Windows 7 Graphic Issues

[SuX0rz]

I have a 27 in, 3.06 C2D iMac with a 4850 video card. Ever since I installed Windows 7 I have this pixelated background issue with every wallpaper I use. The wallpapers are from interfacelift.com and are the correct resolution (I've tried the stock wallpapers as well). I've updated the drivers from ATi, updated bootcamp to 3.1, and I can't for the life of me fix the problem.

Ideas?

 

[bolen]

Does all other images look well, is it only the wallpaper that looks strange?

 

[SuX0rz]

Every wallpaper I use looks this way.

 

[DannyBres]

Didnt really answer the question.....

Do images look sharp and good in a browser?

 

[SuX0rz]

Nope, everything on the screen looks that way. Even the Windows 7 start up screen. At first I thought maybe I was running 16bit color, but alas 32bit was selected.

 

[Btom]

I have a 27 in, 3.06 C2D iMac with a 4850 video card. Ever since I installed Windows 7 I have this pixelated background issue with every wallpaper I use. The wallpapers are from interfacelift.com and are the correct resolution (I've tried the stock wallpapers as well). I've updated the drivers from ATi, updated bootcamp to 3.1, and I can't for the life of me fix the problem.

Ideas?

Could you describe the problem? The image Ive got is just 800x450 pixels, it is hard to judge.

Tom B.

 

[zaffle]

i have the exact same problem under windows 7 on my 27". like you, i first thought that it must be that i was running at a low colour depth, but that wasn't it.

gave up trying to solve it a while ago since i barely use win7 as it is. good luck in finding a solution, i'm curious to hear it

edit: @ Tom, it looks as if the colour depth is wrong. there's lots of evidence of colour banding and it simply looks horrendous.

 

[TMRaven]

Did you use desktop drivers or mobility drivers? As far as color banding, I have used that very specific wallpaper before, and the picture itself has banding, so it might not be a colorbit issue.

 

[Btom]

i have the exact same problem under windows 7 on my 27". like you, i first thought that it must be that i was running at a low colour depth, but that wasn't it.

gave up trying to solve it a while ago since i barely use win7 as it is. good luck in finding a solution, i'm curious to hear it

edit: @ Tom, it looks as if the colour depth is wrong. there's lots of evidence of colour banding and it simply looks horrendous.

Shouldn't image capture be 2540x1440 pixels?

Tom B.

 

[SuX0rz]

To describe the problem more clearly, it is a color transition issue. So if you do a color gradient in Photoshop, instead of seeing a smooth color transition from light to dark you see banding as the color transitions. It looks like you have 16bit or to a greater extreme 8bit color. There aren't enough shades to make a smooth color transition.

It does this in everything, it is just most noticeable in wallpapers. So, I can change the image but it doesn't matter. It even does it in steam, where at the top of the app you have a color gradient that goes from dark to light. At a certain points you can see distinct lines as the color transitions.

I've updated bootcamp to 3.1, I've installed the latest catalyst drivers from ATi. I just don't know how to fix it. It's driving me crazy.

 

[SuX0rz]

Should be the native res now. The thing is though, it's not the picture that is problem. So you all might see the wallpaper correctly, while I'm still seeing the issue.

 

[HLdan]

Why not run your Photoshop in OS X? Apple is never going to give the best bootcamp drivers for Windows, why would they?

 

[byron_hinson]

Should be the native res now. The thing is though, it's not the picture that is problem. So you all might see the wallpaper correctly, while I'm still seeing the issue.

I get gradient issues on bootcamp with windows 7 too. Doesn't bother me much as i only ever notice it on wallpaper

 

[SuX0rz]

Why not run your Photoshop in OS X? Apple is never going to give the best bootcamp drivers for Windows, why would they?

I'm not, it's just a frame of reference to describe the problem.

 

[Btom]

Should be the native res now. The thing is though, it's not the picture that is problem. So you all might see the wallpaper correctly, while I'm still seeing the issue.

Thats right, I don't see it on my side at all.
Just speculating, Windows 7 must have set some global parameter on the GPU wrong. Must be something quite obscure, since it is not corrected by OSX on the startup.

Tom B.