ANyone have much expirence with using a 1080P 32" HDTV as a monitor?
I'm thinking about either getting the Toshiba REGZA 32RV530U or the Doublesight 265W 26" monitor.
Any opinions?
Using a 32" HDTV as a monitor
Using a 32" HDTV as a monitor
i use my tosh regza 37XV505DB for games i can play with my joypad, and it's been a blast so far. it's got an "exact scan" mode for gaming so it always fills the screen. haven't used it for anything more than gaming. if i need to use my pc for non-game stuff i always use my normal monitor (ancient 17" flat screen).
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Frag Maniac
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- Joined: 02 Jan 2006, 18:49
Using a 32" HDTV as a monitor
The 26" Doublesight is the best deal going in a large high quality panel monitor. The Toshiba model HDTV you referred to sounds good but unfortunately there's not much in the way of reviews yet to know if all those included features perform well, esp CineSpeed, as it's response is only 8ms compared to the Sharp Aquos 32" 1080p HDTV 6ms. I wouldn't doubt the Toshiba is more quality built though.
With the Doublesight you'd be getting less than one frame input lag and 5ms rersponse time, it's a very good gaming display. You'd also be getting a 3 yr warranty vs 1 yr on the Toshiba, and only if it's purchased at an authorized Toshiba retailer. The Doublesight would have more scaling options and display more game resolutions full screen and undistorted since most are 16:10.
On the other hand the Toshiba has a built in HDTV tuner, video processing, and it's 16:9 aspect ratio fits movies better. Overall I would say the Doublesight would be a better gaming specific display with excellent photo work capabilities as a side note and the Toshiba perhaps a better multi-purpose HTPC display, provided you use it from a comfortable viewing distance. Some struggle with 32" for desktop use due to it's size.
With the Doublesight you'd be getting less than one frame input lag and 5ms rersponse time, it's a very good gaming display. You'd also be getting a 3 yr warranty vs 1 yr on the Toshiba, and only if it's purchased at an authorized Toshiba retailer. The Doublesight would have more scaling options and display more game resolutions full screen and undistorted since most are 16:10.
On the other hand the Toshiba has a built in HDTV tuner, video processing, and it's 16:9 aspect ratio fits movies better. Overall I would say the Doublesight would be a better gaming specific display with excellent photo work capabilities as a side note and the Toshiba perhaps a better multi-purpose HTPC display, provided you use it from a comfortable viewing distance. Some struggle with 32" for desktop use due to it's size.
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krjacobs03
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- Joined: 10 Jul 2007, 22:59
Using a 32" HDTV as a monitor
I am using a 32' 1080p Sharp, but I tries the 1080p Toshiba first. I did nto like the Toshiba at all! It had terrible overscan and I just didn't think the actual picture of the Regza was that good either. And this is the new line of Regza that started using Sharp panels (Still much better than the previous screens). If you want a 32' TV for a monitor, I HIGHLY recommend the Sharp. No ovescan and a beautiful picture.
And to the person who said Toshiba was better quality than Sharp. You are WAY off!
And to the person who said Toshiba was better quality than Sharp. You are WAY off!
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Frag Maniac
- Posts: 913
- Joined: 02 Jan 2006, 18:49
Using a 32" HDTV as a monitor
I find it odd you are basing much of your opinion of Toshiba's Regza and Tosh vs Sharp on overscan alone, which has nothing to do with quality and can quite easily be adjusted in your video card panel (even ATI now) or the service code of the TV's remote control.
I have read tons of reviews on the AVS forum about the 1080p 32" Sharp and there are certain common color related problems with them, one of which was addressed with VERY poor customer service concerning one of their more tech oriented forum members.
Toshibas have always been a bit different than other brands concerning adjusting the settings. This is probably even more true with all the video processing features the new ones have. It can take a while but once you get them adjusted well they look great.
Besides that, TV settings and color levels are largely personal preference. I find it common that those whom don't like Toshiba's picture quality like the over saturated colors that most sets have, in some case with lots of red push. Toshibas never look like that. They go for a more natural look.
