Asus M2A-VM Hdmi Connection looks crap

Any one got any advice on this or even got the board and can help when I connect it to my Samsung 42inch LCD with the hdmi connection like I said the colours are dark reds etc and looks crap ran out of ideas now had a play all day still no luck updated bios etc and drivers still the same suppose to be a digital connection and the bees knees looks better when viewed with the vga connection help

I have posted this problem in another thread but got no help so thought I’d have better luck here

 

Does it have a graphics control panel in which you can adjust the contrast settings?

 

Hi, i had same problem with an Asus motherboard that had HD composite tv out, it looked awful compared to the standard VGA conection and the fact it was a nightmare to get it to work with my hdtv.

I've just finished a new build with a Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H motherboard with HDMI, it works a treat and i can play HD dvds with my Xbox HD player plugged in using the onboard graphics and a AMD 5000+ daul core proccessor, a long way off a real HD player though.

There are so many resolutions up to 1080p, i've noticed that some of these higher settings look identical to the awful look of my old Asus motherboard when viewing windows but it can make video files look better.

Have you tried different resolutions and output etc, with the Gigabyte it seems to have a big effect when changed to 720p or 1080i when viewing windows, that awful high contrast look, so i prefer the standard video settings.

 

Cheers for the reply’s I cant change the settings on the TV but on the pc I can well I think you can its got that ati catalyst control centre what ever its called did do the auto setup did nothing still looked the same any tips on how you change the settings with this poor software app?

 

Hi, the Gigabyte has the ATI Catalyst control also, it looks the best with the default setting when i just plug the HDMI cable in and it detects my hdtv, that is if the hdtv is the first screen or monitor it calibrates with.

If i have use my 17" monitor hooked up at the same time and then switch to my hdtv it doesn't detect or use the same default resolution if i had just connected my hdtv on its own and i can't seem to set that manually at the minute but it still looks ok.

I use the advanced control centrer, i've just reconnected it to my hdtv, there is a HD section so i'll mess around a bit and let you know. Has your hdtv got that high contrast kinda heat haze blurry look? and what is the make is your hdtv.

 

If you could leave your hdtv specs and model i will try and find out the best settings, also if your ati catalyst control centre has advance mode switch to that as you can't do anything in basic mode.

Playing around with the hdtv setting in the ati catalyst control centre when i set it to 720p, 1080i etc, it will make windows look awful but when playing hd dvd through my xbox hd player these settings make the video far more detailed and sharp.

If you can check your display settings to your hdtv and see if its set to any of these, these are ok for video but not windows.

 

The TV is a Samsung 42inch lcd I can find the model number if needed have to wait to I get in from work though I can switch to advanced mode in ATI Catalyst control what settings should I have it set too then for normal windows viewing? I’ve got a blue ray player coming in the week for the pc it’s the LG one that plays hddvd as well got some Wright bargains on them disk’s this week so could do with it sorted before it gets here its hard too explain what the colours look like it just looks crap cheers so far for your help

 

Hi again, i'll try to help if i can, first have you checked for any new ati display drivers.

If you could open your advanced catalyst control center and click on display manager, what info does it give: selected display and setup, desktop area, colour quality, refresh rate, rotation etc.

If the hdtv settings displayed here are not detected properly, like desktop area, there's a force button that will show a drop down list for various settings that can be changed.

Try some settings but remember to keep within your hdtv's range as you could get a blank screen and have to reset your motherboard by removing the battery, i havin't come across this problem with my setup as the ati catalyst control will warn you before hand but i remember it was a real head ache with my asus setup.

 

Can you get the input mode for your HDMI PC connection, on my Sony HDTV i can press a button that will give me the input mode, if i'm watching my Toshiba HD player it will display 1080i then the resolution and hertz, you don't want 570i 570p 720i 720p 1080i or p with your pc connection for normal windows use at the moment.

My current mode is just 1360x768/60, i'm connected through HDMI but not in any of the modes above.

Go to "Display Manager", under "Grahics Adaptor" does it list your graphics adaptor and then your tv, under "Selected Displays" does it list your Samsung HDTV and give the correct resolution under "Desktop Area", if not try the "Detect Displays" or use the "Force Detection" button to change, resolution, colour, refresh rate and rotation etc, under "Rotation" mine is set to standard landscape.

If your happy with the settings move on to "Display Options", under "3D Refresh Rate Override" mine is set to disabled, not sure want changing this would have. "Under Display Detection Options" mine is set to detect whenever catalyst control centre is opened. Under "Display Managment Options" mine is set to only allow panning on limited-resolution displays.

