Another Laptop to TV/Home Theater Question

Hello everyone,

My Computer Specs are in the sig for reference.

I have a Sony KDS-55A2020 1080p TV that I have hooked up my laptop to a couple of times. I am connecting through HDMI and generally have no issues with it connecting. I also have an Onkyo TX-SR606 Surround Sound Receiver with HDMI and 1080p pass through.

My questions are this.... I am generally dissatisfied with the overall look of the picture being displayed. I think the best way to describe the picture is washed out, not really that sharp. I have tried adjusting some of the settings on my TV, but I can't seem to make it look decent. And since I had my TV calibrated I really rather not mess with the settings too much. I would like it to look as good as on my laptop.

So my first questions are these:

Any ideas on how to make the picture look better?
I have yet to try to adjust any settings on the computer itself.

Perhaps this is the answer; however this comes to my seconding question:

If using the nvidia control monitor does the computer save the setting for the external monitor separately? In other words, if I messed with the settings for the external monitor, does it also mess with the settings when just using the display on the laptop?

Third, is there really any difference between hooking up a TV and hooking up to a computer monitor? If there is that might also explain my difficulty.

Now for a different set of questions regarding my home theater:

I would really like to output the audio to my surround sound receiver. My onkyo receiver does do hdmi 1080 pass through, however when I hook up my laptop to my receiver and pass it through to the TV, it shows 1080i, but at 30htz, which seems really low.

Question,

30hz, to low for gaming? Seems like it, haven't tried it yet, it wouldn't hurt anything to try it will it?

If it is to low, what would be the other means to hook up my computer to my surround sound receiver to get surround sound out side of hdmi?

Thanks in advance.