rwo Posted March 12, 2007 Posted March 12, 2007 How do you guys go with connecting your 50" panasonic's to a home theatre PC? Can the 600a take it's native resolution from a HTPC over hdmi and display it with out overscan? Are these panels (or plasma's in general) still susceptible to burn-in when connected to a PC? What are everyone's general thoughts on using a HTPC with this plasma? I'm returning my second LA40S71BX due to faults and the retailer can't get another one so I need to find a new set. When I purchase something I want it to be arround 50" as the 40" just isn't big enough for our lounge room. Are the panasonic plasma any good for use with a home theatre PC or should I just stick with an LCD?
indulis Posted March 12, 2007 Posted March 12, 2007 How do you guys go with connecting your 50" panasonic's to a home theatre PC? Can the 600a take it's native resolution from a HTPC over hdmi and display it with out overscan? Are these panels (or plasma's in general) still susceptible to burn-in when connected to a PC? What are everyone's general thoughts on using a HTPC with this plasma?... Are the panasonic plasma any good for use with a home theatre PC or should I just stick with an LCD? Looked pretty amazing in 1368x768 mode (75Hz) connected to my laptop, *very* close to 1:1 pixel mapping. Showed photos on it... great! Tuned it in using Powerstrip, I can send you the file. Just msg me (as the peking duck said to the chinese chef). Amd the picture on it is incredible when being fed from a good progressive scan DVD player and a decent DVD (such as The Corpse Bride, or Return of the King). This was via component. I believe that the 1:1 mapping is only possible via the VGA input. I don't have any HDMI devices so can't test this, but if you check out the manual it has a list of allowed resolutions. The manual is also on the panasonic Oz web site. The only other resolution that is half decent is 1024x768 but it is at 60Hz. Yuk! My mythtv is running 576i to the 50PX600A, via composite. It is still a pretty good picture once the set upscales it but nothing like progressive via component. I have a long list of stuff to do before I get to running the VGA cable (like building a new HTPC probably).
Scalpel Posted June 18, 2007 Posted June 18, 2007 Well I have managed to set the 50" 600a up with all the various imputs, PC included (Vista32) Running a 5m DVI->HDMI cable (from my NVidia 8000 GTS video card). Nice thing is that the card supports two DVI monitors, so I have the PC setup in DualView mode (two separate monitors), which allows me to run differing resolutions on both monitors. The Dell 2707 is running in its usual 1920x1200 resolution, whilst the Panasonic 600a is at 1280x720 (seems to give the best picture). I just drag video over to the second screen (wireless mouse) and then click to maximise the window (which opens the video player to full-screen). I had a look at powerstrip, but this seems to be too complicated for me at this point to run a resolution that doesn't interfere with the LCD. I have tried it out with powerDVD (HardDrive DVD's), and using WinAmp (Divx) - both look better than the equivalent DVD (Pioneer 676a) pictures. Running Sound via Optical out (Pc supports both optical and Coax) to the HT system. Very Very Happy I am now keen to try some games (Fear would be 1st I think). J.
Scalpel Posted June 28, 2007 Posted June 28, 2007 Just as a followup .... (and a solution) I was becoming annoyed by the overscan that was present in my 8800GTS->Panasonic 50"600A. It cut off the top of any window making it very difficult to resize the window, and the bottom of the window where all my icons are (not to mention chopping off the edge of movies). There didn't seem to be any solution to this problem at all. Powerstrip does not allow custom resolutions from the g80 series video cards. The existing NVidia drivers do not allow for overscan correction over HDMI. BUT! This (Leaked 160.04 Vista 32 Driver) does !!!! (Note that the existing driver is 158.24). And it seems to work with no issues It offers a new menu "resize HDTV Desktop" under the "Video & Television" settings, which allows a very simple adjustment to correct overscan (the only quibble I have is that the display seems to be off-center L<->R by two (?one) pixels) So I now have the PC outputting to the Plasma with no overscan. Have also connected up my aerial to the HDTV tuner in the PC and tried doing some HDTV recording (which worked). So the system is now working almost perfectly. I guess I am going to have to go and live on the HTPC threads for a while to work out the best software for the media center - as Windows Media Player seems to be rather sucky. J.
madmax Posted June 28, 2007 Posted June 28, 2007 Thanks Scalpel, this is goods news, since I have the same tv and will be upgrading my media centre in the next couple of months. I just have to remember to find this thread...... Regarding the unused pixels, maybe just add a tiny bit of overscan to cover these pixels...?? You should still be able to see enough of the taskbar and window close box maybe?? And please let me know if you discover any issues with the beta driver.
