Setting up a 4:3 1080i Panny Tube... getting black bars

[dealsdyker]

Tonight I tried moving my Sage machine to the basement Panasonic 32" Tube. The tube weighs about 200 lbs and is 1080i.

The TV has its own tuner, but I wanted to use Sage on it. When playing from the TV's internal tuner on a HD channel (digital antenna) the entire 4:3 screen fills up nicely.

So I plugged into the DVI port from my nvidia GeForce 7600 GS video card. Keep in mind my only experience with Sage or having a computer plugged into a HDTV before this was on a widescreen LCD and on the widescreen LCD the entire screen filled up. However, on this non-widescreen tube I get black bars on top and bottom of the screen. It displays widescreen by showing the black bars. This is all outside the sage environment. If I start Sage and play a widescreen movie, this is what I'd want (and it looks good too) but if I play a SD show (like cops) I get black bars on top, bottom, left, and right of the picture. Again, if I watch through the TV's tuner the entire screen real estate is used on a SD picture.

I can't seem to figure out how (or if) the monitor can use the entire screen area when hooked to a PC. The resolution 1920x1080 interlaced is what gives the black bars above and below (creates a widescreen image in the 4:3 32" tube). Everything it too small to read Windows XP (which is kind of a bummer cuz I was hoping to browse internet on the screen too) but once sage starts it is usable. I've messed with custom resolutions and can't seem to make the computer fill the entire screen.

I was hoping once all setup that SD shows would use the entire screen, and widescreen HD shows would show black bars on top and bottom. Maybe I'm asking too much.... the monitor manual says "not meant for hooking to a computer" and maybe the DVI port on the back can't do what I was hoping. According to the TV manual "The DVI/HDCP input terminal complies with the EIA-861 Profiles standard and is not intended for use with personal computers. The DVI/HDCP input can be connected to a EIA/CEA 861 compliant consumer electronic device, such as a set top box or DVD player equipped with a DVI output connection. There is another way the TV accepts HD inputs via the component input. However, my video card doesn't have component output... just DVI.

I'm looking for help, guidance, or advice.

[Fastrack]

hmm.

When you set windows to 1920x1080 I believe that's a 1080p signal I'm not 100% sure though. What happens when you set windows to 1280x720? Are you sure your TV has a native resolution of 1080i? I know my projector if I send it 1920x1080 it works but compresses the image and makes it blurry (It's native 720p)

With my 7600GS BFG I got a component dongle, but I have yet to try it.

If the Windows Desktop is not filling the entire screen there's no way SageTV can play bigger than the native windows desktop.

[gplasky]

If you hve a 4:3 TV screen you would need to set it to a 4:3 resolution (800 x 600, 1024 x 768, etc.) The resolution you have it set for is a 16:9 resolution. (1920 x 1080) Does your video driver recognize it as being connected to a TV or does it show up as a Generic monitor? You could choose a different monitor driver so it knows it is a 4:3 screen. The other thing to check is the menu system on your TV and see what options you have to set the incoming video to. You may be able to fix it that way.

Gerry

[dealsdyker]

First of all Thanks for the replies...

Originally Posted by gplasky

If you hve a 4:3 TV screen you would need to set it to a 4:3 resolution (800 x 600, 1024 x 768, etc.) The resolution you have it set for is a 16:9 resolution. (1920 x 1080) Does your video driver recognize it as being connected to a TV or does it show up as a Generic monitor? You could choose a different monitor driver so it knows it is a 4:3 screen. The other thing to check is the menu system on your TV and see what options you have to set the incoming video to. You may be able to fix it that way.
Gerry

I tried 800x600 and 1024x768 and it display larger fonts but still within the confines of having black bars on the top and bottom of the screen (same problem). Through the computer no matter what resolution I sent I got black bars on the top and bottom of the TV. As mentioned Live HD TV via OTA antenna fills the whole screen. I looked in the TV menus but nothing popped out at me... and the menu structure is not... shall we say... friendly. I'll look again. It took me 25 minutes just to find "scan for channels" on the menu structure.

The monitor reported says "Panny" or "Panasonic" but that is all the information it gives. I'm assuming it reports something back to the computer because it is connected HDMI/Digitally. When I had it hooked to the 50" Sony widescreen it reported "Sony".

Originally Posted by Fastrack

With my 7600GS BFG I got a component dongle, but I have yet to try it.

I kind of remember I got some other hardware with the video card (component dongle) the problem is I have no idea where I put it. I remember thinking "Why would I ever want this? Sage will always be on my 50" widescreen" Time to dig around.

The front of the TV says "1080i HD". It is a 1080i TV. The only HD on it before trying Sage was via OTA. I should have listed the TV model # in the original post. It is a Panasonic CT-32HXC14, basically the same as the 32hx13

[dealsdyker]

Originally Posted by gplasky

The other thing to check is the menu system on your TV and see what options you have to set the incoming video to. You may be able to fix it that way.
Gerry

Right on... there is a setting burried in the menu that ONLY activates when a 1080i feed coming in. Thanks for pushing me to look further in that direction.

All is good now... Sage shows HD widescreen with black bars north and south, and SD digital shows using the full screen. Exactly what I wanted!!

[takeshi]

(Ack -- nevermind)