On the panels, there are very few panel manufacturers out there and the fact that two sets use the same one has much less to do with how the picture will look than the video processing chips they use. The Regzas may in fact use the same panel the Sharps do, but I doubt they're made by Sharp, more likely Samsung.
I have read tons of reviews on the AVS forum about the 1080p 32" Sharp and there are certain common color related problems with them, one of which was addressed with VERY poor customer service concerning one of their more tech oriented forum members.
Toshibas have always been a bit different than other brands concerning adjusting the settings. This is probably even more true with all the video processing features the new ones have. It can take a while but once you get them adjusted well they look great.
Besides that, TV settings and color levels are largely personal preference. I find it common that those whom don't like Toshiba's picture quality like the over saturated colors that most sets have, in some case with lots of red push. Toshibas never look like that. They go for a more natural look.
On the panels, there are very few panel manufacturers out there and the fact that two sets use the same one has much less to do with how the picture will look than the video processing chips they use. The Regzas may in fact use the same panel the Sharps do, but I doubt they're made by Sharp, more likely Samsung.
Using a 32" HDTV as a monitor
I am reading this thread with interest as I am in a similar situation myself.
First off, I am not interested in any Toshiba vs Sony vs Sharp issue and would like to concentrate on the general technicals as below.
Items under exam:
1. Display: 46" HDTV with a 1920 x 1080 panel and supports up to 1080p. It has HDMI input connectors and a D-sub 15-pin connector for PC.
2. Graphic card: Radeon HD 3850/3870. It has 2 DVI outputs.
Part I: Single display
Consider only using this combo for playing PC games, what is the better way to connect the card to the HDTV?
Option A: use a DVI-to-HDMI cable to connect the card to one of the HDMI input connector of the HDTV. But I discover that when I choose 1920 x 1080 @ 50Hz in CCC, the desktop gets pushed outside the panel border. If I choose 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz, the entire desktop is now shown inside the panel but the icons and text look a little fuzzy. Why so?
And, is the signal being sent out from the card to the HDTV a 1080i signal or 1080p signal?
(I am currently using this option. I have a gut feeling that I need to dig into the setting of the HDTV and CCC and use more fine-tuning. Any advice?)
Option B: use a DVI-to-VGA cable to connect the card to the D-sub input of the HDTV.
Max supported resolution is 1360 x 768 @ 60Hz and the signal will be scaled up by the HDTV to fill up the panel. Since scaling (ie, not pixel-to-pixel) and digital-to-analog are involved, I imagine final image quality will suffer more or less (depending on the ability of the HDTV internal scaler). I have no experience in this area. Anyone has?
Part II: DTH2G
Use a dual-link DVI cable to connect the card to the DTH2G unit is obvious. Then, what is the better way to connect the DTH2G to the 3 displays? 2 Options similar as above.
Option A: use a DVI-to-HDMI cable and feed a 1280 x 720 @ 60Hz signal (720p ?), making 3 x 1280 x 720 overall resolution.
Option B: use a DVI-to-VGA cable and feed a 1360 x 768 @ 60Hz signal (max supported for DTH2G), making a 3 x 1360 x 768 overall resolution.
Option A remains digital all the way but has a smaller resolution. Option B has a higher resolution but it gets analog.
Anyone has any experience in this kind of setup?
(I hope I am not hijacking this thread. I hope this thread can generate more input and sharing of experience of using HDTV as monitor)
First off, I am not interested in any Toshiba vs Sony vs Sharp issue and would like to concentrate on the general technicals as below.
Items under exam:
1. Display: 46" HDTV with a 1920 x 1080 panel and supports up to 1080p. It has HDMI input connectors and a D-sub 15-pin connector for PC.
2. Graphic card: Radeon HD 3850/3870. It has 2 DVI outputs.
Part I: Single display
Consider only using this combo for playing PC games, what is the better way to connect the card to the HDTV?
Option A: use a DVI-to-HDMI cable to connect the card to one of the HDMI input connector of the HDTV. But I discover that when I choose 1920 x 1080 @ 50Hz in CCC, the desktop gets pushed outside the panel border. If I choose 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz, the entire desktop is now shown inside the panel but the icons and text look a little fuzzy. Why so?
