HDMI output resolution problem

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rhys_thomas

Member
Hi,

Just received my new computer and everything seems to be working well apart from I can't seem to get the HDMI output to properly work with my TV.

I am using my HDTV for a monitor but when I connect the PC to it via a HDMI cable the picture quality is fuzzy and does not look very HD at all. Using a very old VGA cable I am able to get much sharper and clearer images and I find this very odd. Why is the HDMI cable giving me such poor picture quality? What am I doing wrong?

I spent an hour or so testing all the different resolutions and things on the AMD VISION Control Centre and none of them provide a picture anywhere near as crisp as my VGA cable. The best I managed to get on HDMI was at 1280x800 but even then it didnt perfectly fit my TV screen and the quality wasn't great.

My spec is:

Case
InWIN MANA-136 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD FX-6300 Six Core CPU (3.50GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3+)
Motherboard
ASUS® M5A97 (DDR3, USB3.0, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM)
4GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD7770 - DVI,HDMI - DX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 150Mbps PCI-E CARD (Special Offer)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days
Miscellaneous
FREE NEVER SETTLE FOREVER - BRONZE VOUCHER with AMD 7770 & 7790!
Quantity
1

Thanks for your help.
 
steaky360

steaky360

Moderator
Moderator
Ah right, that is strange, does the computer display correctly at 1920x1080 resolution with the HDMI cable plugged in?
 
R

rhys_thomas

Member
On 1920x1080 everything looks very small and is so blurry that words are barely readable. It also seems to be flickering as well
 
steaky360

steaky360

Moderator
Moderator
Well a higher resolution will make text look small (on the same sized screen), but it shouldn't be flickering. Have you updated your drivers for the graphics card?
 
steaky360

steaky360

Moderator
Moderator
Does the flickering stop when you are at lower resolutions? You mentioned before that you had it working at 1280x800. Is your TV 1080p ('full HD') or is it 720p?
 
R

rhys_thomas

Member
The flickering did stop when I had it at 1280x800 yes, and i'm not 100% that my TV is full HD so i'm aware that this may be an issue, however even at 720p on the lower resolution the quality from my VGA cable was far better. Should this be the case? Would a VGA provide a better picture quality than a HDMI or is there still something i'm doing wrong? Thanks for the replies
 
steaky360

steaky360

Moderator
Moderator
No the picture should be the same either way. I'd try to follow Boozad's advice of trying a monitor if you can, as its unlikely the HDMI is broken (although it is possible).
 
R

rhys_thomas

Member
Okay I tried it on a different HDTV and although the picture was better than on my original monitor, it still wasn't as crisp or clear as with the VGA cable. This is baffling me and can't seem to find out why!
 
steaky360

steaky360

Moderator
Moderator
Can you try it on a monitor as opposed to another HDTV - remember they are not all designed to display PC display's correctly.

What resolution are you putting through the VGA cable when you get the better picture?
 
Boozad

Boozad

Prolific Poster
My daughters have my backup rig through their HD Ready TV at 720p and the picture is, to put it bluntly, crap. It was perfectly crisp on my 1080p monitor. Try it on a monitor.
 
R

rhys_thomas

Member
Ah right okay, maybe its just the HDMI output with TV's in general then? On the VGA cable its at 1680x1050 and at 60Hz and the picture is pretty impressive. I don't have a monitor to try it on unfortunately, I bought the computer on the basis that I would use my TV as the monitor.

It looks like I'll just have to settle for the VGA connection then, which in fairness is pretty good for an old cable but I'd have thought that I'd be able to perhaps get a better picture through HDMI or something.
 
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