Overscan & color settings

[capone]

I was tinkering where you don't like us to, but it may have been worth it.

In direct.ini, I changed these to 0:
Gamma=AUTO
WhiteBalance=AUTO
Gain=AUTO

Do these do anything? I'm trying to tell if it's my imagination, or if it just fixed a problem I've always had w/ natural shadows in the picture getting washed out.


Also, what would changing these do (config.xml)?
<!-- overscan control (zoom is floating point, offset is integer (pixels)) -->
<HorizontalZoom>1</HorizontalZoom>
<HorizontalOffset>0</HorizontalOffset>
<VerticalZoom>1</VerticalZoom>
<VerticalOffset>0</VerticalOffset>

The nVidia card stretches the picture a little too much vertically, and I can't seem to tell it to do just one side. I tried letterbox, but it is too wide. I'd like to just pull down the overscan from the top/bottom just a small amount.

Btw, I know I do these at my own peril.

[capone]

For the overscan question, maybe it's just easier to add or edit an aspect ratio? Can you tell me what the set of 4 numbers are, or what may be a good start for adding just thin black bars at the top/bottom?

I have an idea what they should look like. I converted a show to xvid (w/o changing size), and on a 27" screen, there was 2-3" bars, and the ratio looked perfect. Using the GB letterbox, they are more like 3-4", and looks more funhouse mirror.

[sub]

For the overscan question, maybe it's just easier to add or edit an aspect ratio? Can you tell me what the set of 4 numbers are, or what may be a good start for adding just thin black bars at the top/bottom?

x1,y1,x2,y2

0 for the very left/top
1 for the very right/bottom

[MaBo]

Sub, this has puzzled me lately as well. But I don't understand your answer:

x1,y1,x2,y2

0 for the very left/top
1 for the very right/bottom

on the question regarding:

Also, what would changing these do (config.xml)?
<!-- overscan control (zoom is floating point, offset is integer (pixels)) -->
<HorizontalZoom>1</HorizontalZoom>
<HorizontalOffset>0</HorizontalOffset>
<VerticalZoom>1</VerticalZoom>
<VerticalOffset>0</VerticalOffset>

Here, there are two numbers for zoom and two for offset. Your four numbers seem to be regarding offsets only.

I would be *very* interested in knowing what this does, as I still have got some overscan problems...

Greetz and thanks in advance.
MaBo

[capone]

It turned out the ratios weren't the solution for me. I realized if I changed the default ratio, then other things w/ the right ratio may do out of ratio. On top of that, I remembered I zoomed in the vid card to mask the occasional white dots at the very top of the tv image.

It would be nice to know what the zoom zooms in on. It would be nice to take the zoom off the vid card and have GB do it instead, so I could get desktop back.

As for the color question, it looks like those values don't mean anything since the 150 doesn't support them. For anyone w/ a 150 that seems too bright by default, and you don't want to midnight the rest of your non-pvr vids, try just changing the bright to between -10 and -20 (depending on your tv). That and using nVidia's Vibrance controls (for both vid and DVD decoders) makes it almost tv-perfect.

[sub]

Sub, this has puzzled me lately as well. But I don't understand your answer:

x1,y1,x2,y2

0 for the very left/top
1 for the very right/bottom

This was about the four aspect ratio numbers:
0,0,1,1 would show the complete picture
0.5,0.5,1,1 would show the botton right of the picture
0,0,1,0.5 would show the top half of the picture.

on the question regarding:

Also, what would changing these do (config.xml)?
<!-- overscan control (zoom is floating point, offset is integer (pixels)) -->
<HorizontalZoom>1</HorizontalZoom>
<HorizontalOffset>0</HorizontalOffset>
<VerticalZoom>1</VerticalZoom>
<VerticalOffset>0</VerticalOffset>

Here, there are two numbers for zoom and two for offset. Your four numbers seem to be regarding offsets only. I would be *very* interested in knowing what this does, as I still have got some overscan problems...

<VerticalZoom> and <HorizontalZoom> control the size of the picture. 1 is fullsize. If you set these to 1.2 then the picture will be 20% bigger, pushing the edges off the screen.

The overscan on some TV's is not perfectly centered, ie picture only off the screen on one side, this is where <HorizontalOffset> and <VerticalOffset> come into play.


From memory you're using the PVR350's TV out, so changing these settings wont do anything for you.

[capone]

<VerticalZoom> and <HorizontalZoom> control the size of the picture. 1 is fullsize. If you set these to 1.2 then the picture will be 20% bigger, pushing the edges off the screen.

The overscan on some TV's is not perfectly centered, ie picture only off the screen on one side, this is where <HorizontalOffset> and <VerticalOffset> come into play.

Thx for that detail, and it makes sense. Those are the exact same things I do w/ the TV output settings in the nVidia CP.

While it would be nice to have the vid output be normal sized again (since the zoom is to all of windows on the tv) and let GB do the work, is it worth it? Is it more work for GB than it is for the card? It would take more work to get it right (change, open, look, close, repeat), and would be overwritted on the next update.

Unless it's known it better to have the card/GB do it, I may not bother and this may be a matter of pref. I guess I'd be interested to know if anyone has done or tried ot great effect.

[sub]

While it would be nice to have the vid output be normal sized again (since the zoom is to all of windows on the tv) and let GB do the work, is it worth it?

Up to you really.

It would take more work to get it right (change, open, look, close, repeat), and would be overwritted on the next update.

Like all other settings in config.xml, it would be retained between release.

[capone]

Back from the front.

It looks like for the 150/nVidia combo, you can't use that to make the image larger. But, but can set it <1 to make it smaller. But, w/ this hardware, it makes it uniformly smaller, and not just one side. I suppose it could also be the nVidia decoders compensating, as I had the same shrinking effect when I tired to make the display a more natural 720x480 vs 800-600.

[MaBo]

From memory you're using the PVR350's TV out, so changing these settings wont do anything for you.

That's right! sub, you're amazing.
But is there a way to adjust the overscan on the pvr350 tv-out?

Greetz,
MaBo