Guide: Perfect playback & Display calibration (3 Viewers)

[axlt2002]

Thanks a lot! I will investigate obn the wiki! Cheers!

 

[axlt2002]

Having printed your guide (see two/three posts above..) I'm actually following it for the calibration.

I have one basic doubt related to the resolution of my TV (Samsung) that is conncted to the media center through the HDMI cable.

Being the TV HD Ready, I was expecting that in Windows the maximum resolution I could set would be 1280x720 (progressive). When going into the change resolution options, it shows me different possible resolutions until 1920x1080. Checking the TV guide I "understood" that HD Ready reaches resoutions until 1920x1080 (intelaced).

Three questions:

1) It is true that HD Ready TVs reach resolutions until 1080i?

2) Which resolution should I set?

3) In case of 1080i, will I be able to watch 1080p videos?

I know, I'm quite confused...that is why I'm asking your help!

 

[emphatic]

1) It is true that HD Ready TVs reach resolutions until 1080i?

2) Which resolution should I set?

3) In case of 1080i, will I be able to watch 1080p videos?

I know, I'm quite confused...that is why I'm asking your help!

1) My HD Ready Panasonic Plasma can display 1080p input without issues (I get a message that it's 1080p but I guess what I actually see is 1080i) - only way to find out is to set your HTPC to 1080p and see if you get a picture or not

2) I use 1080p @60hz as default as the GUI (browse menus, etc) will look it's smoothest in 60khz as AFAIK, TVs can only display 24p video @ 1080p. So, you'll need to check:

a) That your TV set can handle 1920x1080 @24p
b) That your video card can output 1920x1080 @24p

Do you plan on using Auto Refresh Rate Changer? If so, you'll also need to check that your video card can do 1920x1080 @23, @50 and @60 as well so that MediaPortal can change resolutions when needed.

3) See #1.

Emph

 

[axlt2002]

1) My HD Ready Panasonic Plasma can display 1080p input without issues (I get a message that it's 1080p but I guess what I actually see is 1080i) - only way to find out is to set your HTPC to 1080p and see if you get a picture or not

First of all thanks for your answer!

I would prefer to go step-by-step...that is why I have just quoted your first answer...what do you mean by set your HTPC to 1080p? Are you referring to Media Portal settings or the one of the video card through ATI Catalyst Control Center (I'm actually using an AMD APU a6-3500)? HOw can I differenciate between 1080i and 1080p? The CCC just says 1080...

 

[emphatic]

In ATI CCC, set your desktop resolution to 1920x1080 @ 60 hz and click apply (I'm guessing, I have an NVIDA card) and as the video card changes resolution from what you're using right now (720p?) you will either see a picture (and your TV's OSD might show a message what resolution it's displaying - this is where my Panasonic set shows me 16:9 / 1080p) or your TV will only display a black image and after a couple of seconds, the picture should return as the video card's "Do you want to keep this resolution" prompt times out. Also, is your TV set plasma, LCD or LED? On my set, I can't really make out the difference between 720p and 1080i (there's no flicker at 1080i, something that I'm used to seeing when using interlaced resolutions on other tech (CRT), so I've been using 1080i to allow my video card to output all the hz I want (24, 50 and 60).

To be on the safe side though, do check with a lower resolution first, like 1024x768 to make sure the ATI CCC will display that resolution prompt or you might be stuck with a resolution that you can't use and might not be able to get back from without hooking your HTPC up to another monitor first.

Emph

 

[kiwijunglist]

Having printed your guide (see two/three posts above..) I'm actually following it for the calibration.

I have one basic doubt related to the resolution of my TV (Samsung) that is conncted to the media center through the HDMI cable.

Being the TV HD Ready, I was expecting that in Windows the maximum resolution I could set would be 1280x720 (progressive). When going into the change resolution options, it shows me different possible resolutions until 1920x1080. Checking the TV guide I "understood" that HD Ready reaches resoutions until 1920x1080 (intelaced).

Three questions:

1) It is true that HD Ready TVs reach resolutions until 1080i?

HD Ready = TV can accept a 720p, or 1080i or 1080p signal. It doesn't imply the display resolution of the TV. HD Ready TV's usually are 1280x720 or 1366x768, but they could be other resolutions depending on the manufacturer.

Here is the definition / tv requirements for it to be called "HD Ready"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_ready

2) Which resolution should I set?

The native resolution of the panel. You will need to look at the specifications of the tv. Sometimes TV's don't accept a native resolution with 1x1 mapping, in which case it's probably best to use 720p (1280x720) with an HD Ready TV.

3) In case of 1080i, will I be able to watch 1080p videos?

Yes as long as your HTPC is fast enough to decode 1080p videos, it doesn't matter what your display is resolution is set to. Your chipset is fast enough to decode 1080p source videos, but would struggle with 1080i source as they require more grunt to decode. Generally 1280x720p looks better than 1920x1080i. Setting your display to 1080i would still work however, because that is the display res not the source res, and it is the source that you de-code. I would not recommend setting your display to 1080i resolution.

For your situtation I would recommend the following (as per the guide):

Google your tv / check manual find out the native resolution of the panel.
Set resolution to native res in CCC
Follow steps in guide to acheive 1:1 mapping.
If picture does not look sharp or you don't get 1:1 mapping or you can't work out the native res of the panel, then set CCC to use 1280x720 or 1920x1080 @ 50/60hz and then follow the guide regarding overscan and UI calibration.

Note:
If others are reading this, then I recommend people do not purchase HD Ready TV's for use with HTPCs because it is not a 'HD Ready' logo requirement to have 1:1 pixel mapping. Most HD Ready sets can not do 1:1 mapping, which means they make poor HTPC displays.

 

[axlt2002]

Thank you emphatic and kiwijunglist!

I will "play" with my TV this evening and let you know the results! And I will be ready for the other steps of the guide!

 

[zpower]

Great great great guide but i´m a little confused about a thing.
In your guide you say in lav config we have to select video insted tv out.

I´ve a dedicated PC as HTPC with MP installed connect by HDMI to a Plasma TV and i use LAV Codec.
My Card is NVIDIA GT610 and i use the follow settings.
Can someone tell me if this is the best config to see movies DVDRIP AND BRRIP on my TV?

 

[regeszter]

Hi,

is there any way to switch the speaker setup between 5.1 and 2.0 inside MP?

 

[Der_Bub]

Hello,

is this Guide up to date?

I can't find/select MPAR within Options?!?

Thanks!