Using DVI for 1080i on Panasonic HDTV

[nickjw]

Hi All,

This isn't really a SageTV specific question, but it's driving me absolutely nuts! I have a Panasonic HDTV (PT53WX54J) that supports only 480p and 1080i according to the manual and to the modes available to set via the nVidia drivers (I have an MSI 8500GT card).

After lots of reading on this and other forums, I now understand the css/macrovision protections and that's why I can't play DVDs at 1080i via component cables. 1080i works perfectly on my TV over component, but not over DVI. 480p works either way, and allows me to watch DVDs.

When I try 1080i over DVI, the screen gets "crazy" with weird colors and the refresh is noticeable (looks kinda like convergence is off). Since it works fine via component, I'm guessing either 1) the TV just doesn't support 1080i @ 60Hz via DVI or 2) I need to tweak some drivers settings somewhere to get the picture to come out right (if it was a PC monitor, I'd swear the "modline" (linux term) was wrong, or that the refresh rate was too high). Unfortunately, it only let's me test with 60hz, there is no lower option; seems that some TVs run at lower refresh rates, like 30hz?

So for now I'm donning 480p over component so that everything works, minus HD content (just saved videos and online content). I'd like to start using my HD tuner soon, though, and I don't want to manually change the resolution every time I need to watch a DVD.

Any suggestions on getting 1080i working over DVI on this TV?

Thanks for any advice in advance!

Nick

[CollinR]

Well you probably don't want to hear this but that TV is 540p and only allows 480p to be input via DVI. So you will need to set your output to 720x480@60hz, it should also be able to display 960x540@60hz however it appears not to.

1080i will be scaled down to 540p for display and there is no 720p support.


I don't own the TV but I just remember them.

[nickjw]

Originally Posted by CollinR

Well you probably don't want to hear this but that TV is 540p and only allows 480p to be input via DVI. So you will need to set your output to 720x480@60hz, it should also be able to display 960x540@60hz however it appears not to.

1080i will be scaled down to 540p for display and there is no 720p support.

Thanks Collin - I needed to hear that even if I didn't want to. It's lame that it calls itself a HDTV, and the manual states 1080i support, all the while it can't really display it. The manual doesn't specifically say anything about 1080i via DVI, so that makes complete sense that it isn't supported.

If I run 960x540@60hz over component, I suspect I'll have the same css issues with copy protected DVDs as they aren't allowed to upscale over component? If not, I'll give that a shot, if so, I'll stick with 480p over DVI.

I think I'm using 720x480 right now over DVI (480p right?). DVDs look great at this resolution, but SDTV doesn't, likely as it's stretched to fit the screen. I guess I can try play around with Sage settings to better it.

Thanks again,
Nick