Custom Resolution Guide for 1080i HDTV-HTPC-POWERSTRIP-RADEON - Page 5

Thanks guys my max resolution was too low and I had virtual desktop symptom2 so I uninstalled every thing to do with ATI and reinstalled just the ATI driver and used the custom monitor driver Karnis posted and no more virtual desktop.

Karnis,

Quick question. A lot of your resolution/timings mention that they are set for 540p timings. I know that in a way 540p and 1080i are the same. But, I am looking to set up my HTPC with a Sony 34XBR800 which (according to the manual) suports component inputs of 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i.

Can I use the setting which have the 540p timings? Will the set see those as if they were 1080i?

Sorry if this is a dumb question. Still trying to figure out the whole powerstrip timings, scan rates, etc.

Also what are the front and back porch settings?

Thanks.

RTK, I was simply putting forth the case that the ATI component adapter works when someone was claiming it didn't work at all. I find the adapter very useful for the resolutions that I am able to use with it. I concede that there are some resolutions that you can't use with this adapter.

Bump to keep this on the 1st page in the hope Karnis (or someone who knows) will see my question above. And also because the thread is very helpful and may head off many questions.

Yes, the scan rate for 540p is the same as 1080i, so it should work fine.

I would also point out that if your set accepts 720p you may want to try a resolution of 1280x720p and see how that looks. It may look great, or if it gets converted to 1080i internally it may not look so hot. Might be worth a try, though.

Thanks. The set converts 720p to 1080i, so who knows what that conversion will do to the computer image. Great to hear about the 540p settings. That will give me a lot more options.

Karnis, or someone:
I just installed a 9700 pro, with the DVI based ATI dongle. I upgraded from a 8500DV AIW. I'm trying to get some of the custom timings to work on my Zenith (DW60). Installed the Mits driver file (thanks), am using PS, and can get the TV to display 1280x720 no problem. What I am having problems with is getting resolutions like 1440x480, or 848x480 to display properly without the virtual desktop kicking in. I had the same problem with the 8500, but understand the process better than I did before.
Using the custom driver has no effect on my ability to change the refresh rate higher or lower than 60 (ATI properties screen), which indicates some type of dongle restrictions. I do have the option of using a VGA connection from the card to the monitor(it sees a set top box RGB, or a PC RGB). I really would like to use what I have set up (dongle), but would like to be able to try other resolutions without the VDT. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Mark

Has anyone every had either interlaced desktop or overlay in WinXP with a Radeon 8500 and Toshiba XXH81 series RPTV?

Powerstrip always says it accepts it yet when I "switch" nothing ever changes. I have no problem with the HiPix and interlaced, but the Radeon never can do it.

Interlaced desktop should work, but interlaced video overlay has always been broken in XP. See the ATI interlaced overlay thread and be sure to send some feedback to ATI letting them know you want this feature fixed.

please ignore any of my previous posts as i some how managed to muddle through getting 1920x1080i though the vga input on my pioneer rptv. this is supposed to be what it is expecting.

now the issue is of course the overscan problem but also a small vertical flicker. i went into powerstrp and tried tweaking vert ( about 30) and horizontal ( 33.75) but as i went to the limit ( of instability ) in each, it didn't improve noticably. i also tried tweaking the vertical and horizontal sync width but still no go. iam using a high quality xvga cable with baluns on it. i don't know what else to try.
both h and vsync are set to + on the radeon card control panel( aiw8500dv) i tried checking composite sync ( how does this work?)

any ideas very much appreciated!

Thanks. I already had the hook in the ini but still couldn't get it to work. However, I am able to choose 1920x1080i and click apply on the main powerstrip dislay profile page as you suggested. It does switch correctly for desktop, but I can't seem to eliminate the underscan with the usual powerstrip custom screen. I guess I'll need to modify the custom resolution and apply that until it works.

Karnis,

One slight problem I've had with a couple of the timings, mainly 960x540 and 848x480, is that the "blanking" area alway cuts off some of the desktop on the top and the bottom. Even if I go into the service menu of the TV and reduce the height of the visible screen (this way I can ususally see all the way to the edge of the signal being displayed). If I go into powerstrip and try to reduce the height, it actually starts to sort of creep up and I start to lose mora and more of the taskbar and the top of the screen.

I can also see this on my computer monitor downstairs when I apply the timings. You can visibly see the area of the screen that is displaying the blanking area and the desktop itself, but when I try to reduce the size, it just cuts off more of the window as it shrinks on my screen.

I hope I explained what is going on clearly enough. Am I approaching this the wrong way? Should I be trying to make the desktop larger and adjust via the TV's service menu? I think I tried that and eventually lost sync before I got it to a good position.

Thanks for all your help!
Tim

yea, for some reason as I pull the borders of the image out it just starts to cut it off even though I hadn't gotten to 0 on the front or back porch controls. This is with a radeon 9500 and like I said, it does it on my TV and on my computer monitor. I'll try to look at it some more tonight. I'll also post my current timings that at least get me the majority of the desktop displayed. I lose about half of the task bar and an equivalent amount off the top. Left and right are fine.

