[haloboy100]

Man, it seems every post I make on these forums is asking for technical help. And it's always about the same damned problems...either a virus or a display issue. Ugh.

Either way, if you guys don't mind me comming back here for a few minutes to ask another one of these...that'd be great.

So, hey. The story is, I come back here after remembering I havn't visited HLP for a long time to find that the apocalypse project is still kicking. I figure, Homeworld must be pretty important if it's getting enough attention to start an entire project on HLP, so I figure I'll check some of it out.

So I pick up a copy at my local game store to find the same problem I have with every single 'effing game that doesn't support custom resolutions: the game view cuts off at the edges of my screen. Basically, I can only see half of the toolbar in Homeworld, and a notable portion of every corner of the screen is cut off. Enough so, that I can move my mouse off any edge of the screen. I know this is a simple and possibly ignorable problem, but I've been having it for almost every single game I encounter that won't run custom resolutions. And it's quite annoying after that many games.

The problem is that my 26" LCD screen, at least according to my Nvidia card, can't properly display 720p. That is, 1280X720 resolution.
Even though, as very specifically stated on the front of the box my TV came in, it can support not only 720p, but has a native resolution of 1366x768 pixels. Which, unless I can't do math now, is larger than 1280x720.
So anyway, thanks to the Nvidia control panel, I can "re-size" my desktop to fix my screen using this feature most of the Nvidia users here know that allows me to measure the length of my screen in pixels and re-size my resolution the best I can.
The "best i can" being 1216x684, which apparently must be near what the real native resolution of my screen is, since when I run at this resolution the screen isn't cut off at all. There's even a few pixels worth of dead space at each edge; but I'd rather have dead pixels than my vision being cut off.
So, I run modern games (or older games I'm able to modify a custom resolution for) at 1216x684 resolution, and everything is shiny. But some games I can't go into the files and quickly hack a table or .cfg file to run a custom resolution at, I get this problem with. So far the games I remember with this problem are Thief: The dark project, America's Army, Call of Duty, Mechwarrior 3 and now Homeworld.
If it happens to be a problem with the TV itself, then that might be because it's on a component video cable. That can be fixed, since I can simply run off my Xbox 360s HDMI if I have too. The TV doesn't support DVI input, so I can't go that far.
Of course, it could be because the TV is Insignia, which I've heard from a lot of people (smart or not) that it's a ****ty brand. I don't know what exactly makes a TV "good" aside from the color quality and the DPI, but I guess that must be out of my field, since apparently according to everybody I must be viewing HLP right now through a big box of **** for all Insignia is apparently worth.

That's my two cents on the problem; if anybody has a solution, help would be appreciated in advance.
I hope my apparent sarcasm isn't being mean or offending anyone; this problem is just starting to tick me off now. I apologize.

[CP5670]

Do you have the correct inf file for it loaded into Windows? You can probably find it at the manufacturer website. If you can't find one, you will need to create one yourself.

[haloboy100]

I don't think I can find one of those files. I really doubt Best Buy has a place to download them, and what research I've been able to find says that they're customer support is worthless when asked for TV or monitor drivers.

Create one myself? how am I able to do that?

[CP5670]

Best Buy? I thought you said this TV is made by some company called Insignia.

If you want to make it youself, it's easier if you can find one for a similar kind of monitor. I could show you what mine looks like, but it will probably be quite different from what you want. You need to know all the resolutions your LCD supports and the minimum and maximum horizontal input rates, and put them into it.

You then have to load it into Windows as a driver. This is easier to do in XP and the 32-bit versions of Vista and 7, which allow unsigned drivers without any hacks.

[haloboy100]

Well, I do have XP, so that will be possible.

And by the way, Insignia is owned and maintained by Best Buy, and they don't have a dedicated support center for them, so their website is useless.

I'll keep searching for a driver.

[Admiral LSD]

That can be fixed, since I can simply run off my Xbox 360s HDMI if I have too. The TV doesn't support DVI input, so I can't go that far.

Electrically, (single-link) DVI and HDMI are identical. HDMI (1.3 and earlier. 1.4 is slightly different I believe) just multiplexes audio in with the video stream and adds a communications channel for things like players being able to signal the TV to turn on when they do. Adaptors that let you convert one to the other are readily available.

You might be able to use a program like RivaTuner or PowerStrip to add the 1366x768 and 1280x720 options to your existing setup manually, but that's about as much as I know on the subject.

[Liberator]

Nvidia's control panel has a setting where you can set non-standard resolutions if you can't locate a settings file from the manufacturer, it's listed under Display -> Manage custom resolutions.

Though honestly, I don't understand why the monitor isn't resampling the lower resolution to fit itself, unless this isn't a monitor at all and is actually a television.

[Ghostavo]

Though honestly, I don't understand why the monitor isn't resampling the lower resolution to fit itself, unless this isn't a monitor at all and is actually a television.

Seeing it's a 26 inch screen and has an advertised resolution of 1366x768, I'd say you are correct. 

[haloboy100]

It is a Television. I'm sorry for not stating that earlier.

Nvidia's control panel has a setting where you can set non-standard resolutions if you can't locate a settings file from the manufacturer, it's listed under Display -> Manage custom resolutions.

Yes, and this is how I'm able to run at 1216x684 resolution without a problem.
The real problem comes in that games that don't support custom resolutions, (hence, Homeworld and other old games) as they display incorrectly.

The confusing thing is, though, even though I change the video settings in Homeworld to 800x600, which would easily fit on my screen, the computer still re-samples the image to 1280x720, causing my screen to be cut off.

There's nothing on the insignia website mentioning what CP is talking about, so I don't think I can find a driver.

[SpardaSon21]

You should probably just buy an actual monitor for your computer.  That would solve your issues.

[haloboy100]

I just did the next best thing: I connected a VGA cable from my video card to my TV, and when I use that connection it solves all my problems. Sure the picture color looks a hell of a lot worse, but when you're playing an old game like this it doesn't really matter. Looks like I worked around my problem.

Thanks anyways, guys.

I thought about using the onboard HDMI or DVI provided by the 7100 card built in to my motherboard, but that thing is pretty much a useless piece of crap for all it can output. Which is no signal at all.

[Liberator]

Wait, you are using an addon video card that doesn't have a DVI port on it?
*is confused*

[Mongoose]

No, the TV doesn't have DVI input.

[haloboy100]

Wait, you are using an addon video card that doesn't have a DVI port on it?
*is confused*

My GTS 8800 has two DVI-out and one component-out. The GT 7100 card built integrated to my mainboard has HDMI, VGA, and DVI out. The thing is, none of those work at all.

[CP5670]

If this TV has an HDMI port, it can easily be converted to DVI as mentioned earlier. HDMI/DVI cables can be found under $10.

[haloboy100]

If this TV has an HDMI port, it can easily be converted to DVI as mentioned earlier. HDMI/DVI cables can be found under $10.

's okay, though. I'm happy with VGA. It'll add to the authenticity of playing ancient games.