Connected HTPC to Plasma

[JUC]

Hi all, getting ready for some purchases---42" Pany Plasma and possibly the MediaReady 5000 (not sure yet though). Regardless, I will be using component out of either my shuttle or the MediaReady. I will need to get the ATI component dongle too. Never used component before as I am currently outputting via S-video to a craptastic 24" RCA tube. As it stands now, I do have about a 1/2 inch around my 24" tv that does not display anything. I have tried using the ATI settings to move/enlarge the screen but couldn't get it to fill. Not a big deal for me at the time. But--since I will be getting a Plasma, I want to make sure I can fill the screen up. Will I need Powerstrip or something? Anyone outputting via component to a Plasma--what type of settings or info should I be aware of? Would I just need to match the resolution on the Plasma via my video card or will it automatically scale the picture to fit my screen?
Thanks
JUC


edit: just also found a DVI to component adapter for ATI cards--seems like an option other than the ATI dongle??

[dvd_maniac]

You will need to match the resolution to your plasma's native resolution. I have had problems with my ATI AIW when trying to use clone mode with component out to HDTV and RGB to LCD monitor. both have native resolutions and they are not the same. So either I get half the picture on the TV and perfect on monitor or I get massive overscan on monitor and perfect on HDTV. But when hooking up just the TV I was able to match resolution perfectly using ATI's new calalyst control center. But not the control panel.

[JUC]

catalyst control center? hmm, I don't think i have the most updated stuff then. I am usinga 9600XT. Does the control center let you specify custom resolutions?
Thanks
JUC

[Kanati]

you should be able to do it from the control panel too by choosing 720p or 1080i resolution...

[Naylia]

ahhh....be careful with the 42" plasmas

they have rectangular pixels!!!!

ok freakout over...you can't do 1:1 pixel mapping and get a perfect picture with the 42" HD plasmas...they are 16x9 screens with 1024x768 resolution (a 4x3 res) so they actually use rectangular pixels to achieve the 16x9 shape..so if you feed it native res 1024x768 then it will actually stretch the image sideways

now I know you are doing component so it's not quite relevant since you'll output 720p and the display will scale accordingly, but if you save up a little more and go for the 50" then you get square pixels and you can just use a vga cable and set your res to 1366x768 (1360x768 if you have ati) and the text and everything will look flawless since you have the 1:1 pixel mapping.


now for your current tv...download the 5.10 drivers and set your resolution to 720x480 at 60Hz 32-bit color and then you should be able to adjust so that you have no over/underscan

on my 20" sony i have only a very small bit of underscan at the bottom of the tv, the other three sides are pretty much perfect

[Mike Young]

Just a sugestion...why not just get the 42 Pan. with the VGA input ? Going direct from VGA is the best performance I've seen EXCEPT for the other option of going with the dvi to HDMI input on the Panasonic, but I had to order the DVI card for the Panasonic seperatley.

I never got an ATI card to work right with DVI out - Ive heard it can be done with powerstrip. The Nvidia card immeadiatly sensed the native resolution, I selected 'underscan' and had a perfect picture.....and yes....it is a much better picture.

mike/

[Mike Young]

[QUOTE=Naylia]ahhh....be careful with the 42" plasmas

they have rectangular pixels!!!!

ok freakout over...you can't do 1:1 pixel mapping and get a perfect picture with the 42" HD plasmas...they are 16x9 screens with 1024x768 resolution (a 4x3 res) so they actually use rectangular pixels to achieve the 16x9 shape..so if you feed it native res 1024x768 then it will actually stretch the image sideways

explains alot !
I never thought about that, thats why I was having trouble manually setting the resolution.
In any case the Nvidia drivers through DVI, figured it out!

[JUC]

i am aware of the rectangular pixells on the 42" but its a stretch enough for me to get the HD version. as far as my current situation, I am not seeing any 480/720 settings in the controll center--is it because i am not using DVI or just not using 5.10?
thanks
Juc


edit: and one quick question---do I need to uninstall my current drivers before installing the 5.10's or can i do it ontop of the old ones?

[Naylia]

no...version shouldn't matter, but you probably won't see them until you actually connect the component or dvi out, they won't show up while you are using svideo

edit: ati should have a driver uninstaller to use between upgrades

[Naylia]

Originally Posted by Mike Young

explains alot !
I never thought about that, thats why I was having trouble manually setting the resolution.
In any case the Nvidia drivers through DVI, figured it out!

yeah, it's unforutnate really. I'm saving for an HDTV now, (put some money away today ) and am debating between a the Sony 42" A10 or a Panny 50" Commercial Plasma. The 42" plasma is tempting at the 2k pricepoint but if i'm gonna get the plasma I want to make sure i can do 1:1 pixel mapping easy. It just makes life so much easier using it with an HTPC then. So I'm gonna save for the A10 and then hopefullly prices will have come down some more on the plasmas and I can get the 50" plasma for not too much more.