On to "DTV(HDMI)" "Attributes", Panel Information" my tv is listed as sony but the maximum reported resolution of 1920x1080 at 60 hertz is wrong, my hdtv is 1366 x 768 not full hd. Image Scaling is set to scale image to full panel size, there's options to change colour and scaling options that you can try.

Then its "HDTV", it should give you HDTV support modes and under that "Predefined and Custom HDTV Formats", this is the only display modes i've played with to see the effects apart from resolution, like i've said using these can make windows look awful but when playing HD dvd's this did improve the detail but you will have to adjust colour and contrast etc to make video look ok, but try some of the modes under the "Predefined and Custom HDTV Formats".

I'll keep messing around with them and let you know, next it's LCD Override but i don't know about that as yet, then its all the adjustments with 3D and colour, gamma has a major effect so you can try adjusting that, and there is the VPU reset which is handy if it works.

 

Cheers for the help so far a lot too look into there and very informative nice one I’m off work Thursday so have more time to have a look into it, if I don’t crack it straight away when I play a hddvd will it play correct the player is coming Thursday ? sammorris feel free to jump back in my friend more help the better wouldn’t think it would be so hard plug and play it aint

 

You will need the right software, i use Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra 7.3, and are your graphics capable of processing hd video.

 

The software is coming with the player its power DVD version 7ish the onboard graphics suppose to support hddvd play back well says on the review that’s why I got it

 

I'm pretty sure you will need at least cyberlink powerdvd ultra 7.3 or deluxe, best google hd play back software.

 

Well I’ve had a play about with it uninstalled the drivers and reinstalled them that many times out of ideas now when I right click ATI Catalyst control it doesn’t open did Google the problem of why it wont open still none the wiser too many reasons my blueray player came today and I’ve fitted it and tried a Hddvd the 300 and full metal jacket is it just my eyesight or is there something wrong thought they didn’t look no better then normal DVD’s when I press the info for my TV it says 1920X1080i@6ohz is this correct more help much appreciated

 

Hi, well i think you're gonna have to get your ati catalyst to work, display drivers can be had to remove, they have to be completely removed if not the new installed drivers can lay on top of the old ones so to speak and cause problems.

My hd dvd play back looked like normal dvd, nothing like my toshiba hd player, thats when i went into the advanced ati catalyst program and tried 720p, this looked awful to start with until i adjusted the contrast, colour etc, but it did start to look more like a true hd dvd, not in all the scenes and still nothing like a hd player but the detail started to stand out with more sharpness.

I havin't done much more with it as i've been trying to solve a heating problem with my computer, i did get a lot of crashes when i tried turning up the detail settings in the ati control center though, the graphics adapter is just not up to the job.

Sorry to run on, the ati onboard graphics although capable of hd play back are no where near powerful enough to truely render hd or blue ray play back as good as a stand alone player, you will have to buy a dedicated hd video graphics card to even get close to that picture quality.

 

You said your tv said "1920X1080i@6ohz" the 1080i bit could be the reason why windows looks bad, the i being interlaced.

This should be ok for your hd playback though, did that look better then it did in windows, you could also try 1080p for hd video if you get your ati to work.

But i think its best to start with getting windows looking ok, so its into the ati advanced catalyst control center to see if you can change your setting so you don't get the 1080i, just 1920x1080/60.

In my bios i have to set it to DVI/HDMI and then set my sound device to HDMI or i don't get any sound through that input, so perhaps there might be some settings in there also to look at?.

 

P.S. is your powerdvd just the standard program, cyberlink also have powerdvd deluxe and ultra which are made to play hd video, just wondered if this would have an effect on picture quality.

 

Cheers again for the info its power DVD 7.3 I have managed to improve the picture I changed some settings on the TV its got presets normal movie etc changed it to standard and in power DVD choose under video theatre the hddvd looks better but still needs improvement my computer has got dual boot on my vista partion I can open the ati catalyst control centre but under xp it wont gave up in the end on xp and completely uninstalled it do you need it read on Google you don’t? I’m going to have a play on vista in the ati catalyst control centre and see what I can do so does the I mean interlaced is that not a good thing on xp the desktop looks better its just some of the colours like say orange looks very dark orange on vista it looks ok hard to explain

 

Just had a play on vista in the ati control and no matter what I changed it too when I press the info button on the TV it still says 1920x1080i@60hz by changing it in the ati control centre all it does if I increase it is makes the desktop bigger and the icons got off the screen

 

If you can go into advanced catalyst control, go to DVT(HDMI) then go to scaling options and use the slider to adjust your screen size if its to big for your tv screen, it will scale it down.

I don't think you want to increase the resolution, its the input mode that needs to change, perhaps you can't do it with your asus motherboard using the hdmi cable.