ATI Video Driver gives black screen on plasma.

[RocketMan66]

I recently purchased a Panasonic Plasma TV that has a VGA input which I want to use with my GB-PVR computer.

When I install the ATI catalyst drivers, the PC input on the TV goes blank, but when I remove the drivers and use the plain old windows VGA driver (screen resolutiun 1024 x 768) I get a perfect image.

However GB-PVR does not run using the windows VGA driver.

Here is the end of the PVRX2.exe-native.log report

Code:

2008-02-02 18:51:52.218    ERROR    hr failed
Error code : 8876086A
D3DERR_NOTAVAILABLE
Not available

2008-02-02 18:51:52.218    ERROR    CreateDevice() failed
Error code : 8876086A
D3DERR_NOTAVAILABLE
Not available

2008-02-02 18:51:52.218    ERROR    m_Alloc.Init(m_hWnd, m_bFullScreen) failed
Error code : 8876086A
D3DERR_NOTAVAILABLE
Not available

Does GB-PVR need ATI drivers?

It is strange that the latest ATI drivers produce a blank screen, I smell a rat, probably a DRM feature. If so does anyone know when this was introduced?

I am going to try some older drivers and see if that helps, in the mean time does anyone have any feedback on this issue?



Thank you.

[Koenie]

Are you sure you used a supported resolution, frequency and color dept? Some of these TV's are quite picky. Windows should recognize the monitor and set the right values normally but this does not always happen properly.

[RocketMan66]

The resolution and refresh rates are supported (as defined in the Operating Instructions for the TV) but there must be something different between the two drivers.

[pBS]

check the refresh rate...it must be 60 for your set...
when you set the resolution, it also changes the refresh...
anything other than 60 or 30 won't produce a pic on tv..
[at least in ntsc land]

[RocketMan66]

I have now tried older drivers that are a year or two old without success.

pBS, after installing the ATI drivers, I set the resolution to 1024 x 768 and the refresh rate to 60Hz which is the same settings using the Windows VGA driver which did give me an image. The TV Operating Manual lists 1024 x 768/60Hz as a supported parameter for the PC input.

I also tried other supported resolutions and matching refresh rates without success.

It is very frustrating that after installing a driver that should improve performance I get no image at all.

[TornadoTJ]

If possible, use an HDMI output/input. The pic quality is much better.

[RocketMan66]

TornadoTJ,
I had thought about using the HDMI input. I just bought a DVI to HDMI cable on Ebay, so hopefully that will do the job.

When I use the cable, do I have to configure the video card as TV out?
Do the latest ATI drivers support HDTV output?
In the past, I have had minimal success trying to get a properly aligned image using TV out.

[TornadoTJ]

My ATI cards (2400XT and 9600XT) both recognized the TV as the monitor automatically. The 9600XT was a bit finiky, but the 2400XT gets it right every single time. The TV sends a signal back to the card just like a normal monitor would, it tells the card what rez and what refresh rate to use, so it's plug-and-play.

[JonnyCam]

If possible, use an HDMI output/input. The pic quality is much better.

Really? I could never really detect a difference between the 2 modes. HDMI should in theory be better, as it a full digital chain - but I could not see any improvment using the DVI to HDMI over using VGA. (except when I had a cheap VGA cable which left a rolling line on the screen)

[RocketMan66]

Update:
I have now installed a DVI to HDMI cable. Using the latest ATI driver version, the TV is detected and I can easily configure the image using the configuration control. The resultant image is fantastic, very clear.