Scalpel Posted June 28, 2007 Posted June 28, 2007 Thanks Scalpel, this is goods news, since I have the same tv and will be upgrading my media centre in the next couple of months. I just have to remember to find this thread...... Regarding the unused pixels, maybe just add a tiny bit of overscan to cover these pixels...?? You should still be able to see enough of the taskbar and window close box maybe?? And please let me know if you discover any issues with the beta driver. The extra pixels are not a problem in that the 'unused' area is black. More just the musing's of a perfectionist (and yes, your solution works just as well). I did manage to find an issue in that I closed the nvidia setup window not realising that the resizing window was open on my other screen - this seemed to irreversibly set the contrast and brightness settings to low and they could not be adjusted by either the nvidia 'colour adjustments' or on my Dell monitor. Reinstalling the driver fixed the issue. I will be a bit more careful from now on (although I shouldn't have to muck around with the settings any more) (BTW - thread is easy to find: search "+panasonic +htpc" (search titles, show as titles) will bring it up) You can always PM me J.
Glider Posted June 28, 2007 Posted June 28, 2007 It's great that you managed to successfully hook-up your HTPC via HDMI to your 600A Panny. I plan on doing exactly the same thing with a 127cm (50") 70A/700A panel in the next couple of months. This sort of information is hard to come by in official reviews of these products or forum feedback. It's a shame that the latest Q91 plasma's from Samsung only allow you to connect via VGA. HDMI gives you a blank screen (according to the manual). It would be nice to have more choice.
Redav Posted June 28, 2007 Posted June 28, 2007 This is all good news. Hope this flows onto the 70 / 700's
SenojNW Posted July 7, 2007 Posted July 7, 2007 Scalpel - from my other post... Thanks for the quick reply... 1. Yes it is the 42" PX600A (1024 x 768 resolution). 2. A built PC from AusPCMarket running Vista Home Premium. 3. Connection will be DVI-HDMI cable from the vid card to the plasma. 4. Video card is an Asus 6800GT: http://www.asus.com.tw/products.aspx?l1=2&...amp;modelmenu=1 I have'nt got it yet (it's somewhere between Sydney and Perth right now )
Scalpel Posted July 7, 2007 Posted July 7, 2007 Scalpel - from my other post... (SenojNW @ Jul 7 2007, 10:46 PM) Hi Just ordered a HTPC to hook up to my Panasonic PX600A Plasma... The plasma display is 1024 x 768 so when I am setting this all up should I select 1024 x 768 in Windows for the display properties? (I disagree with the reply above) I presume that this is a 42" 600a from the resolution. What O/S or computer are you using? (ie PC (XP/vista) or Mac) How are you connecting the PC-> plasma? What video card do you have? The settings will depend on several things: ie a certain amount of trial & error is required 1/ Overscan (you can use Powerstrip for some video cards to correct this - otherwise see the linked thread below for more info) 2/ Position of the image on the screen (some resolutions/frequency combinations show an offset image) 3/ What it looks like (some resolutions will be better scaled by the plasma). You may note (in the thread mentioned below) that I am not sending my native resolution to the plasma because it doesnt look as good - however I am using the 50" 600a. A presumption that sending the native reolution to a panel is the best option is not at all correct - unless you have 1:1 pixel mapping option on the screen (which the Panasonic doesnt). It is very likely that another resolution (eg a HDTV one) will scale better. However, you would obviously start with the native reolution and see how that goes! Have a read & post any queries in (this) thread which has already been started on this topic - I will follow up there. Thanks for the quick reply... 1. Yes it is the 42" PX600A (1024 x 768 resolution). 2. A built PC from AusPCMarket running Vista Home Premium. 3. Connection will be DVI-HDMI cable from the vid card to the plasma. 4. Video card is an Asus 6800GT: http://www.asus.com.tw/products.aspx?l1=2&...amp;modelmenu=1 I have'nt got it yet (it's somewhere between Sydney and Perth right now ) Alot of what you will have to do will depend on the drivers for the videocard. As you can read above, I was stuck until I found a way to adjust for overscan on my Panasonic - which required leaked drivers. Powerstrip can also do this, as long as there is support for the VC, but it is a bit fiddly (I am glad that the new 8800 nvidia drivers offered the resizing thingy, as this was very easy). Are you going to use two monitors (ie a computer one for doing computer things and a viewing one for movies). If not, be very careful setting up the HTPC on the plasma as you will get (temporary) image retention relatively easily with the static image generated by a pc screen (especially things like background screens, and if the plasma is new. Using 'Dual view' offers an elegant way of doing this if the VC supports it. Also means that you dont get 'burned' when you get distracted by an interesting thread J. Good luck with all of this - and make sure you post back your settings and findings for others to benefit from. I am stoked with mine now.
