CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

WanMan · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 10270

Ok, I finally got around to assembling the new computer for the wife. This is the one where I am using Gigabyte (H55-USB3) for the first time. It has an Intel Core i3 530 mounted with 8GB of OCZ 1600 RMA. I opened the OEM Windows 7 Professional and installed it with no customizations. I then loaded the drivers from Gigabyte, followed by the software that came with the LG Blu Supermilti optical drive.

That is it. No network connected, no updates. Nothing. BTW, this thing is plugged into a 50" 1080P Panasonic plasma via HDMI. The first thing I notice after restarting (for good measure) was the resolutions it was offering. It recognized the Panasonic and selected 1920x1080P59.

WTF, 59 Hz? And i noticed the image is over-scanned. But I think this is a Panasonic over-scan condition. But 59 Hz? What the hell is that, comic relief from Redmond? Razz

Anyway, I go look at all offered modes and noticed 1920x1080p24 was listed. interesting! Without trying the p24 I breakout my Dirty Harry Blu-ray and pop it into the player an Wham! Watching the movie.

I didn't need to do a single freaking update (yet) and I'm watching a BD movie. Kudos.

emdawgz1 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949

I gotta get on that... i'm doing an htpc...soon! Confused

ecrabb · Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 4:27 pm Post subject:

Wan, 60hz video on CE displays isn't really 60hz... It's 59.94. So, Windows 7 may just truncate for display (instead of rounding). Truncation is actually more meaningful in this situation.

24 isn't 24, either - it's 23.976. Of course, it should display 23 then. Wink

SC

Spanky Ham · Joined: 22 Mar 2006 Posts: 5643 Location: Comedy Central

I thought you would know this, Wan. Wink

WanMan · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 10270

I have never seen a Windows computer with 23, 29, or 59 Hz as a refresh rate, recommended or otherwise. BTW, the overscan issue is on both the Panasonic plasma and a new Samsung P2370HD LCD TV. And its only on the HDMI interface. I tested the Samsung via DVI and no overscan (has HDCP). Unfortunately, the Panny has no other digital interface.

Just to rule out it was a display/interface issue and not a new computer issue I connected the HP laptop up to the Sammy and Panny via HDMI and got the overscan. When I connect the HP laptop and new computer up to the Vizio plasma via HDMI I get no overscan. What the heck is with this forced overscan? I would have imagined that CE and broadcast engineering had reached a point where the half-century old condition of overscan wasn't needed.

SC, the truncation is an interesting point. I could blame that on Microsoft, but then I went into the Intel video sub-system software and tried some custom resolutions, including 59.94 and 23.976. Same issue over HDMI. I even used the Intel video feature is scale reduction and reduced the video output by 5% both vertically and horizontally by this did nothing in the overscan department when using HDMI.

There is a displayport interface, but I have no displays equipped with this interface to test with. Still, I am surprised at how W7Pro and the Cyberlink software worked right out of the proverbial box. Heck, I got online with no configuration on my part. That's how I'm posting now.

WanMan · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 10270

One note on the Gigabyte H55-USB3 motherboard. I miss the Intel Storage Matrix feature of my other computers. This meant BIOS-level RAID which was 100% transparent to the operating system. On this board, I am suppose to ... hold onto something ... make a driver floppy for use during Windows installation to load necessary drivers for RAID.

As of right now, I have no RAID running on this computer. I know during initial install configuration where you can create partitions and format then there is a opportunity to specify/load other drivers, but I just do not know if this Windows installer will read a USB device like a thumb-drive. That's the next experiment to try.

With the Intel Storage Matrix on my other computers, I can disconnect one of the boot mirror drives, run a Service Pack, if I like it I can hot-reconnect it and sync. If I don't like it, I can disconnect the updated drive and reconnect the other, format the unwanted drive and reconnect and sync. Makes skirting Microsoft nice.

WanMan · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 10270

Actually, a little mor research discovers I can use USB thumb drive to access the RAID driver to use during W7Pro install. I loaded the 64-bit RAID driver, it found the mirror, and I allowed the installation process to install the OS. Problem is that when it goes to start for the first time after installation, it hangs with the default desktop image and nothing else.

Could be the NEC chipset for the RAID, the disks on them, the OS, or a combination there in. The SATA2 5/6 are the only ones supporting RAID. If I didn't want to use the RAID this wouldn't be a problem. I'm reinstalling again to see what happens, but I'm not holding my breadth.

Mark_A_W · Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 11:22 pm Post subject:

Turn off the overscan Wanman.
It is usually an option in the video criver control panel.

Nvidia, for instance, has overscan on by default (a workmate asked me the same question not 2 days ago).

Stay away from RAID. And I would stay away from 64bit for an HTPC. I'm having issues with lack of drivers, for my tuner card, and for my remote. I will probably have to ditch this tuner card, and get a MCE remote (if they work on 64bit).

What playback software are you going to use?

Windows Media Centre is actually pretty good. As is XBMC (Camelot build).