HTPC --> HDMI --> LCD TV (black border?)

Xee

Xee

Xee

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I'm running a Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H AMD 780G Micro-ATX motherboard, using the onboard graphics HDMI out to my LG 42" TV (HDMI-4 socket).

Problem is there is a 1 inch black border around the edge of the picture. Using 1920x1080. The screen is a 1080p LCD TV. I played around with the refresh rates 24, 25, 50, 59, and 60 etc, but there is always a black border, or the picture is slightly to big and the edges are cut off. Audio works fine over HDMI.

If I use a VGA cable picture fits perfect. But I would like to use audio over HDMI. Plus HDMI is suppose to have a better picture right?

Please help :(
 
does your graphics utility not allow for stretching the screen out?

i had a 1cm gap on my plasma but just used the ati catalyst to stretch it out..
 
My Radeon 4650 does exactly the same thing - there's an option in the Catalyst Control Centre which seems to default to underscaling by 10% or so. If you set that to 0% (rather the -10%) then the image should fit.
 
Possibly your graphics card driver. Mine did that too. It turned out to be Catalyst Control Centre setting the overscan to 80 or 90%. I set it back to 100% and it was fine.
 
I have the gigabyte GA 73PVM-S2H and think mine did the same and I did work out how to fix it. However, I went back to VGA because I found picture to be better esp general PC use was crisper. The added bonus was on VGA the TV would auto turn on/off when the PC entered Sleep or turned on or off.
 
Actually, I very nice VGA cable of the usual distance from PC to TV will have a slightly better image than HDMI as HDMI has to convert the signal twice whereas VGA doesn't. HDMI really is a convenience package much like scart was for VHS. Audio and Video over one cable = tidy.
 
sorry but thats rubbish. compare a VGA cable to DVI or HDMI and tell me theres no difference.. i run 2 identical screens at work one connected through VGA and one DVI, the DVI is sharper and has better IQ than the rather fuzzy in comparision VGA.
 
neil_g said:
sorry but thats rubbish. compare a VGA cable to DVI or HDMI and tell me theres no difference.. i run 2 identical screens at work one connected through VGA and one DVI, the DVI is sharper and has better IQ than the rather fuzzy in comparision VGA.
Click to expand...

He says a very nice one. You probably have a crap one at work.
 
Lucero said:
Actually, I very nice VGA cable of the usual distance from PC to TV will have a slightly better image than HDMI as HDMI has to convert the signal twice whereas VGA doesn't. HDMI really is a convenience package much like scart was for VHS. Audio and Video over one cable = tidy.
Click to expand...

neil_g said:
sorry but thats rubbish. compare a VGA cable to DVI or HDMI and tell me theres no difference.. i run 2 identical screens at work one connected through VGA and one DVI, the DVI is sharper and has better IQ than the rather fuzzy in comparision VGA.
Click to expand...

depends on the t.v tbh
we have 2 sharp aquos lcd's
the 32" looks absolute crap with hdmi and looks great with vga.
the 46" looks amazing with hdmi...so good that i havent even bothered to try the vga as i cant see how it could possibly improve.

as for the op's problem...check scaling options in video drivers..mine has the same problem every time i install a new graphics driver. set scaling to 0.
also make sure your tv is set dot to dot....or whatever term your tv uses
 
neil_g said:
sorry but thats rubbish. compare a VGA cable to DVI or HDMI and tell me theres no difference.. i run 2 identical screens at work one connected through VGA and one DVI, the DVI is sharper and has better IQ than the rather fuzzy in comparision VGA.
Click to expand...


For Monitors DVI rules as its much sharper. However for TV's I think its different. HDMI on mine looked a bit soft - It was fine for TV but for PC use It was painful... VGA looks fantastic and I do all my PC stuff using my TV its that clear.
 
Thanks for the tips. This what I have done/tried so far:

Installed ATI driver and control panel.
Scaling was set to 0% by default, so if I used a Hz that was slightly too big, I could then scale it back a bit, and make it fit exactly.
Then I tried VGA, and its just sharper then the HDMI cable. Specially when viewing the desktop, and any text.
HDMI looks fine when viewing a movie. But I prefer the VGA now. So I guess a DVI cable would be best as I have DVI sockets on the TV and PC. Just have to sort out the sound seperatly I guess. (...and I had such high hopes for HDMI :( )

Now I need to try and figure MCE on the Windows 7. Nice to see that W7 can play xvid/divx files out of the box.

