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+---- Thread: aspect ratio & resolution problem (/showthread.php?tid=115270)
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aspect ratio & resolution problem - richhy - 2011-11-23
I am experimenting with xmbc installed on a windows 7 professional PC (Zotac N22). In general it works very well but I have some doubts about the video settings. The PC is connected to a panasonic 32" TV. In XBMC, for video output I have 1920x1080. I have both "hardware acceleration" switched on and "adjust display refresh rate to match video". No matter what video I play (1080p, 720p and SD videos etc) the screen changes and xbmc always outputs to 1080p. Videos play well but when I need to use the onscreen menus to fast forward etc the menus appear almost off-screen and are difficult to use until I stop the video and then they return to normal.
I assume that it is XBMC controlling the video output and not windows?
Any suggestions as how to get the video settings spot on? Is it possible for xbmc to output the native resolution for each video? If I turn the "refresh rate" off all videos will play at 1080i...!!
- jhsrennie - 2011-11-23
richhy Wrote:Videos play well but when I need to use the onscreen menus to fast forward etc the menus appear almost off-screen and are difficult to use until I stop the video and then they return to normal.
By default TVs always trim the edge of the picture. This is called "overscan"; a quick Google for "overscan" will give you lots of info on why TVs do this.
Most modern TVs can be set not to trim the edge of the picture. Exactly where the setting is and what it's called varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. It may be called "game mode", "1:1" mode, "disable overscan", or some varient of these. If you can't find the setting post the model of your TV here and if the manual is available online I'll see if I can find the setting.
JR
- richhy - 2011-11-30
Coming back on this one. Have checked settings on my pc and tv with little luck. My tv is a Panasonic TX-32LXD 700F. I'm afraid I can't find any of the settings that you mention on the tv.
- >>X<< - 2011-11-30
Its probably because your using 1920x1080 you can only get 1.1 pixel mapping using your screens native resolution which I believe is 1366x768 ?
You might find just using 1366x768 will eliminate overscan anyway but it depends on the TV, downloading your screens manual would be a good place to start
If you want to use 1920x1080 then you probably going to need to adjust overscan in your GPU control panel or from XBMC's calibration
- richhy - 2011-11-30
Thanks for your reply. Yes, that seems to make sense... I've checked the manual and the native resolution is indeed 1366x768. There is a good chance that will improve the overscan issue and probably a better picture in general.
When I get home I'll give it a try!
- >>X<< - 2011-11-30
It should also tell you in the manual what resolution and refresh rates it supports over its different input types as you might find it only does 1366x768 pixel mapping over VGA but it varies greatly between screens
One of my screens is a Panasonic and it only does this over VGA but the picture quality is far better pixel mapped over VGA than overscaned using HDMI
- live4ever - 2011-11-30
That panel looks like it does only 50/60Hz so you might as well turn off "adjust display refresh rate to match video".
- >>X<< - 2011-11-30
live4ever Wrote:That panel looks like it does only 50/60Hz so you might as well turn off "adjust display refresh rate to match video".
Yeah your right I finally found a English copy of the manual
@richhy
Its pretty much what I thought your screen only accepts native resolution over VGA (D-Sub) and only at 60Hz
Using 1366x768@60Hz over VGA and set to 16.9 should give you 1.1 pixel mapping if it works the same as other Panasonics
- richhy - 2011-12-01
My htpc doesn't have a vga output only hdmi. What would be the best resolution to set in xbmc and the best all round video settings?
- jhsrennie - 2011-12-01
You need to set the screen resolution on your HTPC to one that the TV can handle, e.g. 1280x720 or 1366x768.
JR
- richhy - 2011-12-01
Thanks for all the replies and suggestions here!
jhsrennie: do you mean set that resolution with the nvidia control panel in windows? or with xbmc? or both? and I guess I should turn off "adjust display refresh rate to match video" as others have suggested in this thread?
I have other devices connected to the tv and they send a 1080i signal to the tv.
The picture is generally very good indeed, eg: dreambox, PS3 etc. but I assume the picture is being downscaled by the panasonic.
- >>X<< - 2011-12-01
Really your HTPC doesn't have a 15-pin D-sub ?
Your TV supports both the standard HD resolutions over HDMI at 60Hz or 50Hz so either use 720p (1280x720) or 1080p (1920x1080)
You can try 1366x768 over HDMI but its not listed as a resolution supported over HDMI in the manual
You don't really want to send interlaced signals to progressive panels because then they have to de-interlace it
I would set either of those resolutions in nvidia control panel I would also adjust the overscan in there as well then your desktop and XBMC will fit the screen not just XBMC
- richhy - 2011-12-01
The htpc has a DVI-I output but the tv has a vga input. I´ll use the hdmi...
- jhsrennie - 2011-12-01
I found the manual for your TV at http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/Support/Downloads/220239/index.html#anker_222458
It doesn't look as if the PC will work well when connected with a HDMI cable, so you'll need to use the VGA connector on the TV.
Looking on page 31 of the manual, titled "Displaying PC Screen on TV" there are instructions for connecting your PC. If your PC only has a DVI connector use a DVI-VGA adaptor, or you can get a DVI-VGA cable (with a DVI connector at one end and a VGA connector at the other). You need to use the VNVIDIA control panel to set the screen resolution to 1,366 × 768.
JR
PS there are separate manuals for the 700 and 700F. For the 700F the "Displaying PC Screen on TV" section is on page 35.
PPS the link I posted actually takes you to the search screen. It must be using a cookie. Anyhow, search for model number "TX-32LXD700" and you'll get the list of manuals.
- richhy - 2011-12-02
Thanks JR, I will try and get hold of a dvi-vga adapter to experiment with. I have always thought that vga connections are inferior in quality and do not provide very high resolutions, but then I'm not an expert on these matters! I'll give it a go. At the moment (using hdmi) I have the htpc itself set to 1080p in nvidia control panel and the same resolution in xbmc. Of all the settings so far this provides a very good picture. No "judder" at all so far... I do have "adjust display refresh rate to match video" disabled though. When I enable it....there is a slight over scan issue again with menus appearing slighly off screen but playback does seem to be especially smooth (must be my imagination).
The Panasonic does seem to vary in quality in the way it scales different imputs. The above does seem to work well and picture quality is comparable to a boxee box that I have tested on same screen...
PS thanks for the link to the manual. I had lost mine some time ago!