ATI 5770 - Poor Quality over HDMI

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Jun 1, 2006
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So I purchased a SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5770 video card upgrade after waiting a while. Learned it supported HDMI out, including audio, so I swap my monitor from VGA/audio from second sound card to use the HDMI cable. I installed the latest ATI drivers and then came to the issue of having a horrible looking screen.

The monitor I am using is a Westinghouse 24" (1920x1200) (Link) I have never had issues with the monitor, yet HDMI acts funky with this video card. On top of the poor looking text, the monitor will flicker the screen and make a buzz over audio if I have say http://www.redditunes.com/ running on another TAB and the video changes.
To complete the background on information, I am running Windows 7 x86 and I also have a second monitor over VGA(DVI convert) that is a 17" 1280x1024 Dell.

Here is a screenshot of the poor text quality.
RrjPb.jpg


Looking around online, it seemed as if I need to switch my monitor to support 'underlacing', yet the options page does not allow me to.
flAyo.png


TLDR ATI 5770 video card using HDMI out to a 1920x1200 monitor has poor text quality.
 
Yeah check the L2410NM thread in the Display section. You'll find out that it is very picky about how certain connectors (HDMI to HDMI) and drivers (ATI and Nvidia).

If you don't need audio, just get a DVI to HDMI connector. I've never had any issues with my monitor using it.
 
Hmm... HDMI is digital, so the signal either comes through or it doesn't. What drivers are you running? People have had problems with the 10.6's so you may want to run Driver Sweeper and install the 10.4's (currently regarded as the best driver). Do you have another HDMI monitor or TV you can test with?

Have you ran your monitor's auto-adjust feature? Try unplugging the VGA monitor so you're just using the HDMI one (only one monitor connected) and see if that does anything.

Otherwise the card could be defective. But I doubt that's the problem here. :)
 
Yeah check the L2410NM thread in the Display section. You'll find out that it is very picky about how certain connectors (HDMI to HDMI) and drivers (ATI and Nvidia).

If you don't need audio, just get a DVI to HDMI connector. I've never had any issues with my monitor using it.

I want to use HDMI so I don't have to introduce a second sound card to my system.

I'll look into the threads, I figured the quality of the monitor would provide great support, but that may be my primary flaw. Lame. Will research into the monitor, thanks.

Install the 10.4's (currently regarded as the best driver).

Have you ran your monitor's auto-adjust feature?

Tried 10.4, no help. I've tinkered with monitor auto-adjust, no help.
 
In the ATI control panel there is a setting for border width when using HDMI.
 
I want to use HDMI so I don't have to introduce a second sound card to my system.

I'll look into the threads, I figured the quality of the monitor would provide great support, but that may be my primary flaw. Lame. Will research into the monitor, thanks.



Tried 10.4, no help. I've tinkered with monitor auto-adjust, no help.


you can run DVI to HDMI with audio.. just enable the onboard sound on the card in the ati drivers and it will work just the same as the hdmi port.. worth a shot to see if it solves the problem..
 
It seems this is a known issue for the monitor, user niconx provided a solution for Nvidia based video cards: http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034392816&postcount=743 (Sadly, doesn't work for ATI)

In the ATI control panel there is a setting for border width when using HDMI.

Where is this located?

you can run DVI to HDMI with audio.. just enable the onboard sound on the card in the ati drivers and it will work just the same as the hdmi port.. worth a shot to see if it solves the problem..

You can run audio using a DVI out port? I actually have a DVI to HDMI converter, though i've never heard of DVI having the capacity to push audio.

*edit*
Gave that a try and no good.
2OXkQ.png
 
You can run audio using a DVI out port? I actually have a DVI to HDMI converter, though i've never heard of DVI having the capacity to push audio.
Do better research then? My HTPC is running a 4870 with the ATI DVI-HDMI adapter as the only connection used.
 
Do better research then? My HTPC is running a 4870 with the ATI DVI-HDMI adapter as the only connection used.

I just tested it, and the image above shows I am incapable of pushing audio over DVI. So please feel free to share your research on how to enable this capacity. ;)
 
well thats interesting because its suppose to support it.. that was always the big deal with ATI was the pass through 7.1 LPCM over dvi to hdmi.. the 4k series supports 5.1 LPCM over dvi..

well then scratch that idea.. guess the only 5k series that support it are those that dont have an HDMI port.. lame..
 
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I just tested it, and the image above shows I am incapable of pushing audio over DVI. So please feel free to share your research on how to enable this capacity. ;)

Nah, I'll let you find it yourself. You can start here http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=26


well thats interesting because its suppose to support it.. that was always the big deal with ATI was the pass through 7.1 LPCM over dvi to hdmi.. the 4k series supports 5.1 LPCM over dvi..

well then scratch that idea.. guess the only 5k series that support it are those that dont have an HDMI port.. lame..

