Running SageTV with 1080p HD in VMR9 *without* FSE

[CanadianEh]

Good morning,

I'm curious about this. I currently have my Client PC set up running in 1920x1080 (approximately, I am using the feature to downscale the picture due to overscan on the HDMI port) over a 512 MB Nvidia 7950GT-OC. The only way I can get 1080i to display withous stutter or hiccups, is to have FSE enabled. I'm still not a fan of FSE, due to what happens if a pop up window (such as an annoying InstallShield Updater message).

Does anyone out there have a config that is capable of displaying 1080i video (CBS, specifically) while running in a higher resolution, such as 1920x1080? If so, can you please post your specs and possibly your settings?

BTW: I'm using SageTV 6.1.6 right now.... this also didn't work in 6.0.19.

[GTwannabe]

Try adding this string to your SageClient.Properties file:

disable_fse_on_focus_lost=false

That fixed the issues I was having with FSE flipping out and locking up Sage when a pop-up notification launched. Also fixed the "can't resume from Standby with FSE enabled" bug.

I still can't maximize the Sage window while video is playing, but FSE now works well enough for me to leave it on all the time. I don't know why nVidia cards are so pissy without FSE enabled for HD, as they clearly have enough horsepower to do the job.

[OttoNP]

I can run without FSE mode for anything except for 1080i, for 1080i I have to run in FSE mode OR run with nvidia set to film to make it 30 FPS. I also can not use the nvidia audio decoder. Sage and AC3 work find for TV;however, AC3 crashes when i play DVD...

[CanadianEh]

Interesting. I wonder if displaying 1080i content in VMR9 without FSE is just beyond the limits of current hardware. It sounds as if it might be.

Unfortunately, my TV only accepts 1920x1080 as a high res. widescreen format. Otherwise, my other choices are 1280x1024, and 1024x768.. blech

I did switch to VGA this evening, since my TV (Samsung LN-S4095) does not overscan with VGA like it does in HDMI. Picking the more standard resolution (1920x1080) didn't really seem to make a difference from the down-res'd ratio that it auto chose to correct the overscan in the first place over HDMI/DVI.

[OttoNP]

Are you saving that the overscan was the same with HDMI versus VGA? I have wondered about that as well. I have a Sony with a native resolution of 10080P. I 'm currently using a dvi to hdmi and setting computer to 1080p and then adjusting with nvidia driver for overscan, which takes resolution onthe pc down to like 1030 or something like that to fill the screen. The sony still says 1080p as input info though. I've thought about messing with the custom timings, but do not have that info for the sony, The manual for the TV says to only connect pc to vga only, which will only accept a max of 768P, which I've wondered if it would look better. I feel like it would not, but of course i'm curious. I also wondered if I hooked up via VGA if it would overscan. From what you said, it would still overscan. I also think i would loss some picture quality by downgrading 1080i to 768 and probalby same quality with 720p....

I think the problem with 1080i is the source is 1080i at 30 FPS and we're trying to make it 60 FPS.

[CanadianEh]

Originally Posted by OttoNP

Are you saving that the overscan was the same with HDMI versus VGA? I have wondered about that as well. I have a Sony with a native resolution of 10080P. I 'm currently using a dvi to hdmi and setting computer to 1080p and then adjusting with nvidia driver for overscan, which takes resolution onthe pc down to like 1030 or something like that to fill the screen. The sony still says 1080p as input info though. I've thought about messing with the custom timings, but do not have that info for the sony, The manual for the TV says to only connect pc to vga only, which will only accept a max of 768P, which I've wondered if it would look better. I feel like it would not, but of course i'm curious. I also wondered if I hooked up via VGA if it would overscan. From what you said, it would still overscan. I also think i would loss some picture quality by downgrading 1080i to 768 and probalby same quality with 720p....

I think the problem with 1080i is the source is 1080i at 30 FPS and we're trying to make it 60 FPS.

Hi OttoNP,

I used HDMI at 1080p (1920x1080) and used the Nvidia driver to down-rez it to something near 1708x1000 (that's not the exact numbers). My TV overscans through all inputs *except* VGA. I switched to VGA last night to run everything at a standard resolution. Text does appear a bit clearer. Not too much else, though. Oh, and I lost the thin black border on my screen that ws caused by the Nvidia Underscan...

[stanger89]

FYI, Overscan Compensation in the drivers works by maintaining the same timings (ie 1080i/1080p) but reducing the "active" area, ie it draws the Windows desktop smaller and paints black around it such that the TV still gets 1080p like it expects, but Windows only makes use of the area you can see.

[MattHelm]

Originally Posted by stanger89

FYI, Overscan Compensation in the drivers works by maintaining the same timings (ie 1080i/1080p) but reducing the "active" area, ie it draws the Windows desktop smaller and paints black around it such that the TV still gets 1080p like it expects, but Windows only makes use of the area you can see.

OK, how do you set that up in Windoze? I tried, but it kept either crashing, or changing the rez below 1920x1080.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by MattHelm

OK, how do you set that up in Windoze? I tried, but it kept either crashing, or changing the rez below 1920x1080.

No idea about crashing, but when you enable the overscan correction, the desktop resolution will be reported lower, because as far as Windows (and the apps running on it) are concerned, the desktop did get smaller. That's why you see people running weird resolutions like 1776x1000 and such.