the pc, but I had the 7300 as well (except with vista). How would you say the PQ is? Is it like looking into a normal monitor?

Hey. My client has a KD30XS955. He has WinXP, 8500GT, DVI to HDMI. What is the best way to line up the screen on this older CRT? Settings, connections ect. ?
Thanks guys!

I don't know if it will work with the 8500GT, but if you install powerstrip and define a resolution within a resolution, you can solve the overscan problem.

Yeah I have a RPLCD and an 8500GT and cannot get it exact because you cannot do cusom rez with the 8500GT on powerstrip. But you think an ATi card would work for this TV? He also wants to do some COD4, heavy gaming as well.

Thanks man

I just installed an MSI 8500GT. With the latest Forceware drivers, 169.21, you can get it pretty close. I chose 720p output, then used the resize tool. That was good enough for me. To get it perfect, you need to get the overscan on the display itself perfect first. This involves messing with the service menu, which I personally avoid like the plague. If your customer is adamant about it, it can be done. There are detailed posts explaining the procedure over in the Official 34XBR960 thread on the Direct View forum. Look for DSperber's post.

Yeah I have a RPLCD and an 8500GT and cannot get it exact because you cannot do cusom rez with the 8500GT on powerstrip. But you think an ATi card would work for this TV?I've used two ati based cards with powerstrip/custom rez for my Sony direct view, so yes, I suspect an ati board would work. I've always bought "cheap" boards off eBay and have been happy with them. The last board I bought was ATI Radeon X300 SE 128 MB PCIe Video Graphics Card for $25. Since I'm not a gamer it's easier to pick a card.

--Dale--

Right on, thanks guys. It dosn't have to be perfect. I think that resize tool is in the nVidia menu ya? I will look for it there.

I used to run a 9600XT on my HTPC and was able to get 1:1 with powerstrip. But my new one on the 8500GT is overscan. Which is ok, because we use it for tv shows/movies and iTunes.. no biggy.

Pfft, nm. I just crossloop 'd right in and did the nvidia resize tool. Good to go.
;)

Thanks~

Whats the best way to hook up my pc to the xbr960, best picture i can get is using nvidia control panel over component connection: 720p mode, 1280x720 resolution, adjusted for overscan using panel. Theres gotta be a better way to do this, 1080 mode gives a blurry picture no matter what res. Anyone have any luck over the past year? I'm using a 7900 gtx btw.

Whats the best way to hook up my pc to the xbr960, best picture i can get is using nvidia control panel over component connection: 720p mode, 1280x720 resolution, adjusted for overscan using panel. Theres gotta be a better way to do this, 1080 mode gives a blurry picture no matter what res. Anyone have any luck over the past year? I'm using a 7900 gtx btw.

That is the exact setup I am using now except for substituting a DVI-HDMI cable for the component. I'm using an MSI 8500GT card now, but I used a Gigabyte 7300GS with Component for a couple of years before that. PQ is the same for both cards, so upgrading your 7900 probably won't do much either. I've tried just about every possible combo there is without success. I even tried an ATI 2400 pro with HDMI, but the results were the same. The setup you are running now is pretty much as good as it gets.