Multimedia PC Problems .. suggestions?

[chinsterr]

Hey guys,

I have read a number of threads on here in regards to various setups of media pcs, so I decided to build one myself.

My video card (8800 GT) does not have an HDMI output, and my tv does not have a dvi input. So i opted to buy a DVI-to-HDMI cable. Everything runs great until I watch a fast scene in a movie and notice thin horizontal lines spanning the width of the screen. It is almost as if the video is not being converted fast enough? The screen some what freezes for a split second. I don't know any other way to describe it. All I know is that these horizontal lines are driving me crazy , especially during action movies.

Could it be my tv? PC? or cable ? TV is a sharp 720P. Cables were bought from canada computers.

When i run S-video from the PC to the tv I do not get these lines , it is only when i use the DVI-HDMI cable.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

[Flagrum_3]

I'm no expert at these things but I would not think it would be the TV, I would suspect first your PC Card then the cable.Why not try purchasing a better quality cable and see how it goes,(defective cables are more common then most would think), if theres no difference you can always return the cable.


_3


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[gqstunning]

Make sure u have all the current drivers from the nVidia website.

[whiteomega]

that sounds like screen tearing to me. have you checked to make sure the nvidia drivers are picking up the tv's refresh rate properly? if they aren't, that could explain a few things. the driver needs to know the monitor settings; generally these are reported to the card by the tv/monitor if you're using a dvi/hdmi.

you can check these settings in the nVidia control panel (don't ask me exactly where though since i run ATI cards instead of nVidia ;) )

[MikeyGT]

Do you get these lines when you play it on your computer?

My guess would be the refresh rates.

Hm.. I'm assuming this is from a DVD right? Try playing another DVD or even try playing a regular avi/mpg video full screen and see if you can still reproduce it.

[whiteomega]

the other thing to try is to use the same hdmi cable with a stanalone dvd player (assuming you have one that outputs to dvd) and if possible, the same movie. If you still get those funny lines showing up, it's not the graphics card/computer. it's either the cable or the tv, and you can isolate which one by trying another cable.

[chinsterr]

I'm no expert at these things but I would not think it would be the TV, I would suspect first your PC Card then the cable.Why not try purchasing a better quality cable and see how it goes,(defective cables are more common then most would think), if theres no difference you can always return the cable.


_3


.

I already have DVI-HDMI adaptor on order , so that will arrive in the coming weeks. I really didn't know about defective cables.

I tried the cable with my Rogers box and it works perfectly fine.


Make sure u have all the current drivers from the nVidia website.

I'll update it tonight and report back here tomorrow.


that sounds like screen tearing to me. have you checked to make sure the [/b]nvidia drivers are picking up the tv's refresh rate properly?[b] if they aren't, that could explain a few things. the driver needs to know the monitor settings; generally these are reported to the card by the tv/monitor if you're using a dvi/hdmi.

you can check these settings in the nVidia control panel (don't ask me exactly where though since i run ATI cards instead of nVidia ;) )

Crap, I don't know where to check this sort of stuff but maybe that's the problem. When I go into settings I am able to choose between the tv and the monitor . For the tv I have selected 720P and the monitor automatically readjusts its resolution to compensate. There are no other settings for me to tinker with.


Do you get these lines when you play it on your computer?

My guess would be the refresh rates.

Hm.. I'm assuming this is from a DVD right? Try playing another DVD or even try playing a regular avi/mpg video full screen and see if you can still reproduce it.

When the video is played on the computer, it is perfectly fine. The videos are actually in x264. (HD) format ... sort of like divx but using a different compression. When I run normal Divx/xvid videos, I don't seem to get this problem. The problem only seems to occur for x.264 format videos. But the strange thing is that the videos display perfectly fine on the monitor, just not on the tv.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will keep everyone posted on the progress.

[whiteomega]

try bringing up the display settings box, click on advanced settings, and click on monitor (this is for winblows..if you're running osx i can't help :) )

that might (probably should) report the refresh rate. make sure it is one of the support refresh rates of your tv. if not, you might have to change it from the drop down box (if you can).

[gqstunning]

One more thing, it could be a HD codec thing. I use the k-lite codec to play all my videos on my PC. Follow this link: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm

[MikeyGT]

One more thing, it could be a HD codec thing. I use the k-lite codec to play all my videos on my PC. Follow this link: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm

+1. That's what i was going to say next but its awkward that it only occurs on the TV.

[chinsterr]

try bringing up the display settings box, click on advanced settings, and click on monitor (this is for winblows..if you're running osx i can't help :) )

that might (probably should) report the refresh rate. make sure it is one of the support refresh rates of your tv. if not, you might have to change it from the drop down box (if you can).

THANKS !!!!

It worked! I lowered the refresh rate on the monitor and now everything runs smoothly. Thanks again guys :)

[chinsterr]

EDIT:

The problem still occurs upon closer inspection , but now it is less frequent and dramatic as before.