And, is the signal being sent out from the card to the HDTV a 1080i signal or 1080p signal?
(I am currently using this option. I have a gut feeling that I need to dig into the setting of the HDTV and CCC and use more fine-tuning. Any advice?)
Option B: use a DVI-to-VGA cable to connect the card to the D-sub input of the HDTV.
Max supported resolution is 1360 x 768 @ 60Hz and the signal will be scaled up by the HDTV to fill up the panel. Since scaling (ie, not pixel-to-pixel) and digital-to-analog are involved, I imagine final image quality will suffer more or less (depending on the ability of the HDTV internal scaler). I have no experience in this area. Anyone has?
Part II: DTH2G
Use a dual-link DVI cable to connect the card to the DTH2G unit is obvious. Then, what is the better way to connect the DTH2G to the 3 displays? 2 Options similar as above.
Option A: use a DVI-to-HDMI cable and feed a 1280 x 720 @ 60Hz signal (720p ?), making 3 x 1280 x 720 overall resolution.
Option B: use a DVI-to-VGA cable and feed a 1360 x 768 @ 60Hz signal (max supported for DTH2G), making a 3 x 1360 x 768 overall resolution.
Option A remains digital all the way but has a smaller resolution. Option B has a higher resolution but it gets analog.
Anyone has any experience in this kind of setup?
(I hope I am not hijacking this thread. I hope this thread can generate more input and sharing of experience of using HDTV as monitor)
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Frag Maniac
- Posts: 913
- Joined: 02 Jan 2006, 18:49
Using a 32" HDTV as a monitor
What brand/model is your 46" HDTV? Some TVs have inferior circuitry on some of the connection ports which can result in the type of problem you're describing. You do need to precisely match the type of connector the set uses with the cable you buy though.
Theoretically DVI to HDMI should give you the best connection and HDTVs work best at 60Hz. The 1080i broadcasts are always in 2x 30Hz though.
Theoretically DVI to HDMI should give you the best connection and HDTVs work best at 60Hz. The 1080i broadcasts are always in 2x 30Hz though.
Using a 32" HDTV as a monitor
What brand/model is your 46" HDTV? Some TVs have inferior circuitry on some of the connection ports which can result in the type of problem you're describing. You do need to precisely match the type of connector the set uses with the cable you buy though.
The HDTV is a Toshiba Regza XF-series 46" (with the ultra-slim bezel of 23mm :) ideal for triplemon setup :)
Theoretically DVI to HDMI should give you the best connection and HDTVs work best at 60Hz. The 1080i broadcasts are always in 2x 30Hz though.
Yes, I agree. That is why I have chosen Option A as my starting point for connection.
I had a little time to do some adjusting yesterday. I think the 'fuzziness' might actually be the 'grainy-ness' of showing fine text at 1920 x 1080 on a 46" panel. The pixel pitch size of the panel is 0.531mm which is roughly doubled that of a typical 24" 1920 x 1200 panel with 0.27mm dot pitch.
I must admit that I am new to using a HDTV together with a PC. And so I am not used to 0.531mm pitch size text which are so familar to me at 0.27mm.
Unless anyone has good advice in this area, I think I will move on for the time being as I have discovered a new hurdle to pass. :(
With 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz chosen in CCC, the whole Windows desktop is shown but it does not fully fill the entire panel. So, there is a black border between the bezel and the edge of the Windows desktop. This is odd as the panel size is 1920 x 1080 natively and I am feeding a 1920 x 1080 resolution to it. I wonder why it is not filled?
I should also admit that I am not familar with ATI's CCC as I have been using nVidia since the days of Ti4200.
Any constructive sharing is welcome. I hope this thread could develop further and helps those of us using HDTV with a PC.
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krjacobs03
- Posts: 27
- Joined: 10 Jul 2007, 22:59
Using a 32" HDTV as a monitor
I had a little time to do some adjusting yesterday. I think the 'fuzziness' might actually be the 'grainy-ness' of showing fine text at 1920 x 1080 on a 46" panel. The pixel pitch size of the panel is 0.531mm which is roughly doubled that of a typical 24" 1920 x 1200 panel with 0.27mm dot pitch.
