SVHS monitor-to-HDTV screen cutoff problem...

[wingdarkness]

I just got a new widescreen plasma and my first inclination was to hook my cpu up to it thru the SVHS connection...Well I did so and it was pretty easy to get the screen to show, but for the life of me I can't get the HDTV to utilize the entire screen...The monitor matrix cuts off about 3-4 inches on each side...Now it doesn't look bad or anything but if possible I would like MY ENTIRE HDSCREEN to show like my cpu monitor screen...I'm pretty sure this is a cpu problem since it used to do the same thing on a regular big screen TV I used to have it hooked up to...I've gone to Display Properties and played around with monitor settings (You know the 1-2 boxes that lets you configure how you want the monitors to work with one another), but I still get the screen that's cut on the sides...Any help in figuring out this problem will be appreciated and well cookied^^...

Thanx...

[escimo]

Most of the TVs regardless of type overscale analog video signal. If I'm not completely mistaken, this was due teletext and copy protection information in analog TV and on vhs-tapes being basically placed within the picture using these cropped edge areas, in the olden days. And even as they're no longer used the scaling properties haven't been changed to maintain backward compatibility. An annoying blast from the past...

Most of the display adapters allow to compensate this. The setting in the driver is usually called 'overscan compensation'.

[wingdarkness]

Originally Posted by escimo

Most of the TVs regardless of type overscale analog video signal. If I'm not completely mistaken, this was due teletext and copy protection information in analog TV and on vhs-tapes being basically placed within the picture using these cropped edge areas, in the olden days. And even as they're no longer used the scaling properties haven't been changed to maintain backward compatibility. An annoying blast from the past...

Most of the display adapters allow to compensate this. The setting in the driver is usually called 'overscan compensation'.

If you could tell me precisely where to go to accomplish this I'd appreciate it...I can't seem to find it on display settings...

Edit: I went to List All Modes under the adapter tab and was able to change the settings, so thanx...

[wingdarkness]

I guess this question also pertains to the topic: When I play really HQ mkv's or even avi.'s there is a static that hazes over the video (Only when watching the HDTV Screen)...SD or LQ files are no problem though...Is there anyway to fix this aswell or is this a function of the SVHS connection?

[escimo]

Originally Posted by wingdarkness

I guess this question also pertains to the topic: When I play really HQ mkv's or even avi.'s there is a static that hazes over the video (Only when watching the HDTV Screen)...SD or LQ files are no problem though...Is there anyway to fix this aswell or is this a function of the SVHS connection?

This is a feature. S-video connection is designed for standard definition PAL and NTSC signal so using resolutions above 576i or 480i will never provide desirable results. As far as video connections go S-video is the second worst after composite video. As composite video transfers the whole video signal in single pair, S-video adds just one, separating luminance and chrominance into two pairs it's better but not by a large margin.

Component video has two standards RGB, which combines three monochromatic images for each color and YPbPr, which has one pair for luminance signal and the two others are used for difference signals for blue and red. Both of these are far superior to s-video due to higher transfer capacity. VGA is also one kind of RGB connection but it uses separate synchronizing signal. Digital signals are naturally the best options since you can avoid "quality killing" digital to analog to digital conversion just for transferring the signal. As both the picture source and the display are digital. Digital signal is also less susceptible to outside interference that once again reduces picture quality.

Is there any specific reason for you to use S-video? I'd assume your plasma has at the very least VGA-connector which due to being designed for higher resolutions would provide far superior picture quality. HDMI and DVI are also partially compatible and inter-usable with appropriate cables or adapters.
There may be limits to resolution support though. Many TVs support only 480p, 576p, 720p and 1080i signals through HDMI. Full-HD TVs generally support 1080p as well.

What are the make and model of your display adapter or pc and your TV? I'll see if I can come up with some alternative to using S-video.