Computer to TV

[Bert]

Hi,

I have read somewhere on this forum, that you can watch your 1920x1200 EXE show on a HD TV, by connecting your laptop computer to the TV. I have done that and the show looks good. The only thing is that even if the show is made 1920x1200, on my TV it does not fill the screen. I had expected black bars on the side because the show is not 1920x1080 (16:9) as my TV is, but is (16:10). But I would expect the height to be full covered on the TV. The picture I get on the TV is avbout 2/3 to 3/4 of the full srceen, with black bars on all sides. Is this because the laptop's screen solution is max 1360x768? (I had set it for 1280X800 what is 16:10). What do I have to do to get my screen filled (except for the black side bars) on my HD TV.

Thanks,

Bert

[Ken Cox]

HAVE YOU TRIED the various screen adjustmennts on the tv

how are you connected to tv -- hdmi , computer etc

DaveGee is the man to answer this once you supply additional info

ken

[cottage]

Bert,

I am certainly no authority on this issue !!! However, when I make shows that I wish to watch on my HDTV, I always make them 1920x1080 which gives full screen on the HDTV. To my knowledge it has nothing to do with the resolution set on your PC. While you are waiting for a true authority, (DaveGee or Lin) to respond, why not make a short test show using 1920x1080 and see how it shows on your TV?

Regards,

Bill

[cjdnzl]

Hi,

I have read somewhere on this forum, that you can watch your 1920x1200 EXE show on a HD TV, by connecting your laptop computer to the TV. I have done that and the show looks good. The only thing is that even if the show is made 1920x1200, on my TV it does not fill the screen. I had expected black bars on the side because the show is not 1920x1080 (16:9) as my TV is, but is (16:10). But I would expect the height to be full covered on the TV. The picture I get on the TV is avbout 2/3 to 3/4 of the full srceen, with black bars on all sides. Is this because the laptop's screen solution is max 1360x768? (I had set it for 1280X800 what is 16:10). What do I have to do to get my screen filled (except for the black side bars) on my HD TV.

Thanks,

Bert

If you are running the laptop screen while connected to the TV you may find the maximum screen pixels to be controlled by the lesser screen, i.e. the laptop. Turn off the lappy screen (Fn-F8 keys on my Dell) and see if that fixes it. My Dell screen is 1680 x 1050, and when I use my external AOC 1920 x 1080 I have to turn off the laptop screen to achieve the full 1920 x 1080 display on the AOC. If I turn on the laptop screen the display reverts to 1680 x 1050 on both screens.

[Barry Beckham]

Bert When we create a slide show for our PC, many of us tick the box in Project options to fix the size of the slide. This stops the slide show being made larger (and therefore poorer quality) on larger resolution monitors. When we make a DVD we must untick that box or the slide show does not fill the screen, even if it was made at 1920*1080. I have no experience of running slide shows on the TV, but I would try unticking that box, just in case it also affects a slide show played from a laptop as well as a DVD

[Johnwnjr]

I had a similar experience but not with a laptop and I unticked the box when making the sequence and before making my DVD as Barry suggests. Where to find the box? Under Project Options > Screen > Box with text "Fixed Size of Slide" - Make sure this box is unticked and it may solve the problem. John

[davegee]

As stated above - turn off your laptop screen by going to Control Panel > Display and choosing the TV only.

This is the beauty of the HDMI connection - it is automatic (on my now ageing 1280x800 Sony Laptop). I have just the one 1920x1200 monitor and, by means of a switching unit share it with my desktop computer via HDMI. Switching is is automatic and I never have to go to Control Panel. Same goes for the TV. HDMI also carries the sound from laptop to TV.

Another factor: Before I got my existing TV I had a 1366x768 display which was great with a HDMI connection but when using VGA it was limited to 1280x768. My shows were then interpolated down from 1920x1080 to the TV res.

Barry's suggestion is true for DVDs but for Computer/TV connection you have to match the output res of the computer to the res of the TV (or projector). If Bert has not done this he is getting exactly what I would expect - a 1280x800 pic in the middle of a 1920x1080 screen. If the computer screen is 1280x800 and you don't have TWO graphics cards then you cannot feed different resolutions to different screens. His graphics card is capable of 1920x1080 but his laptop screen isn't.

It is possible to have a two screen configuration but the MAIN monitor is then 1920x1080 (or 1920x1200) while the laptop shows just a 1280x800 PORTION of the output in which to put windows.

In Bert's case it has to be 1920x1080 and as he rightly said he will then get black bars each side of the screen.

If the TV is new: explore the possibility of it having its own Media Player and USB connection.

Full res 1920x1080 MPEG shows can then be played from a USB Key. IMHO there is a slight difference between the Media Player route and the Computer HDMI connection in favour of the HDMI connection but the convenience of "no wires" overrides the quality issue.

DG

[Bert]

Thanks everybody for your quick replies.

Turning off the screen of the laptop was the solution. I could not find "Control Panel > Display and choosing the TV only", but as mentioned by cjdnci, fn and f8 did the trick. In 2 weeks I have to present the same show with a club digital projector (1024x768), does anybody know if I can show a 1920x1200 show with this projector and do I have to turn the laptop srceen off for projection also?

Thanks,

Bert

[Ken Cox]

BERT

COVER YOUR BUTT and go try it -- get familiar with room - light switches /electrical outlets - sound, screen, washroom, parking etc and then there will only be a minimum of surprises on the big night

and

make sure they have spare bulb for the projector

year or so ago we had a fella got into a real mess re permits - that is the last thing you want

ken

[davegee]

Your laptop will need to be set to 1024x768.

Right click on desktop and (depending on OS) you'll see either Properties>Settings (XP) or Personalise>Display Settings (Vista).

