Hdmi vs. Dvi-Hdmi

[HipHoper]

Hi all :O)

I've bought this 47" lcd full hd tv few months ago, And when i connect my Htpc via dvi to hdmi cable, The colors are not easy on the eyes, And the brightness is quite strong, no matter how i set the coloros/brightness contrast. Also when I switch the 1920X1080 resolution, The screen is streched, And I can't seem to see like 1/4 of it.
I connected the htpc to the lcd via regular vga, And the picture is much much better and the colors and brightness are easy on the eyes.

I use 8400gs vga card with latest driver.

I considering buying Asus HD4350 with built in native HDMI output and an HDMI cable, but do you think it might give me a better picture ?

[Ferrit]

I would think any conversion at all (dvi to hdmi cable) can cause all kinds of strange
things. I should imagine the hdmi to hdmi would give you a better picture yes

[HipHoper]

Thanks Ferrit. I'll take this into account. The thing is that it seems that hdmi is fully backward compatible with DVI signal, And you don't even need a converter, Only to connect the cables in a specific order, That's why I wasn't sure that HDMI output will solve that problem.

[Richard1]

The colors I'm not sure about but the stretching is normally fixed by going through all your resolution choices until you find one that works for your LCD TV.

[HipHoper]

Thanks Rich, But full HD lcd should support 1920X1080 resolution, Or it's ain't full HD. That's why the dvi to hdmi cable was one of my suspects. Waiting for an answer from another htpc israeli forum before i'll decide to make my "move" (That is spending 60$ for vga card and hdmi cable :O)
This card seems to fit my needs :
http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=2592&l1=2&l2=8&l3=817&l4=0
If the quality won't promised to be better, i'll stick with the current 8400gs in vga mode

[Platypus]

As you've observed, the video component of DVI and HDMI are the same, in other words HDMI actually uses a DVI video signal, so there is no conversion other than providing the correct connector when you use a DVI/HDMI cable.

Like Richard, I'd be thinking settings on your television first - unlike a monitor, its internal circuitry may be set up differently between "TV" and "monitor" modes. For example, the HDMI input may be considered a TV input, and subject to "enhancement" from any option you have set like a movie or dynamic picture mode, whereas this might not be applied to the VGA input. Turning off any such mode could correct the garish coloring, but make TV color look muted.

Likewise for the stretching - on the HDMI input, the TV may adjust its aspect ratio differently between TV and monitor functions. I've always found it tricky to get a mode where every input looks right on a widescreen TV.

Have you looked to see if the manufacturer's website offers a driver for using the TV as a monitor?

[HipHoper]

hey Plat !

I'm afraid it's a generic lcd manufacturer and there isn't a specific driver for it.When the lcd is connected via VGA I get maximum of 1360X768, Although I have higher resolutions, But the lcd won't display them.
When I connect it in DVI-Hdmi mode, I can only get like 1280X1024. other resultions are with the screen streching thingy.
I tried maunally installing different monitor drivers and lower/highten refresh rates, But it didn't helped. I think I'll buy the Hd4350 card and will cross my fingers that it's driver will do a better job....

[HipHoper]

Ok.....Recieved HD4350 MSI card today, Connected it via the DVI-HDMI cable that I had, And it supports all resolutions up to 1920x1080 which is great. Picture quality is not pleasing, So I switched back to the VGA cable......I wonder if a higher quality DVI-HDMI cable will give a better picture, But I really doubt it, Since the cable I have is quite thick and is gold plated at his ends......

[CCT]

I assume you have gone into the nVidia display settings and made sure the HD TV is detected and everything?

edit: http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1022

[HipHoper]

The thing is that the 8400gs didn't recognised the LCD and the HD 4350 did.......
Played a bit with the nvidia control panel, But couldn't make it recognise the display......

[CCT]

I think there is a 'forced' setting, ie, 'treat as' -

[HipHoper]

Yes, but even the ADVANCED forced settings didn't helped. Tried to play with the sub-refresh rates (59-60hz), but it didn't gave me picture. Good for me that I've connected to the HTPC via VNC from another computer on the same network, So I could see all the HTPC display settings to play with, Although I couldn't see the picture on the big LCD itself.....

[CCT]

As far as the sizing issue, does your TV have a setting 'just scan' among the other scan settings?

ref: http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:nS9vRELoO9cJ:forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php%3Ft53389.html+8400gs+HDTV&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ca

[HipHoper]

Nope. The TV setting are so basic that it's scary......:O)

[CCT]

Well, if in the nVidia panel under Tools you cannot force the detection of the TV, then that is that.

I am looking at a 22" LCD and wondering how far back I would have to be to enjoy a 47" screen - I think the wall would have to be moved.

:)

[HipHoper]

Well...I'm afraid to tell you that I sit like 8 feet from the screen.....Movies are great, But surfing the net is a pain in the.....eyes :O)

[Niclo Iste]

LOL you should talk to my friend he has a 52" Plasma which he uses for his media center pc that he also games on. He sits no farther than 6 feet away. He loves it though. His favorite thing to do is find reasons not to go into the office and do remote work from home on it. But then again if I were to buy a 52" I guess I'd get as much enjoyment out of it as I could too.

[Richard1]

I have a 47" 1080i that I use for a monitor. It took me a while to get all the Windows settings right but now I use for work, browsing, movies, whatever.

I have it set up on an extended desktop, which works really well for me.

[NooNoo]

Did you get the tv detected in the end hiphoper?

[HipHoper]

Yes Noo, but only by the Ati Hd4350 card and not by the 8400GS using same DVI-HDMI cable

[NooNoo]

You are not alone (http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=52728&st=0)
A quick look through the nvidia forums shows that this is a problem for quite a few people.