I must admit that I am new to using a HDTV together with a PC. And so I am not used to 0.531mm pitch size text which are so familar to me at 0.27mm.
Unless anyone has good advice in this area, I think I will move on for the time being as I have discovered a new hurdle to pass. :(
With 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz chosen in CCC, the whole Windows desktop is shown but it does not fully fill the entire panel. So, there is a black border between the bezel and the edge of the Windows desktop. This is odd as the panel size is 1920 x 1080 natively and I am feeding a 1920 x 1080 resolution to it. I wonder why it is not filled?
I should also admit that I am not familar with ATI's CCC as I have been using nVidia since the days of Ti4200.
Any constructive sharing is welcome. I hope this thread could develop further and helps those of us using HDTV with a PC.
This is what I was refering to in my post about Sharp vs Toshiba. With the Sharp TV's, you hook up the DVI-HDMI cable and the screen shows the entire desktop without adjustments after setting the res to 1920x1080.
Also, the text is as sharp as a tack. No fuzziness and no grain!
Using a 32" HDTV as a monitor
This is what I was refering to in my post about Sharp vs Toshiba. With the Sharp TV's, you hook up the DVI-HDMI cable and the screen shows the entire desktop without adjustments after setting the res to 1920x1080.
Also, the text is as sharp as a tack. No fuzziness and no grain!
I am not aware of any 46" HDTV with a 1920 x 1080 panel that has a pixel size smaller than 0.531mm. If it is 0.531mm, then it is 'grainy' and 'fuzzy' to me :)
I have now narrowed down the cause of the problem to the HD3870 and/or CCC and is not related to the Toshiba (because I tested it with a Nvidia card and it fills the whole panel in 1 shot.)
And digging further into CCC, I notice the Display Manager has a function to 'force detect' my HDTV and add 720i/720p/1080i/1080p setting. I wonder if this might be the solution. Are you using Nvidia or ATI card? If you are using CCC, what version are you using?
Let me reiterate that I really dont wish to get into Sharp vs Sony vs Toshiba vs whatever issue. But thank for your comment anyway.
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Frag Maniac
- Posts: 913
- Joined: 02 Jan 2006, 18:49
Using a 32" HDTV as a monitor
I have a feeling it's more likely that he's using an ATI vs Nvidia GPU, which don't support dual display as well if he is using two. I get the same undersized desktop image on my Samsung CRT HDTV in HDMI mode and it has nothing to do with the TV. Since I don't use my TV as a desktop and only watch DVDs/TV on it I don't worry about it, but he can easily adjust it out. It could also be that he's in 1:1 mode (see below). As for the graininess, any set with that high pixel pitch is going to look noticeably grainier than what he was used to before, esp if he's viewing it at closer than recommended distances.
Also, your Sharp is 32", his is 46" at the same res, BIG difference. There you're not comparing set quality but the fact that you need to view such a set farther away due to an obvious larger pixel pitch. To make an accurate comparison you'd need to have spent a lot of time at home with the same size sets putting each in best case scenario adjustment wise, and I'm just not buying that you did that to be saying such things.
The fact is you don't really need that auto stretch feature as you only have to set the size once and it's done. It's mainly a convenience for those whom don't know how to make such an adjustment and as I said before has nothing whatsoever to do with image quality. In fact the Toshiba may have such a feature which you don't have enabled if you've set it to 1:1 or some other mode.
Here are two images showing both screen sizing and overscan adjustments you can make using CCC p. I suggest you thoroughly read your Toshiba manual first to make sure it's not just a setting you can change on the TV though.
I've done some further searching on 32" HDTVs with 1080p. So far I've found ones by Sony (120Hz), LG, Samsung, Toshiba, and of course Sharp's had one for some time. The Sony and LG are very pricey and so far 120Hz hasn't proven to be any better in LCD TVs. Of the lot I would lean toward the Samsung, it's getting rave reviews and is priced pretty well. As I said previously Samsung likely makes the panel for the Toshiba and Sharp, and even the Sony. The only other manufacturer among those I listed that makes panels is LG, and only via their LG Philips division. I'm guessing LG Philips PLED may be the future of HDTV, though I'm not liking the direction their pricing is headed.