Mike, How is the picture using DVI and 720p?

[Jesse]

Hi juc,

Naylia is correct, you will not see the controls for 480/720/1080 until you actually connect component/hdtv out (provided you have Catalyst Control Center) I would just download and install the latest if you have not already. If you are still using composite you should be able to select "overscan" in the tv monitor properties panel and your screen will fill. When you connect via component dongle (which I just recently did) you will get a new list of hdtv monitor properites. This will allow you to set a custom res right in the CCC.

One thing to be aware of. While I was able to extend the desktop to the tv using composite and just hotkey between the tv and monitor, it does not seem possible to do this with the component dongle. Hotkeying back and forth seems to freak out the screen res in both directions. I had to clone the tv to the monitor (I am still using an SDTV) and then disable the monitor. This made getting things configured something of a hassle. Probably no big deal on your fancy hdtv though . HEY!, if you are able to run the same res on both the hdtv and the monitor then extending and hotkeying make work just fine for you. Man I want an hdtv!

If you are interested I received a pretty helpful document from the ATI support center detailing how to set up an hdtv using the component dongle and CCC.

Let me know.

Jesse

[night]

you can use powerstrip or rage3dtweak to put in more resolutions

[Kanati]

I never got an ATI card to work right with DVI out

Using an ATI9550 via DVI<->DVI here on a 62" Mitsubishi DLP no problems whatsoever and without using powerstrip. No tweaking needed. I set it up with 1920x1080 resolution and was done.

[Mike Young]

Originally Posted by Naylia

yeah, it's unforutnate really. I'm saving for an HDTV now, (put some money away today ) and am debating between a the Sony 42" A10 or a Panny 50" Commercial Plasma. The 42" plasma is tempting at the 2k pricepoint but if i'm gonna get the plasma I want to make sure i can do 1:1 pixel mapping easy. It just makes life so much easier using it with an HTPC then. So I'm gonna save for the A10 and then hopefullly prices will have come down some more on the plasmas and I can get the 50" plasma for not too much more.

Mike, How is the picture using DVI and 720p?

I'm went for the commercial version myself, Its the 43PWD7UY ,
I must admit I dont know...I know the Display can do 1080i, which is what I have it set to. Can I use 720 ?
I set it up with Nvidia and Nvidia automatically set the resolution to 1920 X something which was a bit too much overscan, I selected 'overscan shift' and it brought the resolution down to 1768 X992
It looks fantastic to me....but I havent seen the 50' - I originally was going to get that one...but it was an extra grand!

mike/

[Kanati]

Most hdtv's wont, i believe, do both 1080i and 720p... they do one or the other and accept input in either format... then scale the picture accordingly.

[Naylia]

well in this case neither 1080 or 720 is native resolution so it has to scale both

mike,
good to hear 1080i is good, do you have any underscan now? i may ignore the 1:1 pixel mapping and go wit the commerical 42" 8th gen one if the pic looks good anyways. if you can figure out how to do 720p in the nvidia panel instead of 1080i let me know how it looks...i'm slightly concerned about the ability of my computer to handle 1920x1080 for video games...1280x720 is probably more sensible for my machine

[Kanati]

just did a bit of research on that particular model.... TH-42PWD7UY actually... not a 43PWD7UY... It appears that it will take 1080i but not a 720p signal at all. And of course it then scales down to the 480p EDTV or 480i SDTV res. Every single review I saw was excellent. I might have to look at one of these for my computer room.

[Naylia]

yeah...the WD's are widescreen EDTV and the HD's are well HDTV. Check out www.tvauthority.com they have a reseller rating of 9ish. There's a great FAQ on the panny plasmas at avsforums.

Here's the Panasonic 42" HD Commercial Plasma for $2075 then all you need is a stand of your choice from ebay. $300 more gets you the Consumer version (which includes stand I think).

[Mike Young]

Yeah, thats exactly the one I have, I think I was looking at the manual which has a number of the models in it. I ordered it from Tiger Direct , because they SAID they had it in stock....it took like a month to arrive. I think it was about 2200, then I added the articulated mount for about 500, and of course a warranty.
(remmember the commercials have no waranty)
Then ordered the HDMI card not long after.
I really DO think the commercial model is the way to go though, unless you really need a tuner.

mike/

[Naylia]

tvauthority lists them as having 1 year parts and labor warranties...would want to doublecheck at panasonic.com just to make sure though.