How to set screen resolution for HD?

buppus

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I just brought home a 50" plasma and hooked it up to my PC (GeForce 9800GT) via HDMI. When I turned on the TV, the resolution was set automatically to 1366x768. This looks good for operating the computer comfortably, but it's not HD, correct?

When I upped the resolution to 1920x1080 on the PC, it made the desktop fuzzy and too big to fit on the screen - it didn't look good.

What do I do so that it plays video in HD?
 
I just brought home a 50" plasma and hooked it up to my PC (GeForce 9800GT) via HDMI. When I turned on the TV, the resolution was set automatically to 1366x768. This looks good for operating the computer comfortably, but it's not HD, correct?

It is, more or less, HD refers to two resolutions, 1920x1080 and 1280x720/1366x768. The former is often called Full HD.

If you want full HD the first thing to do is to check your screen supports it, there's no point fussing over 1920x1080 too much if your TV is only 1366x768 and it's going to be scaled back down anyway.

And by 'supports it' I mean you should be checking the native resolution, I'm sure it'll accept a 1920x1080 signal.

The funny size is probably the TV applying overscaling, while you can compensate for this on the PC end it'd be better to turn it off on the TV. If there's no explicit overscan setting try looking for a 'PC mode'.
 
Yea upon further research I think the native resolution is 1366x720, so it's not full HD. Dissapointing, but I got the unit from a friend used for a steal so I can't complain.

I understand standard DVD's do not play at HD resolution, so that's no biggie either way (i think the upconvert features on the newer full HD tv's ruin the high quality cinema effect anyway), but how can I ensure that when I stream/download high resolution video that it gets played with maximum definition?
 
Yea upon further research I think the native resolution is 1366x720, so it's not full HD. Dissapointing, but I got the unit from a friend used for a steal so I can't complain.

I understand standard DVD's do not play at HD resolution, so that's no biggie either way (i think the upconvert features on the newer full HD tv's ruin the high quality cinema effect anyway), but how can I ensure that when I stream/download high resolution video that it gets played with maximum definition?
Presumably you mean 1366x768 rather than 1366x720? Unfortunately it's one of those awkward resolutions that you just won't find native content for (at least none that I've seen), so you're always going to have to upscale or downscale to match the panel resolution.

As mentioned, set your PC to output 1366x768, and let the graphics card do the hard work rather than the TV - it will almost always trump the scaling capability of the TV itself. Be sure to turn off any overscan on the TV as this will cost you resolution.
 

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