Also, your Sharp is 32", his is 46" at the same res, BIG difference. There you're not comparing set quality but the fact that you need to view such a set farther away due to an obvious larger pixel pitch. To make an accurate comparison you'd need to have spent a lot of time at home with the same size sets putting each in best case scenario adjustment wise, and I'm just not buying that you did that to be saying such things.
The fact is you don't really need that auto stretch feature as you only have to set the size once and it's done. It's mainly a convenience for those whom don't know how to make such an adjustment and as I said before has nothing whatsoever to do with image quality. In fact the Toshiba may have such a feature which you don't have enabled if you've set it to 1:1 or some other mode.
Here are two images showing both screen sizing and overscan adjustments you can make using CCC p. I suggest you thoroughly read your Toshiba manual first to make sure it's not just a setting you can change on the TV though.
I've done some further searching on 32" HDTVs with 1080p. So far I've found ones by Sony (120Hz), LG, Samsung, Toshiba, and of course Sharp's had one for some time. The Sony and LG are very pricey and so far 120Hz hasn't proven to be any better in LCD TVs. Of the lot I would lean toward the Samsung, it's getting rave reviews and is priced pretty well. As I said previously Samsung likely makes the panel for the Toshiba and Sharp, and even the Sony. The only other manufacturer among those I listed that makes panels is LG, and only via their LG Philips division. I'm guessing LG Philips PLED may be the future of HDTV, though I'm not liking the direction their pricing is headed.
Using a 32" HDTV as a monitor
I have a feeling it's more likely that he's using an ATI vs Nvidia GPU, which don't support dual display as well if he is using two.
What do you mean? Would you please explain this further?
(I do plan to use a dual-mon setup)
It could also be that he's in 1:1 mode (see below)....... esp if he's viewing it at closer than recommended distances.
What is 1:1 mode? I cant find this "1:1" mode from within CCC.
Yes, I am viewing the HDTV from about 1m.
Here are two images showing both screen sizing and overscan adjustments you can make using CCC
Thanks for this suggestion. I have successfully enlarge the desktop to fill up the full panel using the "Scaling Options". One click is all it needs!
I note that the default setting of the slider is right in the middle between 'Overscan" (0%) and 'Underscan' (15%). So, I suppose CCC, by default, was previously sending a 7.5% underscan signal to my HDTV, thus causing the black border all around. Now that I have pushed the slider slightly to the right to reduce the underscan and the black border is gone.
Though the problem is solved, I am not totally satisfied. I want to understand the root cause. My theory is this:
My card is not 100% properly detecting my HDTV. Most likely, the card thinks that my LCD HDTV is a CRT HDTV. Because CRTs usually overscan, so CCC decides to send an underscan signal to compensate.
Any comment on my theory?
Take a look at these two pic.
http://www.virtual-hideout.net/reviews/Gigabyte_HD_3870_512MB_Crossfire/HDTV-Setup.jpg and http://www.csa.dp.ua/downloads/ccc/50Hz_mode.jpg which are not exactly like mine but they serve the purpose for illustration. So, to solve the root cause, I wonder if 'add'ing the " 1080p60 standard (1920 x 1080 @60Hz) " would help my card ?
Anyone has any experience in using this 'HDTV Support' window under DTV(DVI) tab of the CCC ?
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Frag Maniac
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- Joined: 02 Jan 2006, 18:49
Using a 32" HDTV as a monitor
By bad dual display support I mean mostly if you have a setup that requires running your TV in extended desktop mode like me. The reason I have to use extended desktop mode to watch DVD movies is my CRT HDTV does not show text well enough to navigate through GUIs such as PowerDVD on screen. ATI still has poor Theater Mode support for extended desktop mode, which is why I use Omega drivers. The other options besides extended desktop are clone and primary display modes, either of which you should be able to use.