Also on a side note: I had an ATI message come up complaining about me PSU or that something was not connected or powered, therefore is was going to undclock the graphics to protect it. How do I undo this? Surely a ANTEC Earthwatts 380W is enough?

Spec:
780G mobo
5050e CPU (low wattage)
2 Gig 8500 mem
DVD drive (temp)
Samsung 1TB F1 spinpoint
ANTEC Earthwatts 380W (PSU)

Thats it.
 
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Xee said:
Thanks for the tips. This what I have done/tried so far:

Installed ATI driver and control panel.
Scaling was set to 0% by default, so if I used a Hz that was slightly too big, I could then scale it back a bit, and make it fit exactly.
Then I tried VGA, and its just sharper then the HDMI cable. Specially when viewing the desktop, and any text.
HDMI looks fine when viewing a movie. But I prefer the VGA now. So I guess a DVI cable would be best as I have DVI sockets on the TV and PC. Just have to sort out the sound seperatly I guess. (...and I had such high hopes for HDMI :( )

Now I need to try and figure MCE on the Windows 7. Nice to see that W7 can play xvid/divx files out of the box.

Also on a side note: I had an ATI message come up complaining about me PSU or that something was not connected or powered, therefore is was going to undclock the graphics to protect it. How do I undo this? Surely a ANTEC Earthwatts 380W is enough?

Spec:
780G mobo
5050e CPU (low wattage)
2 Gig 8500 mem
DVD drive (temp)
Samsung 1TB F1 spinpoint
ANTEC Earthwatts 380W (PSU)

Thats it.
Click to expand...

I have a 780G connected to my monitor through HDMI and had the black borders. I set the overscan thing to 0 and it is spot on now.
Check some of the other options such as disabling GPU scaling and make sure it is set to "Allow TV" or some such business.

The Antec is plenty powerful enough. Have you made sure all the mobo powercables are connected?
 
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neil_g said:
its certainly not the best but its not crap either.

sorry just every VGA connection ive ever used has been inferior compared to its digital cousins. IMO.
Click to expand...

No No you're right. I mean, its not like the world is analogue. Digital is made up, its converted analogue. It handles errors better but can never replace a true analogue signal. The theory behind signals, DFTs, FFTs, shows that analogue beats digital everytime which is why most HTPC enthusiasts use VGA to connect to their TVs.

I agree though, in most circumstances, the human eye, and those who have little education in the area, wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
 
I had a similar problem recently on my Dad's Panasonic.

There's an option in the TV labelled as 'Overscan'

With this off I had the borders you described via HDMI, turn it on and the picture fits perfectly.

But as has been mentioned I would think it's probably something to do with the output of your GFX card.
 
Lucero said:
The theory behind signals, DFTs, FFTs, shows that analogue beats digital everytime which is why most HTPC enthusiasts use VGA to connect to their TVs.

I agree though, in most circumstances, the human eye, and those who have little education in the area, wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
Click to expand...

You what? Why on earth would I connect my PC which works with digital signals to my LCD TV which works with digital signals via an analogue connection? That's frankly retarded, and you're wrong.
 
Well my PC VGA to HDTV VGA gives me a perfect picture and fit. The HDMI I have to shrink or stretch it, and the desktop text looks funny. Although I have not had time to play around with it enough.

Would PC DVI to HDTV VGA be any better, or worth trying?
 
Xee said:
Well my PC VGA to HDTV VGA gives me a perfect picture and fit. The HDMI I have to shrink or stretch it, and the desktop text looks funny. Although I have not had time to play around with it enough.

Would PC DVI to HDTV VGA be any better, or worth trying?
Click to expand...

As [RB] mentioned check the zoom options when you are on HDMI, I had a similar problem initially with my Toshiba LCD that I was losing the edges of the desktop when connected over HDMI, turns out that there is a zoom mode called "PC" that is only available when you have it on an HDMI input and removes the overscan.
 
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