This will allow you to match the output of your laptop to the projector.

Practice!!

Your show will, however, be interpolated down from 1920x1080 to 1024x640 by the laptop.

You can see the effect of this by setting your laptop to 1024x768 (if it is a 4:3 screen) or the nearest equivalent for a 16:10 screen (1024x600) or 16:9 screen (1024x576) etc.

On the night, connect to the projector and THEN change the settings to 1024x768 and make the projector your MAIN monitor. If there is an AR mis-match the computer monitor will SOMETIMES turn itself off.

DG

P.S. What Ken said!!

[Bert]

Ken and Dave,

Thanks for your response, unfortunate I can not get access to the projector OR the computer that is going to be used. But it is good to know that the computer has to be set to 1024X768 . I will bring my show only on a USB stick.

Bert

[davegee]

Bert,

I would definitely advise that you try your show out on a computer which is set to output at 1024x768.

If you can find someone with a 1024x768 monitor!!!!!

Mostly in antique shops these days!!

DG

[Ken Cox]

BERT

cant you take your laptop that you are familiar with - you are relying on everything at the hall being AOK -- bad move

ken

[cjdnzl]

Thanks everybody for your quick replies.

Turning off the screen of the laptop was the solution. I could not find "Control Panel > Display and choosing the TV only", but as mentioned by cjdnci, fn and f8 did the trick. In 2 weeks I have to present the same show with a club digital projector (1024x768), does anybody know if I can show a 1920x1200 show with this projector and do I have to turn the laptop srceen off for projection also?

Thanks,

Bert

Yes, you can do that, but you will see black areas top and bottom on the screen - which doesn't really matter. For your projector at 1024 x 768, which is smaller than your laptop screen, the projector will reset the screen dimensions so the picture on the lappy will be oversize and distorted. The best way to handle this is to connect the projector to the laptop and turn on the projector before you turn on the laptop. The laptop will see the projector and use its dimensions automatically. If you turn on the laptop before the projector then the image dimensions will be those of the laptop and you will have to go into Control Panel\Display and set the dimensions manually.

[Barry Beckham]

Bert

You can show your slide show made at 1920*1200 on a digital projector running 1024*768 with no troubles at all. I do it all the time at demos and NEVER have any issues with it. If your laptop is reasonably modern, as you connect to the projector you may find your laptop screen changes automatically to match the projector.

Failing that, as DG says change the laptop screen resolution manually.

[fh1805]

...cant you take your laptop that you are familiar with - you are relying on everything at the hall being AOK -- bad move...

Ken,

I couldn't agree more! I have one rule that I never break when it comes to accepting bookings: either I provide everything or I provide only a USB memory stick. That way, if I've provided everything, any technical glitches are my problem to resolve and apologise for. If I provide only a memory stick, any technical glitches are then the hosts to resolve and apologise for.

I rarely have problems with my own laptop/projector setup these days because it is used for little else. All I have to do is remember to boot up the laptop onto the wireless network at home once a week to download and install anti-virus and Windows updates. If anything does get installed, then I check that all the sequences for the next week will start OK.

I am amazed at how many organisations cannot get their own gear set up and working without hitting some sort of problem. And then some of them have the cheek to ask me to help resolve their problems!

regards,

Peter

[Ken Cox]

Lets hope Bert puts his foot down and tells them "it is my way or the highway"

-- it is HIS reputation that is on the line

ken

[davegee]

It is not unusual to have guests arrive with just a Memory Stick with PTE shows on.

My point to Bert is that he needs to run his shows on a 1024x768 screen to know what to expect.

The questions that he asked indicated to me that he has not already done this.

If his settings are not "correct" or don't allow for 1024x768 in some way ........................................................

DG

[Maureen]

make sure they have spare bulb for the projector

Not much use as you cannot just turn off a projector and change the bulb with digital projectors.

Takes several hours to do so.

[Bert]

Thanks for all your sugestions,

I can not try the show on the laptop at 1024x768 at home. It is my wife's and when I used it to play the show on the TV a few days ago and tried different screen resolutions, all her icons on the desktop changed position, and she was not a happy camper . I tried the show on my PC at 1024x768, but it looks stretched out horizontaly. The native solution of my screen is 1680x1050 and when I have that set it fills the screen. Barry's comment was assuring and I am confident that the club where I present knows there stuf. I was told that they project there digital competition images as 1024x768.

Regards,

Bert

[davegee]

Bert,

Your monitor is a 16:10 Aspect Ratio Monitor.

If you set it to 1024x768 you are spreading the 1024 Pixels out along the horizontal and 768 along the vertical.

Anything displayed at that setting will be stretched.

If you were able to find someone with a 4:3 AR Monitor (1024x768: 1400x1050; 1440x1080; 1600x1200 etc Native Resolution) then you would be able to set it at a true 4:3 resolution in order to see how your show is going to look when projected on the club's projector.

When you say that your show "filled the screen" of your 1680x1050 screen when set to 1024x768 are you absolutely sure that there were no black lines top and bottom as there should have been? Did you mean "filled the width" with black lines top and bottom? In which case all is well.

DG

[Bert]

Hi Dave,

What I ment was when I have my screen set to 1680x1050 it filled the screen (no distotion), set to 1024x768 the show was stretched out (distorted) to the width of the screen but on the top and bottom were black lines. I played the show ond an older computer and 3x4 Monitor. It filled the width of the screen and showed no distortion, only black bands on the top and bottem. The computer could not keep up with the shows dissolves. The show was made with PTE6.5, when I played an older show made with PTE5 and 1024x768 images, the older computer it could handle those.

Thanks for your sugestions.

Bert

[davegee]

It sounds as though your settings are OK!

DG