/facepalm
 
In CCC there should be an option for DTV and under that an option for UnderScan/OverScan. Drag this to 0% and you should get what you're looking for.

(Note: Underscanning effectively tries to fit the whole image in less pixels, creating fuzziness and blurring. Not only will this make the image fit the whole screen, there is a Significant improvement in quality. Bonus!)
 
Nah, I'll let you find it yourself. You can start here http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=26

Though it would've been nice if you could simply provide direction beyond a forum link, I researched elsewhere and it seems that I require a special DVI->HDMI converter

The converter I just tested was this one: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10419&cs_id=1041902&p_id=2029

It looks like I need a special version which includes two additional columns of pins located right in the middle. This is my first time hearing of this capacity.

Now what I don't understand, is why i'd be using a DVI converter to use HDMI to bypass a direct HDMI output issue. I half-suspect that I will fall into the same issue. (Unless ATI recognizes it is HDMI converted and somehow ignores the HDMI class issue.)
 
In CCC there should be an option for DTV and under that an option for UnderScan/OverScan. Drag this to 0% and you should get what you're looking for.

(Note: Underscanning effectively tries to fit the whole image in less pixels, creating fuzziness and blurring. Not only will this make the image fit the whole screen, there is a Significant improvement in quality. Bonus!)

Eshelmen, I posted this image in the OP.
flAyo.png

This is the only settings page I can find that references UnderScan/Overscan, which I am not capable of modifying. Is there another area of which you speak that I could modify?
 
In CCC there should be an option for DTV and under that an option for UnderScan/OverScan. Drag this to 0% and you should get what you're looking for.

(Note: Underscanning effectively tries to fit the whole image in less pixels, creating fuzziness and blurring. Not only will this make the image fit the whole screen, there is a Significant improvement in quality. Bonus!)
This was my first guess but he showed a screenshot with the setting greyed out. I don't know if that is due to the monitor all I know is it works perfectly on my HTPC connected to a 50inch Plasma. /shrug

Though it would've been nice if you could simply provide direction beyond a forum link, I researched elsewhere and it seems that I require a special DVI->HDMI converter

The converter I just tested was this one: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10419&cs_id=1041902&p_id=2029

It looks like I need a special version which includes two additional columns of pins located right in the middle. This is my first time hearing of this capacity.
Good job, you found the right info. I recommend you don't buy these converters from retail since they are overpriced there. My card came with one but I lost it and bought a replacement from ebay for less than $10 with free shipping. The part number is 6140063501G. You will also need the Realtek HDMI audio driver for ATI cards.
 
Eshelmen, I posted this image in the OP.
flAyo.png

This is the only settings page I can find that references UnderScan/Overscan, which I am not capable of modifying. Is there another area of which you speak that I could modify?

What happens if you check the box? Does it enable the slider? I've never used the overscan/underscan features so I wouldn't know, but it is worth it to check.
 
Make sure you have an HDMI 1.3 cord.

i had used a 1.1 cord and Sound and Video was all messed up. As soon as I got a 1.3 HDMI cord from Newegg. All problems were fixed.

And I am running a 37inch TV as my monitor HDMI to HDMI. Works Great
 
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HDMI 1.1 is spec'ed to handle 1920×1200p60 with audio and shouldn't be an issue unless its a defective cable.
 
So I purchased a DVI to HDMI adapter with the full PINs version for ATI cards. (Took forever to show up as I learn it shipped from China) Plugged it into my card and screen looks perfect.....except it doesn't support audio. I tried both DVI ports and neither support audio. Also, my HDMI cable is brand new off MonoPrice so it is up to spec.

I am at a loss and am beyond frustrated now.
 
check the frequency at the Catalyst.

the picture will turn perfect if you find the right one.
 
First time I tried HDMI (Both monitor and TV) on my 5870 it did the same thing. No amount of tweaking would fix it. So I said screw it and went back to DVI on my monitor. I tried again a few weeks later and it worked just fine, looking crisp and clear on my TV.

I believe there was a driver update in there but other than that, I did nothing different than the first time.

You may wish to uninstall the current drivers, then use Driver Sweeper for complete removal (In safe mode.) of the current drivers/settings/everything ATI. Then reinstall fresh and see if things improve.
 
I've updated my drivers to 10.7, and with Driver Sweeper used beforehand.

I still have very poor quality on HDMI and using the DVI->HDMI (ATI supported) converter does not support audio. [Using DVI converter, HDMI quality is perfect, but I am using HDMI over VGA for audio]

It seems I should just give up and set up a sound card again or suffer the horrible quality of HDMI as it is.
 
i have this same issue with hdmi to hdmi being horrible on the ati 5850 (or any card for that matter) with my L2410NM.. i need the hdmi to work for audio.. never could find a fix.
 
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