Help G73 with External Monitor via HDMI

I am using a G73 A1 connected to an external monitor via HDMI cable. External monitor is a Samsung 23” PX2370 monitor. Both screens are set at 1920x1080 which is their native resolution. Sometimes I feel like a crash test dummy. Sometimes I wonder if it is worth it.

The scaling fix mentioned previously although sounds good does not fix the problem for me. I can scale up to full screen size but not to “0”. This eliminates the black band around the desktop image but does not cure the real problem? The image quality is terrible. Photos seem like the colors were limited to a lower setting. It is especially noticeable in the blurry, distorted text although picture quality is also bad.

I suspected the problem has something to do with the HDMI connection so I hooked up the included VGA to DVI cable. This made a “huge” improvement although the text is still a little blurry (soft), not as crisp as I expected for this expensive monitor. Photos look great. There is no longer a way to adjust the scaling in CCC but it now fills the screen. The Asus monitor is much more crisp. I would think this has something to do with the HDMI drivers?

I am surprised that I am the first to report this issue. I don’t like being the first. This is a great laptop and I have enjoyed using it but the trouble shooting and repairs have been a bit much. I hope one of you brilliant fellow users can come up with the fix?

"Update": Here is the fix I discovered:

The solution was in the monitor settings. Go into the Menu-Setup&Reset-PC/AV Mode=PC. That does the trick. It comes set to "AV" by default.

 

Using the VGA port (Analog), is not recommended for use on a 1080p display. Are you sure your Samsung monitor is not 1920x1200? Since it auto-scales. Also, there's scaling settings on the monitor itself, which will allow you to turn it off properly if you so wish. (though I seriously don't think you should see black bars on the sides if your display is actually 1080p like the laptop). Also, it is best that you do not stretch the screen, it distorts all proportions, I just can't understand why people can't live with black bars on old games, etc etc.

 

I'm confused by what the issue is. HDMI should work fine with HDMI or DVI. 1080p is bog standard. It should look fine with no adjustments (aside from setting it to the native resolution the first time you connect it, if it isn't already). I'm using my N80nv on a 24" Dell monitor with that resolution right now.

 

On my Samsung TV there's a setting for Dot by Dot or something like that. Also, there used to be overscan settings in the ATI Driver. But all of these usually are for resolving the display flowing beyond the edges of the screen. I think you are saying it is displaying the correct size but is of very poor quality even though you've verified the resolution is set to it's native size on 1920x1080. Is that correct?

Cheers,

 

There is a seeting CCC from ATI that you need to set.

Chasity and Mark s, should be able to help with this.
If I can find it I will repost.

 

Using the VGA port should NOT look better than when using DVI/HDMI.

I'm not sure how much of your issue is stretching-related, and how much is color-processing-related, so I would try the following...

Start with the HDMI link disconnected (Fn-F8 to LCD-only mode - it's ok if HDMI cable is connected).

On the external monitor:
Set Image Size to "Screen Fit"
Set PC/AV Mode to "AV" (you can try PC as well....don't know what the default is)
Turn off all color/blackness/enhancement stuff

Now with HDMI connection in place, use Fn-F8 (may need to press these more than once) to switch to HDMI+LCD mode...you should see an image on both monitors.

Go into CCC, Choose "Desktop and Displays", right-click the external monitor icon, choose "Configure...", and try these settings (Note: all these options may not be available for your external monitor. Also note that you may need to click the "Apply" button to try some settings that can't be set live, e.g. the pixel format)...

Attributes
Enable GPU Scaling: Off
Enable ITC Processing: Off

Color
Use Extended Display Identification Data (EDID): Try on or off...which looks better?

Scaling Options
Underscan/Overscan: 0%

Pixel Format
Color Pixel Format: Try YCbCr 4:4:4 or RGB 4:4:4...which looks better?

 

After being elevated to Samsung level 2 tech support they informed me that they are aware of an issue involving windows 7 and HDMI. This is apparently adversely affecting the video quality in some situations. They are working on a solution but cannot help me right now. While I was on hold I tried scalling up my screen size for the 20th try. Suddenly I was able to scale the monitor to 0 and suddenly the monitor came into focus. I don’t think I did anything to fix it, I think it fixed itself.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions, maybe one of them fixed it? Now I get crisp text and great photos. I am a little nervous about keeping the monitor in case it decides to flip out again. I do have the Best Buy 14 day trial. Have fun.

 

LOL sounds like "NOT an asus" problem

Good job figuring it out!

 

Wow that's good phone support!

Cool you got it.

Also, if you're not using Catalyst 10.10+ I recommend upgrading. The HDMI support is much less flakey than earlier versions.

