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HTPC to HDTV, help!?!?!

A

Aris

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 10, 2001
Messages
1,688
i posted this in displays. but thinking about it, it sorta makes sense to ask this forum too since its an HTPC display thingy.

i just bought a new widescreen 16:9 HDTV. Samsung TX-P2675WHD

im trying to hook it up to my HTPC, but with limited success.

my tv has a DVI cable input. my vid card is a Geforce 6600GT with dual DVI output. im using a DVI cable to connect them. my tv supports 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i

i have the most up to date drivers for my video card from nvidia's website.

if i plug my tv by itself into the computers primary dvi out, i get no picture. no picture on the secondary dvi out either.

i can plug my monitor into the primary dvi out and get picture just fine. its actually how its setup right now so i can type to you guys.

if i plug my TV into the secondary dvi port at the same time my monitor is in the primary dvi port my tv works. but the fonts are crazy scrambled, it hurts my eyes just to look at it. if however i plug my tv into the primary dvi out, and my monitor into the secondary out, neither one works..

ok so i plugged it in so it at least shows me pictures on both screens. monitor in primary dvi, tv in secondary dvi.

i played around a bit with it with limited success. i then went searching for an answer online. i found this website: http://www.htpcnews.com/main.php?id=hdguide

at first i was like "YES! this is it", but soon ran into trouble. the guide says to unplug my monitor and plug my tv in its place in several instances. every single time i did i got no picture. the only way i could get a picture is like i said earlier. so i improvised. i kept them both plugged in, set them up as clones of each other and went through the rest of the setup at that page.

it helped, SORTA. it made the fonts easier to read, but no where near good. it would seriously hurt my eyes to look at it for more than a miniut on the tv. the monitor was still good, it just didnt fill the screen cause the resolution wasnt right for it.


so what do i do? how do i get this to work on my PC?
 
i think you may need to adjust you fx card timings and adjust the resuloutions to that of the tv with powerstrip.
 
Well when you have them both plugged in (with monitor working right)

Go to the the nVidia advanced settings. There will be a few settings in there to change around and play with.
 
plz don't flame me, but you did check the "extend my desktop to the second monitor" check box right?
 
you shouldnt need to to extend descktop as it would stretch movie play back across both screens.

bottom line is using dvi/hdmi on hdtvs is not as stright forward as peeps think
 
Yaka said:
you shouldnt need to to extend descktop as it would stretch movie play back across both screens.

bottom line is using dvi/hdmi on hdtvs is not as stright forward as peeps think
Click to expand...

No it wont, when you make a video/movie full screen it will lock itself to one monitor or the other. If you want soemthing to span across both completely, you need an application like UltraMon (Which I highly recomend for multi-monitor displays).
 
Doesnt he need a special cable to accomplish this? I seen to remember reading here that a plain DVI cable is not gonna get er done.
 
Disarray said:
Doesnt he need a special cable to accomplish this? I seen to remember reading here that a plain DVI cable is not gonna get er done.
Click to expand...


Nope. I've got a 6800OC running to my Samsung with a standard DVI cable and it's working great. Oddly, mine was very straightforward. I plugged my monitor into the analog out on the card, TV to the DVI port, and my computer instantly recognizes the TV as "Samsung DLP" and has all resolutions set correctly all the way up to 1080i.
 
I have a 9800pro feeding my sony 34" widescreen XBR.
First thing to realize is that your HDTV is a CRT, and so, unlike the samsung DLP's, is not a "fixed pixel" display which means that it is likely the picture is not going to fit perfectly in the monitor. To get windows to play nice with your set you need to load a display driver that is capable of HDTV resolutions.
In order to get Windows to output correctly to the display try the following:
hook both monitors up to the vid card
enable the second (HDTV) monitor
force windows to load a specific monitor driver for you HDTV monitor; to do this click "advanced" under the "settings" tab in your display properties window, click the "monitor" tab, then click "properties", click the "driver" tab, click "update driver," click "instal from list or specific location" and click next, select the "Don't search..." radio button and click next, uncheck the "show compatible hardware" box...whew.
Ok, so now there should be a long list in alphabetical order in the window on the left. You need to pick a monitor from this list that can handle HDTV resolutions. I use the Sony GDM-FW900 driver, and it works great for me. Once you get the driver loaded you might have to reboot.
This next part might be different for you because you are using an NV card and I am using an ATI. What you need to do is make the HDTV your Primary monitor instead of your secondary monitor. You also have to make sure that if you are running at 1920x1080 (might look awful) that you have the refresh rate set to 30hz or if you are running at 1280x720 that you have the refresh at 60hz.
Your HDTV should now work well enough that you can run powerstrip and do all the fine tuning from there. I found Powerstrip to be a pain in the ass, but there is a great intro guide at this URL:

http://www.htpcnews.com/main.php?id=powerstrip_guide_1

good luck!
 
Try using the 71.80 series drivers. They have better TV output settings. They also allow for more custom resolutions.
 
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