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W8.1 HTPC using HDMI and a TV that is not true 720P

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rescuetoaster

Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Hey everyone,
So right now we are using a logitech revue as our primary source of entertainment on the TV. It has been a trooper, but I've wanted to stream hockey games via chrome recently, and this thing is just not up to the task even in the slightest.

This has got me thinking about a replacement. Recently, I hooked up my laptop via HDMI (just using first gen Intel HD graphics) to discover that my panasonic 720P plasma tv has a few less pixels than advertised - which causes the desktop borders to extend beyond the actual area that the TV displays. I know you can setup custom resolutions in the intel software, but it's not super great at figuring out the actual resolution. So here is my question: the logitech revue has a setup where you literally just alter the size of a box until it fills the screen, which tells the revue what the true screen resolution is - is there a comparable piece of software for windows?

I really want to invest in an AM1 HTPC, but want to test things out using my laptop for a while.
 
Since you actually have this setup - there is only one AM1 board with optical audio built in, and it's like another 25-30 dollars more so if HDMI will take care of my surround sound needs I'd rather save the money. Does the AMD onboard audio pass Dobly digital and DTS through HDMI so that my surround sound can decode it, or is it only going to pass stereo PCM?

Also I figured out that my problem with the resolution is related to the TV forcing overscan, but I don't have any way to actually disable it.
 
I can change the overscan with my htpc by going into the CCC for my HD 4650. Does your notebook have ATI video? Sorry, my reading comprehension skills have failed.
 
If I set the laptop to output 1920x1080 to the TV, then I DO get overscan/underscan correction options - but I need to set it to like 65 so that everything fits onscreen, but the image quality suffers a hell of a lot - netflix on W8 looks awful vs netflix on the revue when I do this.

I just can't seem to wrap my head around TV resolutions. For instance, this set is a 720P TV, but the native resolution is 1024x768. Even a lot of 1080p TVs apparently are native at 1366x768.
 
I would assume the audio is handled by AMD's driver and the "true audio" is supposed to be multi channel. I've never actually used mine for HTPC. All I did was bench it, now it collects dust. I needed more HP for my HTPC since it's also my gamer.
 
Well I have another issue - I sold off my 7950 as I will be starting school soon and need the distraction of games away from me for the next two years, but I remember it having TV settings (720p, 1080p etc). I'm wondering if these would alleviate my problems here. If anyone has an AMD graphics card and a 720p tv, would you be so kind as to hook them up and adjust the resolution to the 720P setting and just tell me if there is overscan/underscan issues. If this whole thing comes down to intel HD not being able to adjust to the TV's bizarre pixel size and AMD graphics being able to deal with it properly, maybe the 5350 HTPC plan would work out.
 
My LCD TV overscans but I can adjust it in ATI's CCC & the picture looks great. It doesn't affect the image at all. The TV is 1080p but I run the desktop at 720p so I can see the icons and text. An ATI 5400 or 6400 series would probably do what you want and ensure you won't be tempted to game. lol
 
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