27" HD Gaming nightmare!!!

[Darth_Spud]

Hi all

I have recently purchased a Goodman’s 27” HD TV and am running it as a PC monitor. Windows desktop looks great but I’m having some trouble when playing certain games. The TV resolution on the desktop is 1232 by 704 which I find is a little odd as the native resolution for my TV is 1280 by 720. When I try to set windows to display this resolution the picture goes of the screen and I have to use Overscan compensation to make the display smaller to fit the screen, hence why my display runs at 1232 by 704. If I increase the resolution, screen flicker is visible as the refresh rate for my TV only goes to 50 Hz. When I play certain games the resolution and screen size change and sometimes this ruins the display. CSS runs great though at a resolution of 1240 by 704 but I don’t see this resolution option is most games. My graphics card is a 7950 GX2.

Is there a way of forcing games to run at custom resolutions?
Can I up the refresh rate on my TV without breaking it?

Any help would be great

Cheers

[k0nigen]

I'd guess that you're using a HDMI cable
If you use a VGA cable (if the option is available) you'll be able to display to the native resolution of the screen which is likely to be 1360x768...

[Darth_Spud]

only one problem, I'd need to get a DVI Male to VGA male. Can you get those?

[Agent]

only one problem, I'd need to get a DVI Male to VGA male. Can you get those?

Just use a DVI - > D-sub adaptor, then a stdard male-male VGA cable

[Darth_Spud]

Good point. but what about the screen flicker. surly a higher resolution would make the screen flicker?

[directhex]

Good point. but what about the screen flicker. surly a higher resolution would make the screen flicker?

lcd can't flicker

[Darth_Spud]

Well the screen does flicker when I raise the resolution, its as if the refresh rate is visable. If I used an SVGA cable would the PC see it as a normal monitor and unlock higher refresh rates?

[directhex]

Well the screen does flicker when I raise the resolution, its as if the refresh rate is visable. If I used an SVGA cable would the PC see it as a normal monitor and unlock higher refresh rates?

LCD doesn't have a refresh rate

[Clunk]

VGA cable will let you run at 1366x768 (if that is the tvs native resolution), or possibly 1360x768.

Not sure about the flickering, try a vga cable first.

[Darth_Spud]

Just tryed a VGA cable, it worked but the quality of the picture wasn't as good as the HDMI cable. Is there any difference between VGA and SVGA cables? I want to run at the highest resolution I can. Also if I force the refresh rate up to 60 or 70 hz, will the TV break?

Thanks for all the help so far...

[Agent]

Always set the refresh rate in windows to 60hz when outputting to a TFT (unless the manual says otherwise).
While Directhex is perfectly correct in what he's saying (TFT's are limited by the speed at which they can change their pixel colour), the controller chip onboard them can get arsey if the input signal isn’t at 60hz (they still need a clock to go on so it gets the information correctly).

Best bet is to take a look at your TV manual and see what settings it recommends.
You really shouldn’t be able to tell *that* much (if any) of a difference between a decent VGA cable and a HDMI one (although HDMI is digital, so should be "perfect", so to speak)

As for VGA/SVGA - ignore them. SVGA was an extension to VGA (which was devised 20 years ago), limited to 16 colours with a resolution of 640*480. I won’t go into it anymore, but suffice to say, ignore it

[Darth_Spud]

Ok, I’m now using a VGA cable and the refresh rate is set to 60 Hz. I can’t set it any higher as my TV screen goes blue and a message pops up saying OUT OF RANGE

The resolution is set at 1360 x 768 I can’t set it any higher than that without the OUT OF RANGE MESSAGE popping up. I can, however set it to 1280 x 768 but windows looks foggy. When I launch any game including CSS (which I could play when using HDMI) OUT OF RANGE pop’s up again. If it helps here’s the spec of the TV:

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-6537.aspx

I might give up on this TV and take it back, get a 22” in TFT Monitor instead. What do you think guys? Any other suggestions on this problem?