Posted: 4/29/2008 3:30:44 AM EDT
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I recently connected a PC to my HDTV which supports resolutions up to 1024x768 @ 60hz. It displays great, except for the fact that it's in a 4:3 ratio resulting in the black bars on both sides of the display. I'm currently using the "fit to screen" feature, but that just scretches the display. Is there a way to configure the display output to a widescreen resolution that is less than 1024x768? Thanks in advance. And NO, getting a new TV is not an option. 
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You could try 1024x640. It is not a standard size, you probably won't see it available when you slide the bar to set your resolutions. You will probably have to make a custom setting using whatever utility software comes with your particular brand of video card. |
I forgot to mention that computers are not my expertise. So feel free to explain things to me like I'm a 5yo kid.
I think the computer I have came with a basic video card. Will there be any utility software then? Or does utility software only come with an upgraded video card? |
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first, how are you connecting the PC to the HDTV? you should be using an RGB cable (monitor cable. or if you have a higher-end system, your PC might have an HDMI port) don't use the composite video cable or s-video. the quality is crap compared to what you can get with the RGB cable. second, what kind of TV is it? can you tell us the make and model? btw, is your TV a plasma by any chance? you will want to be careful of burning-in the screen. |
An "HDTV" should support at least 720p resolution (1280×720 @ 60hz). Otherwise, it's not really an HDTV. Did somebody at a Big Box store tell you it was an "HDTV"? Digital "Standard Definition" would be either 480i (720x480 @ 60hz, interlaced) or 480p resolution (704x480 @ 60hz). If you have a reasonably recent NVidia or ATI video card, downloading the manufacturer's drivers should let you put out 480p. What type of port are you connecting to on your PC and on the TV. |
Sorry, I meant PC resolutions up to 1024x768. The TV that I have is a Toshiba 42HL67 (42" LCD 720p). Per page 19 of the manual, it states the supported PC input resolutions. From this same page, it provides accepted HDMI inputs. So will a video card with a DVI output do the trick? To connect I'm using this cable from the monitor output of the computer to the PC input of my TV. |
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It appears that the TV won't accept a HD resolution through the RGB input. Page 66 of the manual shows the resloutions available throught the HDMI input. To get a HD resolution you need to use a HDMI connection to input your video signal to the TV. This is easy if you have a DVI out connection. You can buy a DVI to HDMI adapter and connect that way. If your computer only has a RGB out then I am not sure. They do make RGB to DVI adapters, but I don't know if you can make a Frankenstein adapter that will convert RGB to DVI then to HDMI. Well, I'm sure you can make one, I just don't know if it will work. |
Yep, hopefully you have a DVI out. Then you can go DVI->HDMI with an adapter cable. (I actually have an extra 6' one that you could have for a reasonable price; email me if interested.) Otherwise, there's no good way to go from RGB to HDMI. Notice that the RGB->DVI adapters Ras refers to above are from RGB to DVI-A, the analog version of DVI. This analog DVI-A signal cannot be easily converted to HDMI (which is all digital). The easy conversion is from DVI-D (digital-only) to HDMI. |