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General discussion

laptop to Full HD - black bars

Dec 19, 2008 6:55AM PST

Hello

Last week I bought a Samsung LE40A556 (which is Full HD, 1920x1080).
I've been enjoying it all week. My plan was to attach my HP Pavillion DV9660 to it through HDMI, and watch movies this way.

Unfortunately I've been seeing black bars above and below the projected screen and to the left and right, when I use the Full HD resolution.

I checked the manual of the TV and it says somewhere that the max resolution it will take from a PC is 1280x1024.

When I configure this resolution (1280x1024), the screen is in fact filled from corner to corner. (but the image appears stretched, not nice anyway)

So after hours and hours of research it seems in fact that the screen doesn't take more than 1280x1024!

My question to you, Samsung experts, is if this is normal? Can't I do a workaround? Am I stuck with a lower resolution than the native one? How am I ever supposed to enjoy the Full HD resolution then? I paid for 1080p, not 720p, right? :-/

My graphics card is NVidea 8600M GS, if it should matter.

I hope someone can give me some help, this is my last resort in a way..

Discussion is locked

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Samsung/HP hook up works well on my models
Dec 19, 2008 9:27AM PST

I have a Samsung LN52A850 LCD TV and a HP Pavilion dv5t laptop (~$600), hooked together with an HDMI cable. I get Full HD (1920x1080) through the HDMI cable. I have it hooked into the HDMI2/DVI source but I don't think that matters. It is an HDMI-to-HDMI cable, no funny cables here. The laptop has an HDMI port but has the basic Intel video card.

I did have a few days of trouble because I didn't notice to change the "Picture Size" to "Just Scan" using the "Tools" button. So, the picture would either have poor resolution or not fit the screen because it was being zoomed or whatever. But, if this isn't your problem, I don't have any other insight.

Of course, while our brands are the same, we have different models.

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Dec 19, 2008 10:27PM PST

thanks for the input, but I already tried that one Wink "Just scan" is selected.
I just can't do more than 1280x1024, the tv won't take it. It's very strange. Should it be like this, I feel ripped off.

But when I connect the tv to my notebook, I AM able to choose a resolution of 1920x1080.. it just doesn't render it on full screen. Sad

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Model
Dec 20, 2008 4:27PM PST

defconph,

I would definitely recommend you call the service call center in your region. I don't have troubleshooting, tech or service manuals on that specific model, and someone there should be able to address the issue with this specific model.

I wish I could help further, but I don't have that information.

--HDTech

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Dec 21, 2008 3:31AM PST

Up until now I had been using tweaked Nvidia drivers (laptopvideo2go), which worked fine before I got the TV.
Yesterday night I installed the original drivers again (through Vista updates) to see what it would do. That did the trick!

I know, I should've tried this sooner, but I figured that using a tweaked driver would give me more options to configure everything right (or override any limitations). In this case, it obviously made things worse.

I'm getting a blue screen of death sometimes now, though. But I'm sure I'll figure that one out as well Wink

Anyway, I thought the least I could do was to keep you guys updated, it might come in handy for other people with the same problem.

Thank you everyone for your help!