HDTV as Monitor issue

Black_Heart

I don't know if anyone will be able to give me any advice on this or if there is even anyway around it.

I use a 42" Phillips HDTV as a PC monitor. I have it connected through a HDMI to DVI cable to my ATI HD 4870 video card.

My default resolution is 1280x960.

My problem is that when I'm watching HD videos I can sort of see a "strobe" effect in the videos. What I mean is, I can see each new frame as it loads and it sort of creates "lines" in the screen and the video isn't smooth.

This also sometimes occurs in games too when things get going pretty fast.

If I use a different media player like Quicktime (which I hate) it reduces the effect to a huge degree in videos, but with players like VLC its constantly there and is really distracting.

Anyone know what I'm talking about or how to help?

PeregrineFalcon

Black_Heart wrote: »

I don't know if anyone will be able to give me any advice on this or if there is even anyway around it.

I use a 42" Phillips HDTV as a PC monitor. I have it connected through a HDMI to DVI cable to my ATI HD 4870 video card.

My default resolution is 1280x960.

My problem is that when I'm watching HD videos I can sort of see a "strobe" effect in the videos. What I mean is, I can see each new frame as it loads and it sort of creates "lines" in the screen and the video isn't smooth.

This also sometimes occurs in games too when things get going pretty fast.

If I use a different media player like Quicktime (which I hate) it reduces the effect to a huge degree in videos, but with players like VLC its constantly there and is really distracting.

Anyone know what I'm talking about or how to help?

You're feeding your TV the wrong resolution. 1280x960 is a 4:3 resolution and I highly doubt that you have a 42" 4:3 TV. Set your resolution to 1280x720 or 1920x1080, whichever your TV accepts, and make sure to enable "Treat as HDTV" or whatever the equivalent option is in the Catalyst Control Center.

You're probably seeing interlacing - which probably means that either your video card or your TV has kicked into 1080i mode. Using one of the aforementioned resolutions should fix it. Also, are you using the included DVI-to-HDMI convertor for the HD4870, or a cable?

PirateJon

I do have a HDTV as monitor and P.ditty is right - my resolution is 1920x1080. I haven't seen anything like the effect you describe.

My old 9800xt has a setting in the drivers for HDTV out. also I was able to downlaod a monitor driver for my TV from the manufacturer.

vonPoonBurGer

PeregrineFalcon wrote: »

You're feeding your TV the wrong resolution. 1280x960 is a 4:3 resolution and I highly doubt that you have a 42" 4:3 TV. Set your resolution to 1280x720 or 1920x1080, whichever your TV accepts, and make sure to enable "Treat as HDTV" or whatever the equivalent option is in the Catalyst Control Center.

This sounds like a good bet right here. You want to be feeding your TV a proper high-def resolution, one that conforms to a label like 720p, 1080p or 1080i. Sometimes resolutions that look like they're 4:3 are actually 16:9 due to non-square pixels, but I don't think that's the case with OP's TV. Wikipedia has a list, and 1280x960 isn't anywhere on that list.