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PC to TV - confused!
nuttybutty
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I've bought a brand new TV (Celcus 22" Full HD 1080p slim LED) from Sainsbury's and have decided to link it to my old Advent netbook 4213 to watch iPlayer and Sky Go etc. It's linked via VGA to VGA.
But I've got two problems...
The first is that although I can see my laptop background on both screens, if I open up a google page for instance it'll only show on my laptop and not on the TV...that is until I drag the page over to the telly screen. It's effectively become a dual screen.
The other problem is that the screen on the telly has rotated 90 degrees for some reason, whereas the laptop is the correct angle.
Other than that when I dragged the google page over to the TV screen and played a Sky Go channel the picture quality was perfect...just need to stand on my head to see it!!
So any advice (and please don't make it too technical) would be greatly appreciated.
But I've got two problems...
The first is that although I can see my laptop background on both screens, if I open up a google page for instance it'll only show on my laptop and not on the TV...that is until I drag the page over to the telly screen. It's effectively become a dual screen.
The other problem is that the screen on the telly has rotated 90 degrees for some reason, whereas the laptop is the correct angle.
Other than that when I dragged the google page over to the TV screen and played a Sky Go channel the picture quality was perfect...just need to stand on my head to see it!!
So any advice (and please don't make it too technical) would be greatly appreciated.
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Hardly cost effective - buying a new PC when all you need is a VGA lead and an audio lead.
VGA is just as good a picture as HDMI - although what resolutions it supports depend on both your TV and computer.
In some cases VGA won't support 1080 resolution, where HDMI will.
The issue is that there's a black bar at the top and bottom of the picture on the TV. I've seen mentions of the Catalyst Control Center on various other sites, but it's something I can't find on my netbook.
Is the problem because my netbook's a few years old? I've tried changing the resolution just to see if it helped but it's not.
So is there something I could do?
Everything else works perfectly.
A netbook probably isn't a good choice, it's more a 'toy' than a computer, and unlikely to have the required options.
You might check settings on your TV though?, you might be able to alter the aspect ratio to make it fit - on an old Bush/Vestel I used for a while as a test TV you could press a button and it automatically adjusted to the incoming VGA signal, it worked really well.
If you've got the option of HDMI?, that might be better as well - but I presume the Netbook doesn't have it?.
If I can change the aspect ration on the telly still haven't found what to do but will have another look.
Not sure about the HDMI either so will have a look at that, too.
Cheers
Isn't Catalyst software specific to one video card manufacturer only?.
http://www.amd.com/uk/products/technologies/amd-catalyst/Pages/catalyst.aspx
Quite correct and I misread the OP where he said he'd read about catalyst software but can't find it on his netbook. (No doubt due to the fact his netbook doesn't have an AMD/Ati graphics card!)
Most netbooks will have an intel graphics chip I guess and that means limited graphics options in the software.
I've linked the laptop up to the TV with HDMI and adjusted resolution and refresh rates, but while watching on Sky Go I can see the picture judder slightly from time to time.
I've tried everything I can think of with my very limited knowledge but it's not really improving matters. My computer doesn't let me enable GPU acceleration on the Sky Go optimisation tool.
I've had a look at the graphics info for my machine and it seems a very basic Intel(r) HD Graphics. So would a better card solve any of my problems?
What video settings are you using? ie resolution and frame rate? It might be the telly struggling to cope with the signal it's getting. Though in theory HDMI should negotiate all of that.
It's just annoying because if there's a long shot the picture looks clean and crisp. But when it pans or there's a close-up there's a considerable difference.
Your OP says it's Full HD which implies 1920x1080 1366x768 would suggest HD Ready.It may make no difference at all of course but generally it is better to match resolution of the video signal to the resolution of the display.
It says so in your first post - Full HD 1080P.
Check the settings on your TV, there may be some specific ones for using it with a PC.
http://celcustv.co.uk/products/LED22167FHD
In the "Tech Specs" it's listed as Screen Resolution, in this case 1920x1080. Not sure if that is the telly you've got?
His first post said it's 'Full HD' which guarantees it's 1920x1080.
The problem is when I use that resolution the taskbar at the bottom of the screen is barely visible.
If I watch iPlayer (in either SD or HD) the picture is perfect, on mlb.tv there is only an occasional jump but otherwise the quality is spot on, while other sites like lfc.tv are pretty good.
But after watching the United v Chelsea game last night on Sky Go the picture is perfect until the camera pans or the pace of the action picks up.
I've tried changing the resolution on the laptop to every possible variation, as well as altering the refresh rate. I've also changed the different picture sizes on my telly 16:9, full, cinema etc but all to no avail. I've even switched from HDMI 1 to HDMI 2 on the back of the TV but still no luck.
There are times when after switching the resolution it looks like there's a minimal improvement but the next time I watch a similar programme on the same setting it looks jumpy again.
I am aware that both my telly and laptop aren't the best, but as I can get excellent picture quality on other sites it makes it look like it's a Sky Go issue...but despite reading pages and pages of threads with people saying similar things it seems there is no answer. Maybe it is the Silverlight software that Sky Go uses but it's really frustrating.
Are there any other suggestions about what could be causing this problem or what I could do to make Sky Go more watchable on my TV?
Thanks