custom resolutions how

[thop]

how again do i enable custom resolutions for my g400? i tried with PD resolution manager 4.1 but it doesnt seem to work with XP. i checkd the MTSTU, and there is sth. that lets you choose a custom resolution, apply, reboot, but nothing has changed. actually i lost A LOT of the resolutions i had before in the custom monitor settings thingy in PD

[thop]

ok was using an old MTSTU, figured it out now.

[MarkV]

Hi thop,

You are probably using an old PowerDesk Resolution Manager as well. Unfortunately, the one that is on the Utilities area of the main MURC site has not been updated. You can get the latest here:

http://veneziano.home.attbi.com/

[Cosmo]

Hi Mark,

My problem is that I have a monitor and a 16:9 TV-connected to my G450DH. I downloaded the new version of Your Resolution Manager (4.2, 4.1 didn't work at all since i had the new drivers), and managed to get some results, although with errors.

When the software tries to read the registry, it gives an error that it can't be done. I'm not sure if I was logged in as Admin, but I'll check that out within few hours. Just when i get home.

But, then I choose autodetection, and as a result I get a huge list of resolutions. I added the 1024x576 resolution, which I think is the optimal for 16:9 TV, into list and rebooted the PC.

Ok, when I go to display properties, and enable the resolution with powerdesk, I can use the just added resolution in display 1, which is my crappy monkeyass-monitor. But for secondary display, where my TV is connected, I just get some old-sk00l 800x600 etc. resolutions. All 4:3, nothing specials. I can't even enable more of them from powerdesk.

Now, should the new resos be available for display2 also, if they were added properly in RM? Like choosing display number 2, and adding the desired resolution and so on? When getting an error in the beginning ("unable to import registry" or something, the usual anyway), and only display 0 available, will it it possible to add the resolution for second display also? Like I said, with that procedure I managed to add them to be available for display1.

Funny sentence above, but I'm just trying to figure out if that error message is actually the main reason for preventing new resos added to second display also. Like, if I could get rid of that, everything would be ok, and I could choose 1024x576 for my TV also..

I also contacted Matrox with this, see http://forum.matrox.com/mgaforum/For...ML/004638.html

Thank You!

[thop]

MarkV: yep that is true. you should msg Ant to link you or sth.

[dZeus]

Hi Cosmo, I've got exactly the same TV set as you do. Not being able to use a widescreen res for the tv in clone or better yet dualhead multi-display is a bit of a set-back. And I doubt they'll ever add support for it to the G-series, because not many people use 16:9 TV sets on a Matrox card for desktop usage (tv sucks for desktop). Not to mention that the image would be incredibly fuzzy because the tv-encoder doesn't support horizontal resolutions over 720 (?) for the G450/G550, and 688 pixels for the G400. But fuzziness at the tradeoff of the correct aspect ratio would be better than no widescreen tv-out resolution at all.

A feature that would be much nicer imho would be a hybrid 16:9/4:3 aspect ratio correction method for DVD-MAX. Virtually all 16:9 TV sets have different presets that are optimized for either 16:9 streams or various 4:3 streams, which only work when the content is sent to the tv in the native format. Having to switch DVD-MAX output between 16:9 and 4:3 everytime you watch content of each of these formats on the tv-out is quite bothersome. A third 'hybrid' mode switch in the dvd-max control panel would really help out here. I wonder if they've incorporated such a mode in the Parhelia control panel?

[MarkV]

thop--

I've emailed Ant 3 times so far and each time he said he would update the link, but he still hasn't. I guess he's busy working on other things, and I don't really want to sound annoying and email him again. You or any other users that find PowerDesk Resolution Manager useful may feel free to remind him for me though.

Cosmo--

The error you are getting typically means that PowerDesk Resolution Manager couldn't find a particular registry key that it uses to figure out where in the registry the Matrox info is stored. That key for Win2k/XP is Mga.SingleResolutions. If this key doesn't exist in the registry for the second head, then I'm pretty sure you'll have no luck enabling custom resolutions for it. My program simply uses this key and some others to make PowerDesk "see" the custom resolutions, and if PowerDesk isn't even looking for these keys on the second head, you're out of luck.

I think actually custom resolutions MAY work for a second monitor, but not for a TV. When you use the adapter cable to convert the second VGA connector to SVGA/Composite for TV, the card and PowerDesk recognize this and put the second head in a sort of special mode for TV. That's how I have mine setup (with a crappy 19" TV though, nothing special), and I've never been able to get any custom resolutions to work on the second head. Seems to be a limitation of PowerDesk. Sorry!

[Ryu Connor]

How does the newest MTSTU manage to set custom resolutions with the Parhelia?

As far as I can tell it doesn't, but I get the impression I missed something.

[Cosmo]

Ok, thanks for the replies Mark and dZeus.

It's funny thou that when using DVDmax the TV-output (the actual form of TV-picture) can be set to 16:9 mode. It shows perfectly some movie which source is also in 16:9 format.

