[DanielBuus]

Hello

I have an Nvidia setup with a 1920x1200 Samsung monitor on VGA, and a Panasonic 1080p plasma on the DVI output. The plasma TV is configured in clone mode to just show the 1080 pixels "in the middle", i.e. it's centered and cropping away 60 pixels at the top and the bottom.

I'd set the resolution to 1920x1080p on both displays if it weren't for the fact that when I set the Samsung LCD to 1080, it stretches the display OVER the available height, so that I can only see part of the screen, missing the taskbar among other things. And the "GPU scaling" option is only available on the TV, not the LCD".

So I'm thinking, it'd be great if I could make XBMC start up and only use the 1080 vertical pixels that both displays are able to show, or at least to force the resolution to 1920x1080, but I can't do that inside XBMC, and editing the settings XML file has not gotten me anywhere.

Xrandr is pretty much useless since I've gone proprietary, and now I don't know if this is possible at all...

Anyone?

Daniel

[ant_thomas]

What's your xorg.conf file look like?

[DanielBuus]

Hi, Thomas, thanks for replying

My xorg.conf looks like this (nvidia-settings generated):


# nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings
# nvidia-settings: version 260.19.06 (buildd@yellow) Mon Oct 4 15:59:51 UTC 2010

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout0"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
Option "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
# HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Samsung SyncMaster"
HorizSync 30.0 - 81.0
VertRefresh 59.0 - 75.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 6600"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "TwinView" "1"
Option "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "CRT-0"
Option "metamodes" "CRT: 1920x1200 +0+0, DFP: nvidia-auto-select +0+60"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection

[ant_thomas]

Am I right in saying you want to have the system output 1920x1080 over VGA and DVI to both the Plasma TV and LCD Monitor at the same time (cloned)?

[DanielBuus]

Well, ideally, these would be my preferences, prioritized (all cloned):

1. Keep the current setup (cloned, 1920x1200 on VGA, 1920x1080 centered cropping away top and bottom on DVI), with XBMC only using 1920x1080 centered so that everything fits the DVI output, showing all controls and menus completely, and it would never play video (or display subtitles) outside the 1920x1080 "strip", so that content with more height than 19:6 would not get cropped either.

2. Have a cloned output of my X session in 1920x1080 without scaling on the VGA output, i.e. GPU scaling where it doesn't scale but keeps the original size, giving 60 pixel black bars at the top and the bottom. DVI (Plasma TV) would of course not be scaled either as the resolution would be native here. Whenever I try this now, I get perfect output on DVI, while my monitor on VGA both stretches vertically and zooms in on the entire image, leaving the taskbar out of sight, the krunner (Alt+F2) out of sight, left and right portions of the screen out of sight, and just generally a horrible, and unusable, image. I've had the exact same problem using Windows on this rig, but was somehow able to configure my way out of it using some custom resolutions AFAIR (via settings that are not available in the Linux version of the config tool). nvidia-settings offer GPU scaling options on my DVI output, not on the VGA one.

3. Be able to use xrandr to switch dynamically between 1920x1200 with the DVI output being cropped to the center of the screen as it is now, and 1920x1080 with the VGA screen being unusable. I.e. basically just being able to hotkey a resolution change to e.g. a command via bluetooth, so that I can easily swap back and forth. I've tried adding modelines using cvt and xrandr --addmode, but there's not a lot of donuts for me there. xrandr doesn't show any display names for one, and using "CRT 0" or other names to target a resolution change doesn't yield anything. The closest is using "default" as a name which will make my screen go black for a second when I try to switch from 1920x1200 to 1920x1080, but it never actually switches to 1920x1080. The nvidia-settings command line options don't seem to support changing resolutions either, AFAICT.

4. Be able to set 1920x1080 without having the VGA output ending up being unusable, i.e. with the expected vertically stretched result, which would at least be operable, if not exactly usable.

Any ideas?

Thanks

[DanielBuus]

Just to be absolutely clear: ATM I'm using cloned output with the Plasma being cropped to the center strip. With XBMC scaling to 1920x1200 which is the virtual desktop size, I can't see all of the screen on the TV.

[ant_thomas]

Right, well. I might be able to help.

My current setup is an ION system with VGA and HDMI output. I have the HDMI going to a 1080p screen and the VGA going to a 1024x768 resolution projector.

I have my xorg.conf file setup so I can go into the system settings in XBMC and change the resolution between 1024x768 and 1920x1080. When it changes it only outputs through one of the connections (VGA for 1024x768 or HDMI for 1920x1080)

I'm assuming you don't want to view things on both screens at the same time? If you are then my method will be pointless.

Here's the relevant section of my xorg.conf file....

Code:

Section "Device"
        Identifier "nvidia"
        Driver  "nvidia"
        Option  "NoLogo"              "true"
        Option "ModeValidation" "NoEdidModes"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier      "screen"
        Device          "nvidia"
        Monitor         "Monitor0"
        DefaultDepth    24
        Option          "TwinView" "True"
        Option          "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone"
        Option          "Metamodes" "1024x768,NULL; NULL,1920x1080"
        SubSection      "Display"
                Depth   24
                Modes   "1920x1080" "1024x768"
        EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
        Option  "Composite"           "false"
EndSection

What you'll want to do is change 1024x768 to 1920x1200.

This setup will result in only one screen working at once, but at its native resolution.

I hope that helps, if not, nevermind!

[DanielBuus]

Okay, Thomas, I'm gonna have to test this tonight when I get back from my friend's (leaving in 1 minute), but this sounds like it would be priority 0 (as in better than priority 1), because no, I'd rather not have it output on both displays at once, but I've failed to figure out in nvidia-settings how to make the DVI output "accessible" without actually enabling it as part of my desktop space, either as an extended or a cloned output. Cloned was my only viable option, as extending my desktop into my living room was just nosensical

So if I understand you correctly, and this xorg.conf of yours will actually make me able to just start XBMC and have it ONLY output on my DVI output at native Plasma resolution, that would be just fantastic.

I have to run now, but I'll be trying your conf later

Thank you so far!

[bobo1on1]

You should try xbmc's video calibration.

[ant_thomas]

I have no idea what this will do in reference to the ubuntu desktop because I'm running a minimal installation of ubuntu without any desktop environment so I don't know how it will react.

Obviously worth a try and I hope it works.

[DanielBuus]

Daaamnnn! Just saw that tip from bobo once I returned. Would've never guessed that underneath that "Video Calibration" menu entry would be this cropping tool also.

I'm getting more and more impressed by this XBMC every minute I spend with it. Awesome!!!

Thank you both for your help

...one happy camper gonna go watch a couple old 4:3 episodes on my plasma perfectly scaled