Screen resolution nightmare, Acer HTPC to Pioneer PDP-4270. Newbie, please help

[Boom2]

Hi all
This is my first tentative step into Home Threatre & I'm am trying to connect a PC to a Plasma TV via HDMI, but am struggling to find a screen resolution that is full screen and relatively clear.
The PC I am trying to connect is an Acer Veritron L460 with Intel G33 Express graphics chipset (with latest drivers).
My TV is a Pioneer Plasma PDP-4270XD

Once windows starts and I run the Intel graphics 'TV setup wizard' to choose a screen resolution, the 'recommended' resolutions are 1900x1080, 1600x900, 1280x720 and 800x600 (although other resolutions in between are selectable).
The problem is, ANY resolution I choose over 1400x1050 goes off the screen, anything under 1400x1050 has black borders.
I would like to set 1024x768 (my Pioneer TV's native resolution), but when I do, I get a really small display in middle of screen with 10cm borders all around.
The strange thing is, when I connect my laptop, ANY resolution I select fills the screen perfectly (has Nvidea graphics card).
I have trawled these forums for an answer, but have drawn a blank with my particular PC and TV configuration.
Any help would be greatly appreciated (and stop the wife thinking I'm a complete muppet
Many thanks in advance
Paul

 

[EndlessWaves]

Adjust the overscan/underscan setting, either in the Intel control panel or on the TV.

 

[Boom2]

Many thanks for your response.
I've had a look in the Intel Control Panel, the Intel TV Wizard and the Pioneer TV settings, and there is no mention anywhere of (or adjustment for) the overscan / underscan settings.

Intel Control Panel:
Display = Single Display
Color Quality = 16 or 32 bit
Refresh Rate = 30Htz
Resolution = Whatever I have currently set
Orientation = Landscape
Advanced Settings
Adapter = G33 Express graphics chipset
Modes = There is a button to list all modes (resolutions). These range from 640x480 up to 1920x1800.
I have tried all of these resolutions, but nothing fills the screen or looks clear.

Intel TV Wizard:
Option for Auto or Manual set-up.
Choosing Auto just leaves me where I am now.
Choosing Manual gives me the options of 480p60, 720p60 or 1080i60 (doesn't seem to make any
difference which I choose. I still have the same problem with screen resolutions (either off the screen or
small screen in the middle).

Pioneer TV menu:
There are the normal options for Picture, Sound, Power Control, Sleep Timer, Options and Setup.
All these have basic obvious settings, except options (which has a little more (below)).
Options:
Auto size = on
4:3 mode = wide
Side mask = auto (or fixed)
HDMI Input = is not selectable (greyed out)
Color system = auto
Input select = video

I know this looks like an overscan / underscan problem, but I can't seem to find anywhere where I can change it.
I mentioned before that when I connect my laptop ANY resolution I choose is ok. Grrrr

Any more suggestions or follow-ups very welcome
Cheers
Paul

 

[EndlessWaves]

4:3 mode = wide

That may be causing part of your problem, try changing it.

Details here on how to adjust underscan percentage on Intel graphics:
How-to: Enable Overscan Compensation on Intel Video-Based Media Centers & Extenders - VidaBox Community Forum

You may struggle to get the screen to display in native resolution because of the non-square pixels but you should be able to get rid of the overscan (I guess the nVidia card is just scaling everything up to 1400x1050 itself).

 

[Trollslayer]

For PC display I switch off the overscan on the TV i.e. 1:1 pixel mapping.
In fact I do that anyway otherwise you are scaling 1080 line sources onto about 1140 lines which has always seemd silly to me.

 

[Boom2]

I have tried changing the '4:3 mode = wide' to the other option of '4:3 mode = 4:3', and it didn't make any difference.

Looking at the link 'how to adjust underscan percentage on Intel graphics:'. This shows the Intel graphics and Media Control Panel with newer chipset's, and includes the option 'custom resolutions (inc. aspect ration and scaling)' and all manner of goodies, which I am sure would go a long way to solve my problem. But unfortunately I can't get this version of control panel with my chipset. My control panel any of these settings. figures 1 and 2 here
yep, I agree, my laptop (Nvidea) card is possibly upscaling, making my tv display ok when connecting through it.

For PC display I switch off the overscan on the TV i.e. 1:1 pixel mapping.
In fact I do that anyway otherwise you are scaling 1080 line sources onto about 1140 lines which has always seemd silly to me.
Trollslayer: Sorry, but I'm not sure what you mean. I can't see anywhere to adjust overscan, either on PC or TV.