Graphics
Intel® graphics drivers and software, compatibility, troubleshooting, performance, and optimization
20492 Discussions

HDMI output to HDTV from Corei3 is really bad

idata
Employee
2,228 Views

I have a HTPC I just built using the Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H board and intel Core i3 530 chip. My TV is a Samsung LNR268WX. I bought this board/chip because of the H55 chipset/core i3 chip's ability to do HDMI output and HD audio bitstreaming. I plan on using this computer as a BluRay player with this TV. Unfortunately, the HDMI output to my HDTV is producing a very bad picture quality. The TV is a 720p TV but has a native res of 1360x768 (pretty common). Sending 1360x768 causes massive underscan (I think the TV thinks its getting 1080 and scaling it down). There is overscan when the card sends 1280x720, but I adjusted that using the intel driver's display aspect. However the color and picture quality are still bad. The text is blurry and graphics look as if they aren't being smoothed/dithered correctly. The colors are all oversaturated or not accurate. The TV looks fine if I use the VGA output from the board, but then I loose the HD audio function of the HDMI. This is not an issue with other consumer electronics devices that can be plugged in via HDMI to this TV. Tivo, stand alone DVD/BD players look fine. Changing settings on the TV doesn't seem to help that much. Is there something I can adjust in the graphics driver to fix this?

0 Kudos
4 Replies
ROBERT_U_Intel
Employee
589 Views

What OS are you running? What version of Graphics Driver?

Go here and check to see if you have the latest driver, http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/detect.htm http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/detect.htm

Then run the Intel TV Wizard to configure your system with your TV. To open TV Wizard, right click on desktop, click TV Wizard on context menu. From there its pretty straight forward.

0 Kudos
idata
Employee
589 Views

Windows 7 x64. I have tried with graphics driver 2057 (from intel site), 2021 (from windows update), and 1995 (the one that came on the CD from the board mfgr gigabyte). I don't see an "intel TV wizard" when I right click on the desktop. There are two options that pertain to graphics "graphics options..." and "graphics properties". The properties menu item takes me to the control panel. The other one allows screen rotation, hot key assignment, etc... Where might I get this intel tv wizard?

0 Kudos
ROBERT_U_Intel
Employee
589 Views

OK, that explains it. Win 7 64 bit is not supported by TV Wizard. It is only available with the 32 Bit OS's.

With the 64 bit OS, you need to use the Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel. It sounds like you have done all of the following, using the Custom Resolutions and Monitor/TV Settings tabs.

Try to set the Custom Resolutions Advanced Settings if you can get the correct values for the Samsung LNR268WX to input. Does your users manual have the values? Possibly Samsung's website?

0 Kudos
idata
Employee
589 Views

I'm not sure if this is related to your problem, but the 1360 x 768 resolution is actually a bit beyond 720p resolution (1280x720). A 1080i TV I use with a PC considers it's native resolution to be 1360x768, although it is only a 32" TV. Does your TV's manual say anything about connections to PCs? My graphics controller lists another resolution for 720p as 1176 x 644.

Also, you did not mention the refresh rate, such as 60Hz, could that be an issue in this case? Is your TV a plasma type? That may require a certain refresh rate.

Reply