Avian Gamers Network

I just picked up a 27inch LCD HDTV that my work was selling (very cheap!). It has VGA, DVI-HDCP, S-Video and Component connections.

I want to use this as my computer monitor. I do not have a DVI cable but my Radeon 9800 Pro does so for now I use the VGA connections. The manual says to set the Res to 1280x720 which I did.

My issues are:
Cannot get a refresh rate more than 65hz
Most games I cannot raise the rez beyond 800x600 - which is killing me.
some games - Civ IV - says there is an issue with Direct X and cannot be loaded. I have Direct X 9.0c

Anyone know what some fixes for these issues are?

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Moge

As far as I know LCD monitors doesn't have that high a refresh rate as other monitors. Mine is locked at 60 Hz.

The low resulution is prob. because you use the VGA connection and that the screen doesn't like it.

Civ IV: Try and download the DirectX through the game install

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1st Feb 2008

so if I switch to DVI I can raise the rez on my games?

Also, when I load WoW my screen goes all funky. It seems to start the left edge of the image in the middle of the screen and then wrap around leaving a middle section unviewable.

I cannot see the menu ingame to change the ingame rez due ot the issue.

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Moge

I'd say put the refresh rate back at 60Hz, as that may be causing issues. LCD just can't do much better than that, and they aren't designed for it.

Other than that, I have no idea what's causing it. It could be a resolution issue with the TV and the card, too. If you're outputting at 1280x720, the TV is probably trying to change that to a 720i resolution, and not a 720p. That might cause your issue.

As for your games, the 800x600 resolution is probably trying to be displayed as 600p and then adjusted to 720p or something. That will be the maximum you can output to an HDTV monitor, especially an LCD.

Most HDTVs currently will accept a signal at 1080i or 720p (at 3x4 aspect ratio, that equates to 720x540 or 960x720). If you aren't outputting at those standard resolutions, it is going to have problems. Most games I don't think have an option for the 1280x720, and so you have to go one step down (you can't go one step up).

My recommendation would be to use your HDTV for TV, and use a computer monitor for your monitor, or get used to sacrificing visual quality. TV technology lags far behind the computing technology, mostly due to cost and willingness of the public to pay for high priced TVs.

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Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!

I ran out and got a DVI cable and that alone fixed several of my issues. It greatly increased my text clarity and fixed random oddities where games would show as 800x600 with black bars on the sides.

Looking into it yes, 1280x720 is the max rez for this TV so if I choose to keep it as a monitor I'll need to live with that rez.

My Civ problems where in the DirectX. There is a long step-by-step on how to fix it on the site. It means uninstalling and loosing all progress to date but I may have to do it.

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On the bright side.
OMFG is this thing sweet. it's HUGE! I loaded up SWG-JTL and got dizzy from flying around. Yeah I wish that I had a better Rez that 1280 but it may be something I will learn to live with.

I would use it as a TV but my 27" TV works just fine and I was hating my 19" monitor for a while now. I'll keep this as a monitor for a bit and see what I think. It not I may Ebay it. I got an awesome price for it so I could easily profit from its sale.

BTW. It is a Westinghouse LTV-27-x2

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Moge

How much did it set you back? I've always wanted a nice, really big monitor.

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Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!

they retail for about $900. I got mine 'used' (used for 3 days on set) for about half that.

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Moge

In my expert opinion you should sit closer to the monitor you have. Yes it hurts the eyes a bit but makes it seem much larger.

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"Chatfield, I think there's something wrong with our bloody ships." Admiral David Beatty, upon watching the battlecruiser Queen Mary explode at the battle of Jutland.

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