SenojNW Posted July 7, 2007 Posted July 7, 2007 Cheers Will have to run with a bit of trial and error to start off with by the sounds... The vid card has dual DVI so yeah I could set up another monitor (I have a spare 17" LCD sitting unused anyway) cos I was a bit worried about burn...
Scalpel Posted July 7, 2007 Posted July 7, 2007 CheersWill have to run with a bit of trial and error to start off with by the sounds... The vid card has dual DVI so yeah I could set up another monitor (I have a spare 17" LCD sitting unused anyway) cos I was a bit worried about burn... The advantage of dual view is that each monitor has its own resolution. Better to have the LCD as the primary screen whilst you are setting up (the task bar doesnt appear on the 2nd monitor). When you are all done then you can just go back to the one monitor. Stupid thing is that the varying bits of software all work differently. Some (like Quicktime Pro) allow you to specify which monitor things will display in, others you just drag and maximize. Some are a bit buggy (like Vista Media Player). J.
Glider Posted July 7, 2007 Posted July 7, 2007 The advantage of dual view is that each monitor has its own resolution. Better to have the LCD as the primary screen whilst you are setting up (the task bar doesnt appear on the 2nd monitor). When you are all done then you can just go back to the one monitor.Stupid thing is that the varying bits of software all work differently. Some (like Quicktime Pro) allow you to specify which monitor things will display in, others you just drag and maximize. Some are a bit buggy (like Vista Media Player). J. I notice you said in your earlier post that you didn't try and 1:1 pixel map on the 600A because it was too complicated in dual view. I am just going to run one screen, so the ATI software or Powerstrip is the go. 720p should look OK, but was text legible? Watching a movie is one thing, but reading 12 point text is another thing altogether. I bet you were using the Dell monitor for that! This is my concern with a 1024x768 panel. I will be interested in feedback from people who have one hooked up to a HTPC. Nothing would make me happier if they say they get fantastic visual quality in PC mode. Anything that saves me money makes me happy!
Scalpel Posted July 7, 2007 Posted July 7, 2007 I notice you said in your earlier post that you didn't try and 1:1 pixel map on the 600A because it was too complicated in dual view. I am just going to run one screen, so the ATI software or Powerstrip is the go. 720p should look OK, but was text legible? Watching a movie is one thing, but reading 12 point text is another thing altogether. I bet you were using the Dell monitor for that! This is my concern with a 1024x768 panel. I will be interested in feedback from people who have one hooked up to a HTPC. Nothing would make me happier if they say they get fantastic visual quality in PC mode. Anything that saves me money makes me happy! Actually, I tried every resolution from 1920x1080 down to much lower resolutions than the panel - just to see the difference (including '1:1' 1366x768). I was using Firefox to browse the web (just for interest) and the text was quite legible - but yes, the Dell is where I do my 'pc' stuff. Powerstrip doesnt support the 8800 series cards so cannot do custom resolutions (which is why I had to get the new Nvidia 'leaked' drivers that do support screen resizing). J.
