Random Question Thread: Tech

**Aylee** · 2012-03-20 14:05

swiched one of my desktop -> monitor connections to HDMI from VGA. The problem is i have about a 2 inch black margin all the way around the picture now. I've tried going into screen resolution and its on the max (recommend). Any ideas on how to get rid of it?

**Isiolia** · 2012-03-20 14:46

Originally Posted by Aylee

swiched one of my desktop -> monitor connections to HDMI from VGA. The problem is i have about a 2 inch black margin all the way around the picture now. I've tried going into screen resolution and its on the max (recommend). Any ideas on how to get rid of it?

The basic issue is that, for whatever reason, graphics cards like to default to scaling down over HDMI, for the purpose of overscan (despite that it's rarely applicable on LCD displays). Exactly how to adjust it may vary depending on the particular version of the graphics card control panel you have. It'll be something similar to this though.

If I recall when I dealt with it, in some cases you may need to restart the machine for the settings to "stick" (if it keeps reverting when the machine goes to sleep/etc, then that's likely how to deal with it).

**Tyr** · 2012-03-20 15:30

How the hell do I stop adaptive brightness on my computer!???

When I purchased my laptop a year ago, that was the first thing I took off because it's so damn annoying.

Then about a month ago, Windows did an update, and it's back up again...

But this is what's super-annoying -- I've ALREADY disabled it but it just won't stop....

**Caiyuo** · 2012-03-20 21:59

You don't have f.lux installed, right? lol

Anyhow, have a computer whose display looked like it suddenly had a blocky NES game take a shit on it. If the display looks fine from other sources, booting and BIOS look normal and RDP sessions look normal, does that point directly to the video card dying or is there potentially something else?

**KuroTsuki** · 2012-03-21 00:52

So, I wanna get a good laptop for school which I'm sure doesn't require much, but I also would like for it to be able to smoothly play videos in 1080p(specifically, anime/movies). I don't want to go higher than $800, if that's possible for what I want.

You guys got any suggestions, or can pretty much any stock laptop do that nowadays? Lol.

I was looking at this Sony VAIO for $600.

Specs listed:
Intel Core i5-2450M processor
2.50GHz, 3MB Cache

6GB DDR3 SDRAM system memory (expandable to 8GB)
Gives you the power to handle most power hungry applications and tons of multimedia work

500GB SATA hard drive
Store 333,000 photos, 142,000 songs or 263 hours of HD video and more

DVD burner
Watch movies, and read and write CDs and DVDs in multiple formats

10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN
Connect to a broadband modem with wired Ethernet or wirelessly connect to a Wi-Fi signal or hotspot with the 802.11b/g/n connection built into your PC

15.5" LED display
Intel HD Graphics 3000

Built-in webcam with microphone
2-in-1 memory card reader
4 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x headphone output, 1 x microphone input, 1 x RJ-45 Ethernet port, 1 x DC-in, 1 x VGA port
Standard lithium-ion battery

**Tyr** · 2012-03-21 02:06

Originally Posted by Caiyuo

You don't have f.lux installed, right? lol

Anyhow, have a computer whose display looked like it suddenly had a blocky NES game take a shit on it. If the display looks fine from other sources, booting and BIOS look normal and RDP sessions look normal, does that point directly to the video card dying or is there potentially something else?

no idea what f.lux is.
don't think the video card is dying -- sometimes the adaptive brightness doesn't kick in (like right now), but other times it does. I'll have to figure this out, I guess :\ So damn annoying!

**Caiyuo** · 2012-03-21 02:23

It's a program that does something that sounds similar, lowers color temperature throughout the day in relation to natural light. What model is it? Can't imagine someone hasn't run into the same thing already.

**Tyr** · 2012-03-21 06:11

Originally Posted by Caiyuo

It's a program that does something that sounds similar, lowers color temperature throughout the day in relation to natural light. What model is it? Can't imagine someone hasn't run into the same thing already.

Lenovo U460. What bothers me is that (a) this is only something that came abt after a windows update, which I uninstalled to no avail, and (b) it says I've disabled it in windows/device manager (I can't recall of the actual name, it's what shows you startup programs and the like in Windows 7).

**Purrrfect** · 2012-03-21 14:11

Originally Posted by Caiyuo

Anyhow, have a computer whose display looked like it suddenly had a blocky NES game take a shit on it. If the display looks fine from other sources, booting and BIOS look normal and RDP sessions look normal, does that point directly to the video card dying or is there potentially something else?

