1024 x 768 native resolution on a widescreen tv? How? Why?!

C

Chris123234

Regular
I have a 50" Samsung in the living room that has a PC hooked up to it. After reading up on it, I found out it has a 1024x768 (4:3) native resolution. But the screen itself is a widescreen TV. Because of this, everything is stretched horizontally and looks weird.

Setting the output to 720p results in a blurry mess when using either DVI->HDMI or DVI->VGA.

How can a widescreen tv have a 4:3 native resolution?! Are these pixels rectangular or something?

The TV is a plasma tv by samsung if that matters. (It's the same for the 42" I have aswell)
 
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What is the model number? That would make it easier to dig up info on it.

What does the manual say?
 
yes it has rectangular pixels!
at least you can set up the proper aspect ratio for video playback and some of the games, then maybe (as a crude hack) find narrow fonts for your OS and programs :)

if the vid card is able to display 1360x768 downscaled to 1024x768 that would be slightly nicer than 720p.
 
Samsung 50"
Model No: HP-T5044
Model Code: HPT5044X/XAA

Video card is an ATi X800 GTO

Looking at the pixels really close, they look square to me.

Why is there even a such thing as non-square, rectangular pixels? Are you being facetious?
 
Ok, it's been a while and this still bothers me. Why do consoles and HD movies display properly in 720p but I cannot use my PC outputting in 720p? I am using an ATi X800 GTO
DVI->HDMI adapter to connect to the tv.

If I upgrade the video card (maybe one with an HDMI out?) will that allow me to have the proper aspect ratio that both consoles and HD movies are able to display in???

Or maybe a tool to force 720p and stretch/shrink the image to fit on the TV (like you could with old CRT's)?
 
I almost bought a 42" TV that had this sort of messed up resolution... thank god I didn't though.

You want a 1366x768 resolution if possible, and that is usually available on 50"+ TVs, with some 42" if you can find them.

1366x768 gives you a compatible widescreen resolution to any computer hookup, or console hookup, as well as setting a resolution to the size of the television that will optimize performance and size of things like text and icons. It's a good sweet spot, imo.
 
AlStrong said:
Is there no 720p option in the HDTV section of your control panel?
Click to expand...

There is but it doesn't display properly. I'll check when I get home to see what the problem is exactly.

Berek-Halfhand said:
I almost bought a 42" TV that had this sort of messed up resolution... thank god I didn't though.

You want a 1366x768 resolution if possible, and that is usually available on 50"+ TVs, with some 42" if you can find them.

1366x768 gives you a compatible widescreen resolution to any computer hookup, or console hookup, as well as setting a resolution to the size of the television that will optimize performance and size of things like text and icons. It's a good sweet spot, imo.
Click to expand...

Ummm... ok. Not that that helps me and my roomate with the 3 TV's we already have.
 
Chris123234 said:
There is but it doesn't display properly. I'll check when I get home to see what the problem is exactly.
Click to expand...

hm... I wonder if it's overscan to which you are referring. I certainly experienced that with a 26" LCD TV once. In that case, it would actually be fairly normal, but of course, you don't want overscan occurring for regular computer use.
 
Chris123234 said:
There is but it doesn't display properly. I'll check when I get home to see what the problem is exactly.

Ummm... ok. Not that that helps me and my roomate with the 3 TV's we already have.
Click to expand...

Nope, I suppose it doesn't. Doing research before buying expensive TVs is always advisable. 1024x768 is still ok though... you'll just have to make some additional adjustments, no worries.
 
I hesitate to post on a topic I'm not that informed about but perhaps a solution is related to how "normal" 16:9 and 16:10 HDTV's/HD Monitors can properly display HD content that was broadcast at 1440 x 1080i. I think some WMV HD content had some funny resolutions also.

Hmm, perhaps set the windows display to the correct resolution and then use the monitor's hardware options for setting the aspect ratio? Mine has several such.
 
I was reading and it seems that it is 1024x768 skewed into a 16:9 by way of spacing out the pixel columns, which is stupid as hell.

Taking that into consideration, is there a way to somehow skew it so that when it comes into the TV, the skews cancel out and display in the proper aspect?? Like displaying a widescreen resolution on a 4:3 CRT type of look, and having the TV's lovely built in stretching feature fix it.
 
I had the same problem with a LCD TV (toshiba) and a plasma tv (panasonic)... I also had the same videocard on an older HTPC...

I could only get 1024x768 to display correctly...

I got annoyed coz it looked weird when watching some videos (they look stretched)... and changing the res to 1280x720 wasn't full screen... through DVI/HDMI my videocard won't even show anything and I can only use the PC input (VGA)... I assumed it was probably the HDCP it's why I couldn't get the HDMI to work...

what I did to get the corrected aspect ratio what was press the 'Aspect" button (some remotes have it as "screen", "wide" or "full") on the TV remote. but it had those annoying black bars on the side :(

I ended up upgrading the mobo and cpu and also got a Radeon 3850 so it can display 1920 x 1080 through hdmi... never looked back ever since :)
 
Chris123234 said:
I was reading and it seems that it is 1024x768 skewed into a 16:9 by way of spacing out the pixel columns, which is stupid as hell.

Taking that into consideration, is there a way to somehow skew it so that when it comes into the TV, the skews cancel out and display in the proper aspect?? Like displaying a widescreen resolution on a 4:3 CRT type of look, and having the TV's lovely built in stretching feature fix it.
Click to expand...

The TV is widescreen but the pixel count is not... its a natural "law" if you will... no matter what you do you will never make a round peg fit in a square hole (or however that saying goes). It may almost work in some cases, but it won't. Do what you can with it, but magic wont' happen.
 
Use VLC

I've set my default resolution on the desktop to use default resolution of 1024 x 768 and then use VLC (free software) and adjust the aspect ration to default to 4:3. Everything looks proportionate and 1.77 - 1.85 movies display full screen with square pixels. 2.35 ratio movies still have black bars above. I think it's about the best you can do with widescreen that uses a 4:3 native resolution. My connection to my laptop is disply port/HDMI. Havent given VGA a go but I suspect it would be the same.
 
I LIKE it (you will too) because, when you get older, and your eyesight goes (everyone mostly) you can still see without a blur. This should be just **1** example of things that happen as you age to almost everyone, that you SHOULD account for, if you are a capitalist.
 
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