Glider Posted July 8, 2007 Posted July 8, 2007 Actually, I tried every resolution from 1920x1080 down to much lower resolutions than the panel - just to see the difference (including '1:1' 1366x768). I was using Firefox to browse the web (just for interest) and the text was quite legible - but yes, the Dell is where I do my 'pc' stuff.Powerstrip doesnt support the 8800 series cards so cannot do custom resolutions (which is why I had to get the new Nvidia 'leaked' drivers that do support screen resizing). J. I don't know whether radeon cards support custom resolutions. I am just going to have to wait until the PX700 is released, then suck it and see. My "Plan B" if plasma is a wash is one the upcoming D3000 Sony LCD panels. The early reviews look good. I guess I could also follow your path and use two panels. 19" and 22" widescreen PC monitors are dirt cheap these days, but I like to keep things as simple as possible.
Scalpel Posted July 8, 2007 Posted July 8, 2007 I don't know whether radeon cards support custom resolutions. I am just going to have to wait until the PX700 is released, then suck it and see. My "Plan B" if plasma is a wash is one the upcoming D3000 Sony LCD panels. The early reviews look good. I guess I could also follow your path and use two panels. 19" and 22" widescreen PC monitors are dirt cheap these days, but I like to keep things as simple as possible. The only hassle I have with Dual View is that the plamsa is around the corner in the Lounge room - so I have to drag the programs off one screen and on to the other (except for Quicktime files - as it will nicely open in the correct tv according to the check option in the view menu [never thought I would be complimenting an apple program ] ). Also, if I forget to move the window back from the plasma -> LCD then open it to use it in the study, the program is 'lost' on the plasma until I turn it on and drag it back. J. At least the wireless mouse is happy to work in the other room
Glider Posted July 8, 2007 Posted July 8, 2007 The only hassle I have with Dual View is that the plamsa is around the corner in the Lounge room - so I have to drag the programs off one screen and on to the other (except for Quicktime files - as it will nicely open in the correct tv according to the check option in the view menu [never thought I would be complimenting an apple program ] ). Also, if I forget to move the window back from the plasma -> LCD then open it to use it in the study, the program is 'lost' on the plasma until I turn it on and drag it back.J. At least the wireless mouse is happy to work in the other room I have my HTPC in a Coolermaster ATCS case. It's just like an AV amp box and sits in my hi-fi rack, under my TV. If I bought a small LCD monitor, then I would have it sitting on a coffee table next to my lounge. That way, I could just type on my wireless keyboard for internet stuff on the small screen and then switch to the plasma for all that big screen action! Then I wouldn't be fussed what resolution the Panny ran at over HDMI, as long as it looks goodl. I need a good HDMI resolution for the day that I drop a BluRay drive into my HTPC.
Redav Posted July 9, 2007 Posted July 9, 2007 Powerstrip doesnt support the 8800 series cards so cannot do custom resolutions (which is why I had to get the new Nvidia 'leaked' drivers that do support screen resizing). Any idea if the 8600 series are supported? They supposedly have hardware H.264 decoding so I'm hoping that it will be possible to run HD-DVD's through the PC with the X-Box HD-DVD drive and then run the PS3 for Blu-ray.
SenojNW Posted July 10, 2007 Posted July 10, 2007 Guys HTPC arrived yesterday - I had a quick go setting up but it was bloody late by the time I got it home. I have hooked up a 17"LCD to do all the setup and have also connected to my TV (Pana 42" 600A) off the other DVI using DVI-HDMI cable. I enabled split desktop in Windows display properties and the desktop/mouse pointer comes up fine on the TV when I drag off the LCD but if I fire up VMC (Vista Media Centre) it runs on the LCD not the plasma (plasma just continues to display the desktop). How/can you set it up so VMC will run on the TV and leave you with the desktop etc. on the LCD? Ta
merovingian Posted July 10, 2007 Posted July 10, 2007 GuysHTPC arrived yesterday - I had a quick go setting up but it was bloody late by the time I got it home. I have hooked up a 17"LCD to do all the setup and have also connected to my TV (Pana 42" 600A) off the other DVI using DVI-HDMI cable. I enabled split desktop in Windows display properties and the desktop/mouse pointer comes up fine on the TV when I drag off the LCD but if I fire up VMC (Vista Media Centre) it runs on the LCD not the plasma (plasma just continues to display the desktop). How/can you set it up so VMC will run on the TV and leave you with the desktop etc. on the LCD? Ta I only have one display connected, so no practical experience of this. However, under the VMC settings, you have the wizard to setup your TV. Early in the wizard it asks you if VMC is already on your preferred display, so you can answer no if you want it to swap to the other display.