It was only recently that ATI even offered the Overscan adjustment I showed you, and now it happens to be necessary for me to use due to the latest ATI drivers lacking proper AGP support as well. Thus I have to use both CCC AND ATI Tray Tools (the latter of which comes with the Omega drivers) just to get DVDs to play in their true size.
It's mainly that I have not only a CRT HDTV, but a 4:3 monitor, so I'm not only having to use extended desktop mode, I have two drastically different aspect ratios between my displays. Obviously your problem is not that you're using two displays after hearing you say you've only one for now. I wouldn't worry too much about it as the dual support has gotten much better esp if you use Pci Ex, have a panel HDTV, and plan your second display to be same or close in aspect ratio.
1:1 means the display shows the exact number of pixels and aspect ratio as the source material you're playing. It is a mode of the display, NOT the video card settings. In other words a letterbox movie (roughly 2.4:1 aspect ratio) will show on a 16:9 TV with black bars top and bottom vs full screen. This also means the original image won't be distorted proportionally.
Yes do enable 720p standard (1280x720) resolution. It's essential for watching DVDs. Also enable 1080p for Blu-ray movies. You will need to select the appropriate res mode in your video panel before launching the movie.
I actually set my res mode via the simple method of right clicking on the desktop to bring up the display properties. It's quicker and easier than navigating through more clicks to get to the video card panel.
Yes the ATI cards do take a bit more fiddling. They don't auto detect as well as Nvidia cards as you mentioned, but you can get around it and should only have to do it once as I said before. You are also helping to validate what I said about this being an issue with GPU support, not the TV itself.
It was only recently that ATI even offered the Overscan adjustment I showed you, and now it happens to be necessary for me to use due to the latest ATI drivers lacking proper AGP support as well. Thus I have to use both CCC AND ATI Tray Tools (the latter of which comes with the Omega drivers) just to get DVDs to play in their true size.
It's mainly that I have not only a CRT HDTV, but a 4:3 monitor, so I'm not only having to use extended desktop mode, I have two drastically different aspect ratios between my displays. Obviously your problem is not that you're using two displays after hearing you say you've only one for now. I wouldn't worry too much about it as the dual support has gotten much better esp if you use Pci Ex, have a panel HDTV, and plan your second display to be same or close in aspect ratio.
1:1 means the display shows the exact number of pixels and aspect ratio as the source material you're playing. It is a mode of the display, NOT the video card settings. In other words a letterbox movie (roughly 2.4:1 aspect ratio) will show on a 16:9 TV with black bars top and bottom vs full screen. This also means the original image won't be distorted proportionally.
Yes do enable 720p standard (1280x720) resolution. It's essential for watching DVDs. Also enable 1080p for Blu-ray movies. You will need to select the appropriate res mode in your video panel before launching the movie.
I actually set my res mode via the simple method of right clicking on the desktop to bring up the display properties. It's quicker and easier than navigating through more clicks to get to the video card panel.
Yes the ATI cards do take a bit more fiddling. They don't auto detect as well as Nvidia cards as you mentioned, but you can get around it and should only have to do it once as I said before. You are also helping to validate what I said about this being an issue with GPU support, not the TV itself.
Using a 32" HDTV as a monitor
Never used this one but I have used Sony Bravia LCD tv for my XBOX gaming .. it reallyyy irresistable.. wonder to play in it..
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Using a 32" HDTV as a monitor
By bad dual display support I mean mostly if you have a setup that requires running your TV in extended desktop mode like me. The reason I have to use extended desktop mode to watch DVD movies is my CRT HDTV does not show text well enough to navigate through GUIs such as PowerDVD on screen. ATI still has poor Theater Mode support for extended desktop mode, which is why I use Omega drivers. The other options besides extended desktop are clone and primary display modes, either of which you should be able to use.
It was only recently that ATI even offered the Overscan adjustment I showed you, and now it happens to be necessary for me to use due to the latest ATI drivers lacking proper AGP support as well. Thus I have to use both CCC AND ATI Tray Tools (the latter of which comes with the Omega drivers) just to get DVDs to play in their true size.