If the card was bad booting would probably look bad as well. If you take a ss does that reflect the visuals?

**Purrrfect** · 2012-03-21 14:12

Originally Posted by Tyr

Lenovo U460. What bothers me is that (a) this is only something that came abt after a windows update, which I uninstalled to no avail, and (b) it says I've disabled it in windows/device manager (I can't recall of the actual name, it's what shows you startup programs and the like in Windows 7).

If it is a device listed in device manager, try enabling and then disabling again.

**Caiyuo** · 2012-03-21 14:44

Originally Posted by Purrrfect

If the card was bad booting would probably look bad as well. If you take a ss does that reflect the visuals?

I'm pretty sure I was able to confirm it as the video card shitting the bed as switching to the onboard graphics works completely fine. Switched back and forth a few times to be sure, so a new guy is in the mail.

**Tyr** · 2012-03-21 15:29

Originally Posted by Purrrfect

If the card was bad booting would probably look bad as well. If you take a ss does that reflect the visuals?

Originally Posted by Purrrfect

If it is a device listed in device manager, try enabling and then disabling again.

No difference in SS.

I've tried enabling/disabling it (not in device manager because its not there, but something similar that shows a bunch of startup apps and background functions)

**Caiyuo** · 2012-03-21 18:11

Originally Posted by Tyr

Lenovo U460. What bothers me is that (a) this is only something that came abt after a windows update, which I uninstalled to no avail, and (b) it says I've disabled it in windows/device manager (I can't recall of the actual name, it's what shows you startup programs and the like in Windows 7).

Does any of these help?

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/IdeaPad-...or/ta-p/270494
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/SL-Serie...500/td-p/59806
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1626696
http://smallvoid.com/article/winnt-s...-sensrsvc.html

**Zimman** · 2012-03-22 10:00

Looking to buy a new 55" LCD/LED TV. Sales guy was trying to talk me into this one.

Only thing I'm really torn on. Is there a noticeable difference between 120hz and 240hz refresh rate. Plan to do a lot of gaming, and watch HD sports on it. For every story I see saying 240hz is the way to go, I see another saying there's no noticeable difference to the naked eye.

**hey** · 2012-03-22 10:41

Outside of pc games, i can't imagine it'd make any difference, since pretty much everything else will run at 30/60 fps.

**Jojimbo** · 2012-03-22 13:43

I didn't think any TV had true 120Hz refresh rate (able to accept 120Hz input), so PC gaming wouldn't be any different anyway. Can't think of a reason why 240Hz would be any better though, surely it would just be displaying each frame for the same period of time as a 120Hz; it's not even like 60Hz to 120Hz where 24fps goes in 120 but not 60.

**Isiolia** · 2012-03-22 14:09

Originally Posted by Jojimbo

I didn't think any TV had true 120Hz refresh rate (able to accept 120Hz input), so PC gaming wouldn't be any different anyway. Can't think of a reason why 240Hz would be any better though, surely it would just be displaying each frame for the same period of time as a 120Hz; it's not even like 60Hz to 120Hz where 24fps goes in 120 but not 60.

My knee-jerk reaction to 240hz is that it allows for 3D content at 120hz, but I haven't seen much to confirm that.

It does give yet more ability to do frame interpolation, but yeah, for purpose of avoiding 3:2 pulldown it shouldn't be any different.

Bigger thing to look for in terms of gaming is input lag.

**Zimman** · 2012-03-22 15:05

Thanks for the responses. I don't plan on doing PC gaming on it, only console. I should have specified. The input lag I've already looked into, the only thing I wasn't really sure of is the Hz. Most information I could find explained the concept of going from 120 to 240, but not the practicality.

**Tyr** · 2012-03-22 16:18

Originally Posted by Caiyuo

Does any of these help?

Thank you sir!

**Patb** · 2012-03-23 00:15

I recently built myself a new computer. I have a HD6850 as my graphics card and sometimes when I stream something, such as youtube, or twitch, or anything like that, the computer completely freezes and goes black, but remains on. I tried updating my drivers and everything but it still happens. Is this possibly something that has to do with the card? or could it be something with firefox? I use adblock and noscript and have noticed that it never happens with things like grooveshark or pandora, only movies. I've also noticed that it never happens with IE, but I would prefer to avoid using IE. Does anyone know of anything that may be the cause of the problem?

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