 

I had a similar problem with my Samsung P2370MS LCD display. The solution was - believe it or not - simply renaming my HDMI input to 'PC'. There is an OSD menu option that allows the HDMI input to be named from a selection of inputs such as "Cable", "DVD", "Set Top", "Game Console", "PC", etc. The manual simply describes this naming feature as a convenience mechanism, however, it does more as when 'PC' is selected, I guesse it knows the input is pixel accurate hence no post-processing is required and everything looks crips and sharp now.

The default seems to be setting the HDMI input to be DVD or some other source so it does all kinds of post-processing - i.e, enhancing color, noise reduction, etc, which tends to kill the sharpness and quality from the laptop.

After selecting HDMI as Source on my display, the menu setting is accessed from:

Input -> Edit Name

Hope this helps.

 

just use this fix

[RELEASE] ATI GPU Scaling Fix for Windows 7 - Ultimate Filez Forum

hope that helps.

 

Samsung PX2370 Fix. I found the solution! The solution was in the monitor settings. Go into the Menu-Setup&Reset-PC/AV Mode=PC. That does the trick. It comes set to "AV" by default.

 

Glad you figured it out, and kind of cool the monitor has different modes like that!

Man I love how closly related TV and monitors are now. Plug your computer into your TV, your Playstation into your monitor. :-D

 

I have a Samsung PX2370 and I finnally figured this one out. Go to your menu ON THE MONITOR and change your screen ratio from 16:9 to "screen fit". Then enter CCC on your computer and scale your overscan to 0%. That should work.

 

Hello, I have an issue when connecting through hdmi the screen goes black and nothing comes up even when trying FN+F8, disconnecting the hdmi doesn't bring the screen back. The tv says no signal its is a LG 32LE5300.
The first time I connect it worked but i had the black boarders and click the GPU scailing opition and thats when it when black and never came back. The only way is to hard reset. Now I can't click off the gpu scailing the option is not there if no external display. Any help?

 

Probably nothing's wrong with the computer (MIGHT be something wrong with the TV's ability to accept HDMI singnals correctly). Hmm..I'm not sure how to get to the Windows control panel option for displays to get the internal display back on so you can play with settings for the TV. Do you have something else to hook it up to? maybe changing it on a normal monitor would have it default to on for this TV too. Could possibly remote in to the system too.

 

Thanks but didn't help. I ended up restalling the driver and it works.

Now I have a different problem my screen is 1920x1080 120hz, but ccc won't let me go past 60hz the reported maxium says 70hz. How would i get it to go 120hz this is the reason I bought the TV. I search google and this forum with no luck. Anyone got a 120hz screen working right on g73hj

Bumper Cars

 

Probably the TV can't accept a 120hz input. I searched for that model, and it doesn't say it can.

Remember that LCD panels don't actually HAVE refresh rates, so generally the 60hz input they accept works just fine. It's not like with CRTs or other display technologies where they're actually refreshing the screen, and flicker if it's not high enough.

It appears that in the case of that TV (and a lot of TVs), the "120hz" thing is just a processing gimmick that looks terrible-basically makes up an interpolated fake frame in between real frames. I shut that off on my TV as soon as I got it.

 

Sorry I don't mean to hi-jack this thread but considering the title and the fact it's linked to the main FAQs page I figured it was appropriate.

I have the best buy G73JH with the 1600x900 resolution monitor and was wondering, before I go out and purchase, would there be any issue connecting an external monitor with a 1900x1200 resolution to use as my main gaming monitor while using the laptop monitor as my internet browsing monitor?

A while back I inquired about the possibility of hooking it to a 30-inch monitor but due to the limitations of the laptop hardware its just not possible to take advantage of the 2500x1600 resolution of my 30-inch Dell. I would however really like to upgrade my screen resolution to the maximum possible while still retaining the capabilities of the on-board monitor. Any information the community can provide is highly appreciated. Thank you.

 

I'm not sure about 2500x1600. I've never had a monitor that high resolution, and I know like with DVI, you have to have dual link DVI...and these don't have DVI ports. I don't know if HDMI can go above 1920x1080 or not.

It'll absolutly handle 1920x1080 just fine through the HDMI (which can be adapted to DVI also, as it's basically the same thing). I use a Tripp Lite HDMI to DVI cable to connect my Asus that just has a Geforce 9650GT to my 24" 1920x1080 monitor, and it works just fine, and supports HDCP for Blu Ray and the like.

So that'll work fine...I'm just not clear on the higher resolution and whether HDMI supports it or not.

 

HDMI 1.4 can, not sure about 1.3a