This means that in some part of the processing, when 16:9 display of a movie is generated for the TV, You could imagine that the somekind of display adapter's "show this (eg.) 1024x576 image on TV" appears. No matter what the actual resolution is (for what is the the G450 capable of), but shape of the picture is correct. Then it should not be too hard to generate a normal desktop image instead of movie image on the screen. Other words, the G450's TV-head CAN generate 16:9 form picture.

Well, I don't know if You get what I ment. Trying to make concrete from abstract..

But, I guess the R&D for this G450 is taking its last breaths, and if this feature would be some day added, it would only appear in a new model. So let's just wait a few years...

I'm using the RGB-cable.

[dZeus]

DVD-MAX uses the 3D engine (according to information found by google) to scale the overlay video to the resolution used as input by the tv-encoder chip.

Dualhead clone/multi display work fundamentally different to allow it to scale the desktop with the 3d engine and send it to the tv-out.
(not to mention that even if it would (which it doesn't), you wouldn't be able to use the 3d engine while using non 4:3 aspect ratio modes for dualhead clone and multidisplay on a tv at the same time).

though, did anyone remember a util/driver to get a desktop to be displayed in glide/opengl/direct3d (one of those) on a 3Dfx Voodoo 1 or 2 card? By using this tool the card could be used as stand-alone card for desktop.

Not that this might be of any relevance to Matrox' solutions

[Ryu Connor]

A third 'hybrid' mode switch in the dvd-max control panel would really help out here. I wonder if they've incorporated such a mode in the Parhelia control panel?

It would be a huge help, but alas it's not an option (yet?). Right now though, it appears that the 4:3 or Fullscreen DVDMax resolution on the Parhelia doesn't crop its borders correctly. A slight bit of the left and right edge of a 4:3 DVD video are placed outisde the viewable screen. Running a 4:3 source within a 16:9 screen corrects the issue, but gives the DVD a portrait look.

Personally I'd like to see DVDMax gain some abilities to define it's output size. I saw Haig mention that it only works at 720x480@60. 1280x720 and 1920x1080 would be quite neat to have as options.

[dZeus]

Originally posted by Ryu Connor


It would be a huge help, but alas it's not an option (yet?). Right now though, it appears that the 4:3 or Fullscreen DVDMax resolution on the Parhelia doesn't crop its borders correctly. A slight bit of the left and right edge of a 4:3 DVD video are placed outisde the viewable screen. Running a 4:3 source within a 16:9 screen corrects the issue, but gives the DVD a portrait look.

Personally I'd like to see DVDMax gain some abilities to define it's output size. I saw Haig mention that it only works at 720x480@60. 1280x720 and 1920x1080 would be quite neat to have as options.

What do you mean with 'are placed outside the viewable screen'? Do you mean when using DVD-MAX with a TV as output device? That's called overscanning, nothing wrong with DVD-MAX there. It's supposed to do that. Or do you mean output to a montor? But why would you need the hybrid 4:3 or 16:9 mode for outputting to a monitor?

And what do you mean with the resolution for DVD-MAX ?? Do you mean outputted resolution? That's fixed because of the NTSC and PAL TV standards. If you want higher resolution output, you need a HDTV output on the parhelia for a start. And the amount of HDTV content atm is very minimal for playback through a computer.

[Ryu Connor]

http://forum.matrox.com/mgaforum/Forum12/HTML/004660.html

What do you mean with 'are placed outside the viewable screen'?

The edges are out of view. Saad reports that behavior is currently by design and would require a feature addition to correct.

Do you mean when using DVD-MAX with a TV as output device? That's called overscanning, nothing wrong with DVD-MAX there. It's supposed to do that.

So it's been said.

Or do you mean output to a montor?

Yes.

But why would you need the hybrid 4:3 or 16:9 mode for outputting to a monitor?

Why not? Comparing the reference image of a 16:9 DVD feed to a DVDMax output on a monitor shows that the image is compressed very slightly, but not enough to present a unpleasant distortion. And it's still a much fuller image than the letterbox image by comparison and lacks the drawbacks of pan and scan.

And what do you mean with the resolution for DVD-MAX ?? Do you mean outputted resolution? That's fixed because of the NTSC and PAL TV standards. If you want higher resolution output, you need a HDTV output on the parhelia for a start. And the amount of HDTV content atm is very minimal for playback through a computer.

Indeed, you would need component out and a HDTV to enjoy 720p and 1080i on a TV. Then again most of us have rather large monitor which can do HDTV now. Many HTPC users already do such things with various software and hardware. Why not expand DVDMax into such things as well?

[dZeus]

your answer confuses me! Where do you see the cut off borders? On a monitor connected as secondary output device in DVD-MAX mode, or on a television set????

[dZeus]

Why not? Comparing the reference image of a 16:9 DVD feed to a DVDMax output on a monitor shows that the image is compressed very slightly, but not enough to present a unpleasant distortion. And it's still a much fuller image than the letterbox image by comparison and lacks the drawbacks of pan and scan.

You can't be serious! watching 16:9 skewed to 4:3 aspect ratio monitor! that looks awfull! Just plain... wrong!

btw. I think it's not unfair to expect dvd-max support for HDTV sources by the time HDTV is much more common and a HDTV connection is added to Matrox' hardware.