What is this option for "HDMI PC full mode"

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Hello, as said above what the hell is it for? The brand of my tv is alba, the model number is LCD32880hdf It ONLY appears when I connect my games consoles via HDMI, and it appears to let me see more of the image, it doesn't seem to effect the image itself just it's aspect ratio. I've had it on for now. I havnt tried though to see if the option would appear if I connected a HDMI DVD player to my tv. Should I have it on? Thanks in advance.
 
Your panel is a 1366 x 768 pixels , when not in full mode is there a black border ?
 
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Your panel is a 1366 x 768 pixels , when not in full mode is there a black border ?

Your right it is 1366x768, but no it doesn't have any black Borders, it's a HDTV by the way if that's of any help.
 
I guess it's pixel for pixel mapping, not enabled I it doesn't show the entire image.
 
In the picture perfect video section, it shows you different names of aspect ratio from different brands. Do you guys think it's albas name for overscan ( I don't know what overscan is though lol). It's odd because almost no one has heard of HDMI pc full mode and it's difficult to google as it comes up with just about nothing.
 
Thanks for that. Do you guys think " HDMI pc full mode" is another name ( albas name) for overscan?
 
Pixel mapping would only apply when matching a 1920 x 1080 source with a 1920 x 1080 panel, this is not the same in your case. I'm not really familiar with Alba but Mark has just been looking at one so perhaps he can help.
 
Yes, I always seem to get the tvs which are unknown LOL. Does pixel mapping only apply to native 1080p displays if so, is it overscan?
 
Yes pixel mapping only applies to 1080p displays. I suspect what your Alba is doing is detecting the games console connected via HDMI and automatically defaulting to PC levels (0-255) as opposed to video levels (16-235), which is what it will use when you connect a DVD or Blu-ray player. I don't think it has anything to do with overscan or aspect ratio and you don't need PC levels when watching video content like DVDs or Blu-ray.
 
When I turn it on, it reveals more of the image too.
 
Yes pixel mapping only applies to 1080p displays. I suspect what your Alba is doing is detecting the games console connected via HDMI and automatically defaulting to PC levels (0-255) as opposed to video levels (16-235), which is what it will use when you connect a DVD or Blu-ray player. I don't think it has anything to do with overscan or aspect ratio and you don't need PC levels when watching video content like DVDs or Blu-ray.

I don't think it is Steve. The reason is this. I downloaded a 720p test image for determining if my tv supports RGB full range from the ps3, it passed the 16-235, but 0-255 there was 5 missing blocks so my tv doesn't support that. The only thing that I can see HDMI pc full mode doing, is that it let's me see more of the image, yet it isn't in the aspect ratio settings. It's in the settings menu.
 
OK well in that case it does sound as though the HDMI PC Full Mode does show the entire 768 panel without any overscanning, which I guess it is aimed at any PCs that actually output at that resolution.

The reason we advise against using overscan with 1080p TVs is that it introduces scaling and robs the image of resolution but this isn't an issue with a 768 panel because it is always scaling the content, either up with standard definition material or down with high definition material. So in your case any overscan won't affect the actual resolution and will hide any junk at the edge of the image on TV broadcasts, so it isn't necessarily a bad thing.
 
Thanks Steve. Do you mean if I use this option, it won't scale anything, even if it's standard def? And what happens if I turn overscan on and off?
 
Standard definition has a resolution of 576 lines and high definition has a resolution of 1080 lines, so given that your TV has a native resolution of 768 lines, no matter what you are watching it will always be scaling one way or the other. As I said all that overscan will zoom in the picture slightly so that it masks any unwanted digital junk at the edger of some TV transmissions.
 
But does turning overscan off stop scaling for SD?
 
Ok, whatever this option is, I don't think turning it off or on will do the picture any harm. I'll test a DVD player later which has a HDMI output and see if the option turns up with that. Thanks for your help guys.
 
Yep, I just tried it with an upscaling LG DVD player via HDMI, and the option does still come up. So it mustn't be anything to do with a PC, why does alba call it HDMI pc full mode, there only confusing people. I've been trying to think of what pc stands for, maybe picture cropping? Lol
 
Well we've just started reviewing some Alba TVs, so we'll look out for it and let you know what we find out.
 
Thanks Steve that would be great.
 
Hi Steve, just wondering if you found anything about this option yet.
 

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