[ellisr63]

I have a LG 3510a HDTV tuner I am using with my Viewsonic 19" flat panel monitor. I am trying to watch HDTV at higher than 480p but whenever I switch to higher resolutions the width is squashed. I can get the vertical resolution up to 1900 but the horizontal resolution will go no higher than 520. I have tried using all seven aspect ratio controls to no avail. Any ideas?

Ron

 

[jdspencer]

Actually, the 480 is the vertical resolution! The seven aspect ratios are on the Viewsonic, right? What format are you outputting from the HD tuner?

 

[jckessler]

If you're outputting either 720p or 1080i to the computer monitor you will have to vertically squeeze the raster to create a letterbox. Try setting the vertical size smaller. this will create a "windowbox" effect for non HD programming (black bars all the way around). You can get around this by switching output to 480p and choosing the "cropped" setting on the 3510's remote control.


All 720p and 1080i outputs are 16:9 aspect ratio.


I don't think you can actually set the resolution on the monitor, so I'm not sure what the "vertical resolution" numbers represent.

 

[ellisr63]

jdspencer,

The Viewsonic has a native resolution of 1280x1024. The seven aspect ratios are on the lst 3510a for output when viewing on a 4x3 screen. When I set the lst 3510a to 720p my Viewsonic reads it as 1280x540, 1080i gives me a 1920x540 and 480p gives me 640x480 (as I recall, I do know that 480p is reading correctly on the viewsonic but the second number is only going up to 540). When I increase the resolution I only get a little increase in the second number. I would think that as I increased the resolution I would get a more letterboxed output (without setting to crop). But I am only getting bars on the sides. If I set the lst to "set by program" I get black bars on all sides. Any ideas?

Ron

 

[ellisr63]

The monitor has a autoset resolution. I have no way of adjusting the vertical raster on the lcd monitor. How would I do that? The number I was giving you at the monitor were what I saw when I pushed the button on the monitor to see the resolution.

 

[jckessler]

Didn't realize this was an LCD. You may be out of luck getting the correct aspect ratio.


If LCDs aren't designed to receive HDTV timings, it won't know to do the squeeze.

 

[jdspencer]

I think you will need another piece of equipment to convert the tuner into something that the monitor can use. BTW, the 1080i giving you 1920 by 540 sounds correct. The monitor doesn't know about interlaced so it is reporting the progressive number of lines. 1080 / 2 = 540.

 

[Mac The Knife]

Yep, you'll need something similar to the Faroudja NRS (native rate scalar). There's probably a cheaper scalar that will do the same thing, but I doubt you can find anything for less than $1000.


IOW, you could just buy an actual HD monitor instead.

 

[ellisr63]

When I view a dvd at 720p the picture is correct, the monitor shows it letterboxed with a resolution of 1280x720. Why can't I view my hdtv channels this way? The hd channels put the bars on the side instead of top and bottom.

 

[ellisr63]

Why would the monitor see the dvd signal differently than the hd signal? A dvd at 720p is properly displayed. I am thinking the hd tuner is at fault.