TV as monitor not using full resolution?

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Chad711

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I from time to time hook up my Sony LCD tv up to watch movies on my computer. I always make sure the resolution is set correctly in the display properties, which is 1920 x 1080. Well I watch the videos with wmp11 and it seems the movies never use the full screen. There is about a 1" inch gap around the whole tv where it's not being used. I notice this because when I watch cable tv it's fine.

Yes I have it on full screen too.

Does any one know why?

Thank you
 
That's due to the live signal being flexible while the videos are seeing a fixed aspect ratio. Be glad you see it in widescreen despite the 1" border around the screen there.

Often videos are seen with large gaps on both sides while viewing on a wide screen lcd here set at 1440x900 while videos appear like they were set at 1280x1024. That is seen in WMP 11 as well as other players.
 
Often videos are seen with large gaps on both sides while viewing on a wide screen lcd here set at 1440x900 while videos appear like they were set at 1280x1024. That is seen in WMP 11 as well as other players.

So you mean that only happens on TV's, or what?

I have no gaps on any video player on my 1680x1050, but there are gaps on top and bottom.
 
I'll see that with captures using the tuner card and playing them back with WMP 11in particular. The boundries are seen on the sides due to the aspect ratio the recording application uses for the NTSC standard. When burned to disk I won't see it there just when reviewing captures stored on the drive.

With an lcd tv being used for the monitor the aspect ratios and screen resolutions will be different from pc to comply with television standards. There you are crossing over from one set of standards to another.

Fortunately one site covers quite a bit on how to connect pc to tv for viewing movies and other videos there. AbroadTV, Inc. Connecting your PC to the TV

I use a 19" widescreen lcd pc monitor where some programs may see the option for changing the aspect ratio from the non widescreen format for viewing full screen without borders or gaps appearing.
 
Ok I have another question. I just tried to make my TV my main monitor and it seems that the desktop isn't taking up the whole screen either. There is a gap on the left and right side. Why is this? My TV display resolution is 1920 x 1080. I have that set in the display properties. I am using a DVI to HMDI cable...

How can I fix this?

EDIT: Ok I think I fixed it. I went to CCC and went to Scaling Options and had to move the slider all the way to the right side. This adjusted it to take up the full screen of the TV. Why did I have to do this? I'm confused.
 
That's most likely the adjuster seen there for the aspect ratio in order to compensate for the differences between tv display and pc type resolutions. Do you also need or did you set the force tv detection option as well?

This is something I usually run into with some pc games that have been around for a good period of time where the highest or closest will be 1280x1024 standard while the lcd here is a 1440x900 widescreen model. Try about 3 inches seen on both sides until adjusting the aspect setting in the game itself.
 
No I did not do that force TV option. I think I tried it but nothing happened. I'd have to go back and mess with it. I just adjust that slider bar all the way to the right side and now it takes up the full screen. This also fixed my movie issue I asked about earlier. Turns out my display just wasn't taking up the whole screen.

I just don't understand why 1920 x 1080 would be different from my LCD PC monitor to my LCD TV?
 
Two different types of displays are involved there with one natively seeing standard pc desktop resolutions while the other is intended for broadcast signals which can be seen in different formats like NTSC or PAL. It's like trying to compare apples to oranges in that sense.

As the two types trend closer to one another you are seeing more support for using flat screen lcd tvs as monitors and live broadcasts via internet on your pc as well as tv tuner cards. But they still are going to be two different things with broadcast seeing it's own set of resolutions and aspect ratios there.
 
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