Widescreen TV Resolution...

[hob]

I've just got a powerbook tv adapter thing. All is good on my 4:3 tv, but the bigger 16:9 tv we have confuses me. I THINK (from memory) it shows more resolutions than the other tv, but none of them are widescreen.

Right now I'm using 720x576 on the TV, and then using the Zoom feature on the TV itself... Which isn't the greatest...

Any ideas how I can actually get a 16:9 resolution?

Hob

 

[Blue Velvet]

Unfortunately, you may not be able to do it that easily.

We are about to install a 16:9 plasma screen at work in the reception area and the management want inspiring & useful messages on it... we've had to ask IT to get a special WXGA card for 16:9 Flash output from a PC.

This page may explain more...

 

[hob]

Unfortunately, you may not be able to do it that easily.

We are about to install a 16:9 plasma screen at work in the reception area and the management want inspiring & useful messages on it... we've had to ask IT to get a special WXGA card for 16:9 Flash output from a PC.

This page may explain more...

hmmmmm.... d'oh!

 

[dietsoda]

Did you ever get anywhere with this? It should be possible, my 15" has a maximum resolution of 1280x854, when I set it to PAL 1024x768 on Mirroring my laptop's LCD is only illuminated and active for that area, the rest being black, it scales that down to a suitable res for my tv. All that is required is for the laptop to output a 1280x720 HD Size desktop (for which there's room), then you could use your tv in anamorphic mode and get a widescreen desktop with the correct pixel aspect ratio.

That's the theory. How you could go about enabling it I've no idea, but let me know if you find out as I've got exactly the same problem.

 

[live4ever]

What's the TV make/model? How are you connecting it DVI?S-Video? Did you try DisplayConfigX yet?

 

[dietsoda]

What's the TV make/model? How are you connecting it DVI?S-Video? Did you try DisplayConfigX yet?

Funny you should mention that, I tried it last night after posting. I'm connecting to my TV, a JVC 28", via s-video. The TV is PAL and NTSC compatible, and the mac gives me the option of 1024x768 at both 50mhz PAL and 60mhz NTSC. That res is higher than either NTSC or PAL can handle, so the video card must be down-sampling it to the native PAL/NTSC res. When I tried DisplayConfigX it didn't seem to offer any options for the TV display whether I'm mirroring or extending. Of interest though it did offer a 1280x720 res for my LCD that isn't normally there. I'm wondering if when in mirroring mode that would also therefore make the tv output a downsampled version of the 1280x720 desktop? I've gotta pay to find out, and run the risk of damaging my video board in the laptop.

As a side not, the PAL and NTSC signals that are output are very different. The PAL is MUCH sharper than the NTSC, but the NTSC fits the tele better, with the PAL signal coming out VERY small and inset.

I'm really interested in getting somewhere with this as I'd really like to attach a Mac mini to my TV semi-permanently.