42" LCD as Computer Monitor

naporeon

Heya, H/A. I recently purchased a Sharp AQUOS 42" LCD HDTV (model LC-42D62U). I'm enjoying all sorts of new experiences in my home entertainment environment, and right now, I've picked up a DVI-to-HDMI adapter and wireless mouse/keyboard combo, and have hooked up my PC desktop to the TV, intending to use it as my monitor.

Now, my video card is rather old (ATI Radeon 9700 Pro). I've just installed the newest display driver (I even uninstalled the old one first), and have hooked the PC up to the TV via the DVI-to-HDMI cable. The best resolution that displays entirely on the screen is 1152 x 648. At 1920 x 1080, the screen is out of focus, and looks like it is entirely missing some of of its lines. The craziest thing is that it's inconsistent; sometimes it displays like that, and sometimes the screen is crazily segmented, and has color display problems.

Any tips to crank up the resolution on this beast? I can provide further system information, if necessary.

fforde

Sounds to me like your video card cant really handle that high of resolutions. It might be time to upgrade.. Other than your old video card though your setup sounds solid.

robaal

Try dropping the refresh rate to 60Hz.

Wikipedia says that DVI single-link should be able to display up to 1920x1200@60Hz...

vonPoonBurGer

I think the TV is having difficulty interpreting the signal because it's slightly different from a true HDTV signal, even when set to 1920x1080x60Hz. Your best bet if you're looking to generate an HDTV signal from your computer is probably to get a GeForce 6 series card. I know they have native HDTV support, I imagine some of the later Radeon cards will as well, but I'm not as familiar with those. It doesn't have to be an expensive card, I use a GeForce 6200 in my HTPC. It's fanless, cost me less than $100, and generates an HD signal natively. If you'd prefer not to buy hardware for this experiment, you could try PowerStrip. I will let you specify HDTV resolutions that normally aren't available. I had mixed results with PowerStrip, it caused some system instability, but it would cost you nothing to try. Even then, I'm not sure that you'll get an ultrasharp picture at maximum resolution. I know my CRT HDTV is hopelessly fuzzy at 1920x1080, but YMMV since you've got an LCD.

JLM-AWP

I have a 42" DLP that is working for the same purpose as yours....Radeon x700 with DVI-->HDMI.

I have mine set at a custom resolution using ATI's software (1216x664) and it's perfectly clear for me. Crystal clear. Maybe try bringin the resolution down a few notches? You probably won't be dissatisfied, especially considering your LCD will look better than my DLP.

naporeon

Thanks for all the advice, guys...especially you, vonPoopBurGer, since PowerStrip really seems to have helped. Even after creating a custom driver for the "monitor," though, it says that the monitor, not the card, is what can't support the 1080i/p resolution. Bollocks. I intend to keep tinkering, however. JLM-AWP, how do you set a custom resolution? I've looked within ATI's setup utility, as well as the newly installed PowerStrip, and I don't see anywhere where I can set my display to a non-standard resolution.

It's currently functioning at 1776x1000, though, and I have the feeling that amping it up any further would render some stuff unreadable from this distance (~6').

Anyhow, thanks again for all your help, guys!