stringplucker
09-28-2007, 11:02 AM
Hey everyone,
I have a box which I currently use as a HTPC. I run Windows Media Center 2005 which works pretty well for my purposes. I currently connect to my HDTV through DVI(to HDMI) and get reasonable results. However, I can only connect to the HDTV using 720P despite my HDTV being capable of handing 1080i. Upon setting the resolution to 1080i via the nvidia control panel, the image on the HDTV becomes garbled and the mouse pointer no longer lines up with what is shown on the screen (so when you click the mouse pointer is misplaced vertically). I have tried many things including using powerstrip to custom tune the resolution and timings to the exact specs of my monitor, all to no avail. This includes updating graphics drivers. One of the possible reasons for this is that the native resolution of the HDTV is 1024X1080 (I know, kinda weird but its a Hitachi director series plasma).
I had given up until one day I hooked up my macbook pro to the HDTV just for kicks. It automatically detected my screen and adjusted the signal to 1080i and it looked spectacular. Text was sharp, no image distortion. In short, I want that with my PC.
My question is whether or not upgrading my graphics card will help my situation. I currently use a geForce 4 ti4200. My macbook pro has an ATI mobility X1600 with 256 MB of GDDR3. I understand that part of it is software. But is it possible that new cards are better at handling HDTV signals? I know also some cards have hardware MPEG2 decoding which is favorable.
If the answer to the above question is yes. Could you recommend a graphics card (AGP) which would suffice? The cheaper the better. Thanks!
I have a box which I currently use as a HTPC. I run Windows Media Center 2005 which works pretty well for my purposes. I currently connect to my HDTV through DVI(to HDMI) and get reasonable results. However, I can only connect to the HDTV using 720P despite my HDTV being capable of handing 1080i. Upon setting the resolution to 1080i via the nvidia control panel, the image on the HDTV becomes garbled and the mouse pointer no longer lines up with what is shown on the screen (so when you click the mouse pointer is misplaced vertically). I have tried many things including using powerstrip to custom tune the resolution and timings to the exact specs of my monitor, all to no avail. This includes updating graphics drivers. One of the possible reasons for this is that the native resolution of the HDTV is 1024X1080 (I know, kinda weird but its a Hitachi director series plasma).
I had given up until one day I hooked up my macbook pro to the HDTV just for kicks. It automatically detected my screen and adjusted the signal to 1080i and it looked spectacular. Text was sharp, no image distortion. In short, I want that with my PC.
My question is whether or not upgrading my graphics card will help my situation. I currently use a geForce 4 ti4200. My macbook pro has an ATI mobility X1600 with 256 MB of GDDR3. I understand that part of it is software. But is it possible that new cards are better at handling HDTV signals? I know also some cards have hardware MPEG2 decoding which is favorable.
If the answer to the above question is yes. Could you recommend a graphics card (AGP) which would suffice? The cheaper the better. Thanks!