PowerStrip question

[bezzell]

I’ve been playing with my new HTPC for about a month now, and my Display (TV) is the obvious weak link. It’s a Sony 32� CRT.
Until I upgrade my display, I want to get the best possible picture quality.

I’m using a Radeon 9600 series video card with S-Video output. Would the PowerStrip utility be beneficial in this setup to improve video quality, and if so, what settings should I start tweaking? Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Brian

[wheemer]

If your Sony accepts composite input I'd invest in the ATI adapter...

[darren_e]

Originally Posted by bezzell

I’ve been playing with my new HTPC for about a month now, and my Display (TV) is the obvious weak link. It’s a Sony 32� CRT.
Until I upgrade my display, I want to get the best possible picture quality.

I’m using a Radeon 9600 series video card with S-Video output. Would the PowerStrip utility be beneficial in this setup to improve video quality, and if so, what settings should I start tweaking? Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Brian

If you are using S-Video, then powerstrip is going to be of no use to you. Powerstrip was developed to create custom resolutions to fit your TV using high definition outputs (DVI, HDMI, Component Video, etc...) since outputs with S-Video are set resolutions and composite is just plain horrible.

[dirchm0628]

I actually used powerstrip on my Sony 32 inch CRT using S-video and had limited success using. I say limited because I still have a 1/2 inch of black on the bottom of my TV. However the minimum resolution my graphics card would allow me to use was 800X600. Power strip let me reduce that to 720 by 480 which IMO gave me a better picture. before using powerstip I had a half inch of black on the left hand side of the monitor also, that has disapearred with the 720 by 480 setting.

[WardXmodem]

Uhoh, you say composite is horrible. I have an old Hercules board with S-Video out, but my TV pix is more "square" than 4:3. "Usable" but not great. I'm trying to do this on a shoestring, so bought a $39 video board with composite out (haven't opened yet as need to see what I have to do "in back of the TV" to free up a port)...

[darren_e]

Originally Posted by WardXmodem

Uhoh, you say composite is horrible. I have an old Hercules board with S-Video out, but my TV pix is more "square" than 4:3. "Usable" but not great. I'm trying to do this on a shoestring, so bought a $39 video board with composite out (haven't opened yet as need to see what I have to do "in back of the TV" to free up a port)...

Ok ok, Horrible if you compare it to Component/DVI video...Composite is still not as good as S-Video.

[walts81]

Originally Posted by WardXmodem

...but my TV pix is more "square" than 4:3. "Usable" but not great. ...

Order of best to worst:
DVI/HDMI --> Component --> S-Video --> composite --> coax

but this is in terms of quality of pic, not how well it fits the screen. How well it fits the screen is going to be based on resolution and over/underscan, not necessarily the type of adapter.

- Josh

[bezzell]

Thanks for the replies - I guess I'll keep PowerStrip on my list when I upgrade.
One more question though - I thought I was famillar with all the terms, but...

Originally Posted by walts81

Order of best to worst:
DVI/HDMI --> Component --> S-Video --> composite --> coax

What is 'Component' and what type of displays/video cards support this?

Thanks again,
Brian

[darren_e]

Component video is three inputs labeled "YPbPr" or similar. It's basically an "RCA" jack looking hookup and each connection is colored "Red" "Blue" and "Green"

Some regular TV's don't have this connection but many newer ones do have at least one.
At minimum your TV has S-Video if it was built after 1990 which is a good connection- just not as good as DVI/Component

[vogelap]

I made the jump from SVIDEO to DVI/HDMI when I upgraded to a 51" Sony rear-projection TV and the difference is astounding. Very much 'worth it' if you have the plugs to use DVI/HDMI. I got my DVI/HDMI cable from eBay for less than $20.

I fumbled my way through PowerStrip and finally got it working well with my Sony Television KP-51WS520... Here are the settings (in case someone else can use them) I used and I am very happy.

Pixel Clock: 74.250 MHz
HORIZONTAL:
Scan Rate: 45.055 kHz
Active: 1160
Front Porch: 184
Sync Width: 40
Back Porch: 264
Total: 1648

VERTICAL:
Refresh Rate: 60.073 Hz
Active: 661
Front Porch: 28
Sync Width: 5
Back Porch: 56
Total: 750

[ediction]

Originally Posted by vogelap

I made the jump from SVIDEO to DVI/HDMI when I upgraded to a 51" Sony rear-projection TV and the difference is astounding. Very much 'worth it' if you have the plugs to use DVI/HDMI. I got my DVI/HDMI cable from eBay for less than $20.

I fumbled my way through PowerStrip and finally got it working well with my Sony Television KP-51WS520... Here are the settings (in case someone else can use them) I used and I am very happy.

Pixel Clock: 74.250 MHz
HORIZONTAL:
Scan Rate: 45.055 kHz
Active: 1160
Front Porch: 184
Sync Width: 40
Back Porch: 264
Total: 1648

VERTICAL:
Refresh Rate: 60.073 Hz
Active: 661
Front Porch: 28
Sync Width: 5
Back Porch: 56
Total: 750

Hey vogelap I have the same tv you have the sony KP-51WS520 and I have a DVI to HDMI cable hooked up from my Nvidia FX 5200 to the tv but for some reason the tv just shows black does nothing no flicker or anything when I play around with resolutions but yet under NVIDIA DISPLAY it detects it and says SONY TV when you hooked up your tv to your pc and you booted it up did it show anything at all? I tried you settings on powerstrip with no luck