HTPC Coming with wrong display settings on Sony HDTV

[srothwell]

I've used my DVI connector with my Sony HDTV Set. The TV is set to 1776x1000 so you can see everything.

So far everything is terrific except for one small detail.....

If the TV set is off when/if the HTPC re-boots (say a power failure), when the PC boots, it doesn't see the TV and will change the display settings to something OTHER than what they're supposed to be.

I then have to manaully change it back to 1776x1000 and it works great until the next time the HTPC comes on before the TV set.

Anyway to fix this and tell the darn ATI driver to leave the settings alone?

Current settings: 1776x1000 (created by PowerStrip then PowerStrip was uninstalled)
DVI and S-Video connectors connected to Radeon 9600SE


Thanks....

Stacy

[mls]

The ATI cards (and I assume nVidia does this also) sense what is connected at the time the machine boots.

For the DVI side, I assume with the HDTV off the TV is not sending a proper signal back on the DVI lines to indicate it is actually there.

On the other side of things, for the S-video and Composite connectors, it checks for a 75 ohm load. If it does not detect that it again assumes there is nothing there and defaults to the monitor output instead.

One of the ATI cards (don't remember which off hand) also had a problem with certain TV providing 75 ohm loads on both of the S-Video lines. If it sensed only one it default back to Composite mode.

I don't know if other HDTV's would behave the same with the DVI lines or not. Maybe someone else that has one set up using DVI will be able to give some other info.

Otherwise, I doubt there is much you would be able to do about it because of the way the ATI card senses the video out lines on boot.

Easiest solution is to just leave the compter on all the time. You should be able to turn on off the TV then without effecting things. My computers run 24/7 unless there is some real need to reboot them.

[srothwell]

The PC is left on all the time. But, if a power failure happens, then the PC's BIOS is programmed to bring the machine back up after a power failure.

The TV sill stay off, but the PC will boot, revealing the problem.

Stacy

[mls]

Got a good UPS? I have an APC 1500 Battery Backup with everything plugged into it (computer, monitor, TV, cable mode, router, etc.) and it will hold up for a litte over 20 minutes without power here.

After that, the UPS software will shut the machine down before it runs out of juice.

I would think if you had only just the computer plugged into one of these it should be able to keep running for an hour without the extra load of the other devices.

[srothwell]

Yeah, I'll go that route but I was trying to figure out what the problem was.

Man, from this stupid little problem to the Overlay level settings getting reset to default everytime a new clip is loaded..... I really think this is my last ATI card.

Their stuff seems to have too many problems.

Stacy

[jasmithvr6]

I too have a Sony HTDV widescreen (Grand Wega 50" LCD rear projection). I'm running Powerstrip, but can't get the 1776x1000 resolution to work properly. Anytime I try to force it in Powerstrip, I have to reboot to see if the display driver can accept that new setting. When it comes back up, I have a completely black screen. What display driver are you guys using to force that rez in Powerstrip?

ATI Radeon 9600 Non-Pro (Catalyst 4.6)
DVI Video connection
Sony GDM-W900 display driver

I tried running 1900x1080 rez (by far the best quality I've seen) but experienced screen flickering when I would put it to sleep overnight or during the day while I was at work and then went to bring it back up. Dropped the rez to 1280x720 and haven't had an issue. Only problem is that I miss the ridiculous picture quality of the higher rez! If I could get the 1776x1000, that might curb my appetite. Thanks!

[srothwell]

Actually, I'm not sure what I did to get it to work.

I installed PowerStrip basically so I could get the custom resolution installed. It worked, but PowerStrip is nagware so I uninstalled it, but the custom resolution stayed in the system.

My only catch is as described above.... the darn ATI card senses the monitor ins't turned on and then, I think, jumps to its next resolution that's in its own table.

Stacy

[stanger89]

Originally posted by jasmithvr6 Dropped the rez to 1280x720 and haven't had an issue. Only problem is that I miss the ridiculous picture quality of the higher rez! If I could get the 1776x1000, that might curb my appetite. Thanks! [/B]

You realize the native resolution (what's actually displayed) is 1280x720 (or close to it, probably 1366x768 on a Sony), so the best PQ you'll get will probably be at that resolution.

This might be of interest to you:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...ighlight=gwiii

[stanger89]

Originally posted by srothwell
My only catch is as described above.... the darn ATI card senses the monitor ins't turned on and then, I think, jumps to its next resolution that's in its own table.

Stacy

Actually I think it completely disables the DVI output and reverts to VGA. Not that that helps you or anything.