Scalpel Posted July 12, 2007 Posted July 12, 2007 GuysHTPC arrived yesterday - I had a quick go setting up but it was bloody late by the time I got it home. I have hooked up a 17"LCD to do all the setup and have also connected to my TV (Pana 42" 600A) off the other DVI using DVI-HDMI cable. I enabled split desktop in Windows display properties and the desktop/mouse pointer comes up fine on the TV when I drag off the LCD but if I fire up VMC (Vista Media Centre) it runs on the LCD not the plasma (plasma just continues to display the desktop). How/can you set it up so VMC will run on the TV and leave you with the desktop etc. on the LCD? Ta Not sure if you have fixed this problem (I have been away for several days). I just drag VWC over to the other screen then enlarge it. I use "Dualview" (two separate screens, each with their own resolution) through the NVidia control panel (under display -> set up multiple displays -> configure independantly) Under the 'personalize' option via Vista desktop (personalize -> display settings) I see two monitors, each with their own resolution, the LCD being the 'main' one) Note that I did encounter a bug with VMC where it half vanished off the top of the screen and I couldnt get it back without changing the resoultion of the screen (and back again) to 'reset' all the icons and programs back inside the window. J.
SenojNW Posted July 12, 2007 Posted July 12, 2007 Cheers I managed to finally get this all set up last night. I was going crazy trying to achieve it over DVI-HDMI but I switched to the latest nVidia drivers and component video (PQ is still great - have read there is bugger all difference anyway) and had a win. I ended up setting my resolution to 1152 x 864 on both screens (using dualview). I then dragged VMC over to the TV and maximised. This resulted in slight overscan on my 42" plasma but I went through the VMC setup, chose 1080i and told it to adjust automatically and the fit is absolutely perfect now! The only catch is VMC won't let you mouse back off the TV onto your desktop on the LCD to do "computer stuff" while VMC is running... not a biggie though. Do you know what the HDTV section (the bottom selection) of the NVidia control panel does? I've tried selecting 1080i in there but it doesn't seem to do anything - its just greyed out when I go back in again...
Scalpel Posted July 13, 2007 Posted July 13, 2007 Question from another thread ... Im sure this has been asked/answered before, but the searches I made here and in google werent able to get me a clear answer.I have a Panasonic TH42PV500A plasma with 1 HDMI input. I have succesfully hooked up my STB via a DVI-HDMI cable and it looked superb. I now have a Media PC (using NVIDIA 6600GT) which I am trying to connect via that same DVI-HDMI cable but I get no picture (where as I get one fine wiht component input) Is there some trick to this, I have heard there are differing DVI standards. I also heard that perhaps it needs to be HPPC (or whatever its called) compatible video card maybe? (but then wouldnt it still work in DOS if not Windows) Anyway any advice/help would be great What resolutions are you using to connect? How have you set up the monitor (ie are you using a cloned screen, or are you using a 'dual view' type setup) J.
BlaCkAdDa Posted July 17, 2007 Posted July 17, 2007 Guys Im trying to do a similar thing with a pana 500A (1024*768 native res) I can get it working using component fine, but would really like to use digital pic via DVI-HDMI so far I get nothing at all with DVI ... am using XP MCE and a Nvidia 6600GT... anyone know where I should start to try and resolve?
Scalpel Posted July 17, 2007 Posted July 17, 2007 Guys Im trying to do a similar thing with a pana 500A (1024*768 native res) I can get it working using component fine, but would really like to use digital pic via DVI-HDMI so far I get nothing at all with DVI ... am using XP MCE and a Nvidia 6600GT... anyone know where I should start to try and resolve? The Questions I posted in the post above yours were for you - Give us some a bit more to work on - What resolutions are you trying? How have you set up the plasma (ie single screen for pc, using as dual view (different image on each), mirroring another monitor etc etc? I presume that the cable works ok from a different source (ie can you use the dvi cable + dvi->hdmi connector elsewhere to test it) (Silly question - but the plasma is set to the correct display input?) J.
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