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HDTV as a PC monitor: How exactly?
Magic Pink
Tur-Boner-FedRegistered User regular
Tur-Boner-FedRegistered User regular
I'm looking into doing this with my new PC and I found this on ehow:
How do I tell if I have this? Do video cards come with that normally? Mine has a 1024MB ATI Radeon HD 5770 GDDR5. It also has a HDMI to VGA adaptor but I don't think that has anything to do with what ehow is talking about.
Little help? Do I need to buy something else?
ehow wrote:Determine whether your computer has a DVI (digital video interface) card installed. If not, install one or buy an external DVI card.
How do I tell if I have this? Do video cards come with that normally? Mine has a 1024MB ATI Radeon HD 5770 GDDR5. It also has a HDMI to VGA adaptor but I don't think that has anything to do with what ehow is talking about.
Little help? Do I need to buy something else?
Magic Pink on
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Once you have a connection between the two you'll be able to switch outputs from the control panel in windows.
Even my old as fuck Radeon 9600 had DVI.
VGA is analog and shit. Use DVI.
can you find a picture of your card online, or at least post the exact model?
Because DVI slots have been industry standard for the last 6 years.
BTW, oversimplifying a lot, HDMI = DVI + Sound + security measures.
So HDMI is good too.
Just avoid VGA like the plague.
Some other places I've read say that connecting DVI to HDMI will make you lose the sound tho. So I may have to go buy speakers too. Ugh.
HDMI > DVI > VGA
And the one right next to the bottom DVI port is a friggin HDMI port. :P
There isn't even a VGA port.
Thanks, all.
It doesn't really matter, just use HDMI and sing.
At any rate, the purpose would be to connect a monitor that only supports VGA to the card.
In any case, HDMI-HDMI it will be.
After poking around today I understand that the most recent drivers might have fixed this. I'll try it out when I get home tonight and find out.
thing is, HDMI includes audio, DVI is video only.
Just pop in the HDMI cable into each device and switch to the HDMI "channel" and click the right setting.
Yeah, this is a problem with the default HDMI overscan settings used by AMD's CCC suite. You will not be able to get 1:1 pixel mapping using only the TV settings. You can remedy this problem by following these steps.
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showpost.php?p=15736645&postcount=6
Looking for a Hardcore Fantasy Extraction Shooter? - Dark and Darker
The CCC interface has been completely changed and that option is easier to find.
In the left hand menu it's under "My Digital Flat-Panels" -> Scaling Options. It only appears when a monitor is connected through HDMI and if multiple are connected there's a display selector at the top.
You'll want the overscan set to 0%.
Looking for a Hardcore Fantasy Extraction Shooter? - Dark and Darker
it's a vga-dvi convertor, and it only "converts" the cable, as DVI-I has pins for analogue output, which the TV probably doesn't use
long story short, it will not work
Kinda sucked for gaming (HDTVs aren't as flexible with supported resolutions as LCD monitors are, and I have a weaker machine which means I can't always run things at high resolutions), but for everything else it was goddamn glorious.
If you do any mapping in Hammer or UnrealEd you'll go apeshit the first time you see them running on a huge screen.
It's a helpful utility that can also let you custom make a monitor driver for your TV in the event you don't have one. Helps me with the resolution in games issue. It's a little tricky to use, but their forums have decent resources in figuring it out.
I do this with a 37LG50, which is a fine, older, middle-of-the-road LCD that does 1080p, and a pair of 470GTXs. Since I need to connect to just one of the cards, and the interface has two DVI outputs and a mini HDMI output.
I use the mini HDMI for my ASUS LED monitor (which has most of my gaming needs), and a 35 foot, heavy gauge, rather expensive DVI-HDMI cable for the HDTV: naturally, it conveys audio as well.
Good idea? Not a good idea? It's a bit late now, since I'm not really in the mood to retire the 35 foot DVI-HDMI for a HDMI of the same length, but I was just wondering. The setup exists from my older 8800GT, which had no HDMI out.
on both a Sony and a Toshiba tv, with current drivers, I still can't get one to one pixel mapping even with the overscan forced to 100% - I have the opposite problem of black borders around the display at that point, where the desktop extends past the borders of the actual display.
On my desktop I'm happy enough with the VGA cable (which works fine with no pixel mapping problems), and on my media center I need to upgrade to an HDCP capable card anyway, so I'll try an nVidia card and see what happens.
Have you tried messing with the scaling options on the TVs? I have a Phillips TV and while it does overscan it is easily turned off.
OP: The two large black square connectors stacked in that picture are your DVI ports. To the left of them is the HDMI port. Ignore the far left port, you won't be using it. (For this)
HDMI sends video AND audio to your TV. DVI will only send video. So obviously it is preferable for you to try it with HDMI first.
Don't get ripped off buying expensive cables at retail stores, they charge 10x + markup. I recommend something like this:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024008&p_id=3993&seq=1&format=2
That one is 10 feet, but if you need longer, this is a 15ft that would work (just keep in mind the 15ft+ cables tend to use thicker wire and jacketing, so they will be stiffer when trying to connect things)
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024004&p_id=3663&seq=1&format=2
After they are connected, you may have to enable the TV under Control Panels >> Display >> Screen Resolutions. Extended means it makes your PC desktop extend across both at the same time. Mirrored means it works just like normal, except that you see the same thing on the monitor and the TV at the same time.
This may not be true, technically, in your case. Universally, it's untrue.
I can't say it definitively, but I'm almost certain that your ATi 5770 HD can output audio over DVI. Even Radeons a few steps earlier can do it. The most obvious way to test this would be to use a DVI over HDMI cable, which are designed to carry audio unless otherwise noted.
This, of course, may not be any more convenient, but just putting it out there. If your video card is new enough to output audio over DVI, it will probably have an HDMI output anyway. A lot of people have gotten the impression that DVI can only put out video, no matter what, win this is simply not true. Useful if that HDMI is already going to something else.
Monoprice is a good place to go though, when I needed a 35 foot long HDMI-DVI cable, I got one there for a pretty good price.
I haven't thought to look at TV settings. Sounds promising, I'll take a look.
Yeah, this is likely what it is. Different brands call the setting different things, ie in LG TVs the setting is 'just scan'. AVSforum is pretty good for finding out this sort of information as they tend to have threads on individual HDTV models.
Well it worked, on both machines I'm on HDMI with no pixelation issues.
On my Sony, I had to turn off a bunch of enhancement features which I'm sure work great for television and movies but tend to make a mess of text.
Thanks for the help.
On the toshiba I found the sizing under "Theater Options" or something along those lines, and there was a scaling option that was set to "Natural" as default, and "Native" was the setting I needed.
On the Sony I think it was very similar with something like "Cinema Settings," and then with similar options to the Toshiba. I also had to turn off a number of picture enhancements to make text look reasonable.
Thank you kindly