Scaling Issues with HD4650 on 1080P LCD TV (Media Center)?

I just bought a Sapphire HD4650/512 video card to replace on older X1950XT/512 in my new W7 Media Center PC. The old card worked perfectly with my NAD T175 and Samsung 1080P TV using DVI > HDMI plus SPDIF. The screen was filled 100% with no video scaling.

Now, with the HD4650 going HDMI > HDMI into the NAD Pre/Pro, I'm getting the proper resolution indicator of 1920x1080P/60Hz on the PC and on the TV, but I get a black border all the way around the screen, and the desktop is obviously scaled.

I've tried going DVI from the HD4650 to HDMI on the TV, but I get the same border. I tried all sorts of settings and such, but nothing helped. I then re-installed W7 and still have the same issues. I've tried using the stock W7 drivers and the ATI drivers. I've tried bypassing the NAD Pre/Pro and went straight from the PC>TV and got the same black border.

You can tell a difference even during POST - the screen is being scaled somewhat versus POST with the old X1950XT - so this does not appear to be driver related (must be hardware from what I gather).

If I plug in my Dell 2407WFP-HC via DVI @ 1920x1200, the HD4650 works perfectly. And, again, the same PC with a different video card works fine on the same A/V setup, as does my main Desktop PC coming in on a different HDMI input on the Pre/Pro (DVI > HDMI). The TV is operating in "Just Scan" mode which indicates 1:1 pixel mapping, so this is not an issue of improper scaling on the TV from what I can tell (and again, the same A/V setup is fine with 2 other video cards).

Any ideas before I return this thing? I really like the integrated 7.1 Ch Audio over HDMI (you don't use a SPDIF jumper with 5.1/AC3/DTS onboard sound like you do with most HDMI PEG cards).

Thanks for any help - this is an odd one on me, and I'd hate to RMA this if there is something simple I'm missing...

the same thing happens with my sammy and my 4890's what i do is i go into the scaling options in CCC and usually its at about 10% under scan by default so i just change it to 0% under scan and the black orders are disappear...

btw im using ccc 9.6...from what iv heard the options are different on the new versions of ccc so it might be named different...

I'll plug it pack in and see what I can find.

Quick Q: Did you - by chance - happen to notice if you still had scaling/borders during POST? That is what really makes this odd - POST is strictly at the hardware level so no driver settings and such are involved (to my knowledge). My X1950XT's POST fills the screen and actually bleeds off the edges IIRC, and the HD4650 is obviously scaled down where you can see all of the POST text plus a ~2" black border.

Did you also have this issue with a regular 1920x1200 DVI PC Monitor? My HD4650 was perfect with a Dell 2407WFP. I tried changing "Primary Monitors" in Windows from Dell to HDTV and vice-versa, but the HDTV ALWAYS scaled with black borders.

Thanks for any input before I rip the X1950XT back out and experiment with the HD4650 some more...

i havnt noticed anything during post but even if it did have black borders everything is black durring my post so i wouldnt notice haha...

lolz. I'll probably wait until Friday to test this as its bedtime, and I'm pooped (and a bit buzzed ). I already put the X1950XT back in the system because the HD4650's scaling was driving me crazy! The X1950XT is 1:1 pixel perfect w/o changing a thing

Any additional suggestions are welcomed!

sorry bro thats all i got... i really doubt something is wrong with your card though its just a setting...

xtkxhom3r said:

sorry bro thats all i got... i really doubt something is wrong with your card though its just a setting...

Click to expand...

I sure hope so! It is odd that POST also looks scaled (before any drivers and software settings are loaded) but everything is fine on my DELL 2407WFP. I'll probably have time to mess with this more Tonight. I predict a baker's dozen worth of reboots and card swapping until I give up and RMA it

Thanks for your input

xtkxhom3r - You are the man! I swear I went through ALL of the available settings in CCC, but I missed the fact that you have to click on the tiny triangle on the BOTTOM of the window to open the settings you were talking about (I haven't run CCC in ages and ages). My CCC defaulted to a different view where I had 2 different monitor icons to click on the tiny triangle, and I chose the wrong one like 4 times! Once I found the correct place to click, I discovered the overscan setting you mentioned. That did the trick! Why in the hell would they default a native 1080P LCD TV to a 10% underscan? That is just ridiculous IMNSHO. I work in TV, and I understand ALL about "Safe Title Area" and such, but having this setting default to 10% is just pointless...

The "funny" thing was, I pulled the X1950GT out to put in the HD4650 (a second time now ), and I uninstalled the older version of CCC first. When I put the HD4650 in, it initially filled the screen as it should (which is odd as when I did a fresh install of W7, it immediately stared off with the undesired scaling w/o installing CCC). Then, I installed the ATI drivers w/o CCC to get the HDMI Audio Drivers, and the scaling was back . I had a few choice words to say the least. I could not find ANYWHERE to change this scaling setting through the driver (that is also completely asinine if they are defaulting to a 10% underscan in the driver itself). I then installed CCC and finally found the settings page you mentioned, and I'm all smiles

Thanks again. RMA and re-stocking fees: Avoided! Single HDMI w/7.1 Audio (and w/o scaling) to my NAD T175HD: Accomplished!