I'm assuming the ATI controls for height and width are just adjusting the same parameters that powertrip adjusts...am I correct? I haven't played with that yet.

Tim

i added all the custom configs from the guide here and when i used the 1920x1080i as i stated above, the flicker especially on dialog boxes was bad. i tried timing adjustments to no avail. i also just tried your 960x540p and the flicker went to zero but the size of everything got huge. me pioneer says it only takes 1080i through the vga input but it seems to be doing something to the 960x540p signal. also the task bar and sides are cut off and when i try to adjust porches it starts worsening the image. i'm really dense on this stuff so apologize in advance but can you help me nderstand what is going on and how i can fix it? thx

That is normal for interlaced resolutions.

That sounds normal too, if the TV is using the 540p signal directly instead of upconverting it, it should look twice as big because there is only half as much resolution available.

Hi-

I have an ATI 9500 w/ hdtv dongle (AA on order, am fedup with this dongle) and am wondering what the right settings are for a 4:3 aspect ratio 1080i resolution. So far I can only get the following resolutions to work:

640x480p
720x480p
1920x1080i (16x9)

unfortunatley I can't get the ATI driver or powerstrip to send my TV something like:

1776x1000 (4x3)
1440x1080 (4x3)
1920x1440 (4x3)

at an interlaced 30hz. the only options are 60hz. everything else results in panning.

Any suggestions?

-Omar

The task bar and sides (as well as the top) are cut off thanks to overscan, which is why many of us are using modes such as 720x480p with 540p timings as these make use of the porch settings to minimize the effects of overscan.

I have an 9700 Pro, XP, and the newest 3.0 drivers, Sony RPTV, PS 3.3/

I can get a great 1920x1080i using the timings provided.
However, 1600x900 and all other "i" resolutions have severe verticle underscan.

When I try and fix this interactily all of my interlace goes to hell and I get 59hz and of course scrambling screen.

WHat should I do for say 20% underscan verically based on what the current 1600x900i timings are in the first post by the god

Vertical. I have no problem adjusting the width, but if I try to adjust height or try to move the screen vertically I alway have some part of the screen blocked off. Basically nearly half of the task bar on the bottom and half of a title bar on top. When try to shrink the screen it shrinks, but it also cuts off more of the bottom. Same thing when I try to expand the screen, it expands but cuts off more of the top. When I start to go in the right direction, powerstrip won't let me move it any lower or make it any tallker. Here are the powerstrip parameter.


PowerStrip timing parameters:
960x540=960,108,80,100,540,0,1,24,42120,272

Generic timing details for 960x540:
HFP=108 HSW=80 HBP=100 kHz=34 VFP=0 VSW=1 VBP=24 Hz=60

Tim

Edit: Well...848x480 with smaller fonts actually looks better anyway, so I'm going to go with that. I guess I just had to figure that out for myself!

I'm not at home so going from memory. Right click on the desktop and click on properties, click on the settings tab, click on the "advanced" button to bring up the ATI control panel, click on the displays tab, click on the "YPrPb" and there should be a blue button which says something like custom settings or resolutions. check the boxes of the ones you wish to enable. (you can select 540p although it wont work). you will probably be asked or you will need to reboot after which the supported HD resolutions should be available.

Karnis:

I may have figured out how to use PowerStrip from your previous posts.

I checked and the manual on your Mit W55819 and my W65908 DTV input are the same specs.

For some reason I am unable to make any of the T&Rs work so far? All I get is blue screen on the DTV input using the RGB cable described below.

I suspect the DVI to VGA dongle on the ATI AIW Radeon 8500 is doing somthing with the sync? The Mits spec says we need sync on green. In PowerStrip Sync on Green is always greyed out? Could it be a signal level issue?

I made a cable using a 15pin connector to three 75ohm coax leads to represent the RGB signals on pin 1, 2 and 3 plus ground on 6,7 and 8. I cut in half two six foot video RCA patch cords to make the three 75ohm RBG RCA leads.

I also have a Panasonic LCD projector I have been trying to input to it too. I get some what of a picture, It doesn't seem to be rolling so I figure it's a horizonatal frequency issue? The Panasonic has a screen that displays H and V frequency the H frequency is always several hertz lower than what PowerStrip is set at?

Any thoughts or comments?

cheers,

Using powerstip, I can adjust my overscan by tweaking the scan frequencies, however I'm not sure how safe it is to do this.

While playing with the settings I noticed that my display will trip into vertical compression mode when I go from 31.5 to 33.75 kHz.

I've also noticed that with some of the timings posted here, that my display seems to go into "ultra-bright" mode. This doesn't seem too healthy so I quickly went back to the defaults.

Obviously, I won't use settings that don't give me a picture on my display, but can I damage my TV if I use not-standard frequencies?

I'm driving a Sony KP-53HS30 with an ATI AIW 9700 Pro.

Please Help,

-Z

Yes, using 33.75 (540p timing) to compensate for display overscan is exactly what Karnis has been describing.

but how about the in-betwen timings? For example, I can reduce overscan in 4x3 mode by choosing a scan freq. above 31.5, but below the trip for vertical compression.