It's mainly that I have not only a CRT HDTV, but a 4:3 monitor, so I'm not only having to use extended desktop mode, I have two drastically different aspect ratios between my displays. Obviously your problem is not that you're using two displays after hearing you say you've only one for now. I wouldn't worry too much about it as the dual support has gotten much better esp if you use Pci Ex, have a panel HDTV, and plan your second display to be same or close in aspect ratio.
Thanks for your detail feedback. I like to ask a few more questions:
1) I have not used ATI Tray Tools before. Would you explain briefly what it does that CCC doesnt? Especially in the area of manipulating resolution and refresh rate.
2) My current primary display is a 46" 1920 x 1080 16:9 LCD HDTV while the secondary display is a 15" 800 x 600 4:3 LCD monitor. Size, resolution and aspect ratio are quite different. During the course of getting them to work simultaneously, I learn that I cannot use "Clone Mode" in CCC as it requires both display to have the same resolution (!). So, I am using the "Extended Desktop Mode" to get them both working together now.
Do you foresee any trouble when I use a DTH2G to connect 3 such HDTVs to form my primary display while still keeping my secondary display? The size , resolution and aspect ratio will be even further apart between them.
(PS: I have started a new thread under "Surround Discussion & Solutions" to deal with this particular setup of 3 LCD HDTVs with DTH2G.
Anyone who has used and is using this type of setup is encouraged to go there and share your experience. Thanks.)
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Frag Maniac
- Posts: 913
- Joined: 02 Jan 2006, 18:49
Using a 32" HDTV as a monitor
Would you explain briefly what it does that CCC doesnt? Especially in the area of manipulating resolution and refresh rate.ATI Tray Tools is used by some to set GPU fan speeds and such. I's really no different for setting res and refresh though. The main reason I use it is to set Theater Mode parameters while in Extended Desktop mode, which may be handy for you too, but I doubt you really need to use ED mode.
My current primary display is a 46" 1920 x 1080 16:9 LCD HDTV while the secondary display is a 15" 800 x 600 4:3 LCD monitor. Size, resolution and aspect ratio are quite different. During the course of getting them to work simultaneously, I learn that I cannot use "Clone Mode" in CCC as it requires both display to have the same resolution (!). So, I am using the "Extended Desktop Mode" to get them both working together now.
Since you have a digital flat panel LCD TV that should show text pretty well, you could probably use Primary Display mode instead of Extended Desktop mode. In this mode once you set it it automatically turns off your other display and uses the TV as the primary one when you enable it, from which you can then navigate onscreen.
In the long run that would be easier for movie watching and stuff. What I have to do after I go into ED mode is switch off my monitor manually after starting the movie or both displays stay on the whole time. I have my monitor screensaver set to blank (black screen), but the screensaver does not engage while in ED mode. You also lose the ability to control the movie onscreen in ED mode or even highlight the timebar to see how much time is left.
My advice to you is to avoid ED mode if possible, like I said I only use it because I have two CRT displays and the TV does not show text well enough to navigate with. The other reason to avoid it other than what I mentioned above is ED mode with older ATI cards works best with Omega drivers. I don't mind using them but they aren't updated as often as the stock ones from ATI. For me it makes no difference because I have an older video card that isn't part of the driver changelogs anymore.
This is the Theater Mode panel in ATI Tray Tools I was referring to.
Once in a while when I launch a movie it will display on my monitor but not my TV. It's because for some odd reason the settings in this panel revert to their default settings rather than the 16:9 WS settings shown in the pic. I then have to manually reset them then the movie launches on both displays. Welcome to the wonderful world of poor ATI dual display support (at least with their older GPUs anyway). :roll:
You shouldn't have to worry about poor dual display support with a 3000 series, from what I've read it's much better for 3000 and beyond cards. On the other hand I don't think you really need to use ED mode anyway. You should only run into the problem you were experiencing when trying to display two drastically different aspect ratios simultaneously, like in clone mode. If not ED mode may very well work better for you than it does for me.
Like I said, try using Primary Display mode instead. :wink:
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