Using Low-Resolution Video In Windows 7 To Fix Resolution For HD Television
Using Low-Resolution Video In Windows 7 To Fix Resolution For HD Television
Tried a different resolution and video disappeared? When you turn on the computer you see a company logo and then when Windows 7 should be loading there is nothing? While the number of possibilities are many and varied, perhaps it is just a matter of the computer using a resolution that your display does not support.
Since Burke Computers specializes in home theater computers, I connected our test computer to a television and got a quick lesson that televisions may not support all those resolutions like the monitor we have on our computer desk. Here I will share with you a trick I learned using the low-resolution mode available in Windows 7 to fix a bad Windows video signal.
This situation literally happened to us. I bought a used television for our test computer and got frustrated as the computer would load Windows, the television would appear to lose signal. After some troubleshooting, I realized that the problem was a Windows video setting. Microsoft Windows was loading the wrong video settings. The problem was that our television was reporting the wrong data to Windows and Windows would blissfully load what should have been optimal settings only to have the television decline the signal as out of tolerance.
To begin, turn off the computer. Without signal on the television, I would watch the hard drive indicator and wait for the light to stop flashing. After it finished flashing, odds were good that Windows was at the log on screen even I saw nothing. I would then press the power button. You can try this. If you press the power button, the computer should shut off. Once the computer has completely shutdown we are ready to begin.
A proper shutdown is ideal as this would save us time later when turning the computer back on. If we did not let the computer properly shutdown, Windows 7 would want to run a diagnostics upon restarting. Time we really didn't want to spend.
Some manufacturers or system builders may change this power button setting so that pushing the power does not actually shut off the computer. If pressing the power button will not start a shutdown procedure, most computers will turn off if you hold in the power button for several seconds. Hold it in long enough, usually about five to ten seconds, and the computer will turn off. We do not recommend this method as this bypasses a proper computer shutdown. While most times this will not damage anything, there is a risk of damaged computer files.
The following procedure is based on Windows 7 and AMD video graphics with the Catalyst Control Center pre-loaded. You may need to make adjustments for different operating systems or video drivers. In addition, for all references to right and left buttons on the computer mouse, it is assumed that the mouse is set to default settings. If your mouse is setup for left-handed or handed its buttons reversed in its settings, you may need to reverse left for right when we refer to right-clicking the mouse. Instead of saying left-click, I will simply state click on the item(s).
With the computer off, we are ready to begin.
Turn the computer on.
Immediately after the opening system logo disappears, press F8 found on a keyboard connected to the computer (I used a wireless keyboard and mouse with our test computer). You will have a small window of opportunity to press F8 before Windows begins to load and you will be stuck waiting to try again.
If you are successful, you will be taken to Advanced Boot Options.
In the Advanced Boot Options, select Enable low-resolution video (640X480). You should now see Windows load.
This resolution is so low that your icons and text should be quite large and might not all fit on the screen.
Log into Windows if not taken to the desktop
Right-click on the desktop. This should bring up a window with a menu.
Select Screen resolution. On our test PC, I found that it easier to use the default Windows utility first before I used the Catalyst Control Center later to pick an actual HD resolution.
Click on the selector bar after Resolution. This will open a slider that you use to select a different resolution.
Choose a higher resolution.800 X 600 = minimum for our purposes.
1024 x 768 = minimum recommended by Windows 7.
1360 x 768 = Windows 7 recommended this for my test computer but I would lose signal when I chose this. Apparently Windows polled this as the best resolution for the TV but our TV would have nothing to do with it. This is probably why I was losing video as Windows loaded normally.
After you make your selection, click Apply.If your video disappears, just wait fifteen seconds for video to return. After it times out and the computer reverts to a resolution that you can see, return to the resolution selection bar and pick another resolution.
As long as you do not accept any resolution that does not work, you should be able to simply wait until the timer reaches zero. As long a minimum of 800 x 600 works, you should be able to follow the rest of this.
Caution: If you do click something or press a key while you have no video, there is a risk that you may tell the computer to keep the setting. Wait more than 15 seconds and if video does not return then I anticipate you will need to turn the computer off and start this procedure from the beginning. Do not select this same resolution next time.
If you can still see the screen, click Keep changes or the video will revert back.
Now that we have a higher resolution, right-click on the desktop again.
This time we will select Catalyst Control Center instead.
We want the Displays Properties. On our test computer there is selector up in the top left corner labeled Graphics. Clicking on this opens up a list from which I can choose Displays Properties.
On another computer I have, Catalyst Control Center has a window on the left side labeled Graphics Settings. Displays Properties here is underneath Displays Manager. Clicking the plus sign by the Displays Manager reveals Displays Properties. Clicking on Displays Properties here brings me to where I want to be.
Note: You may need to go to Monitor Properties to find HDTV Support. You can use HDTV Support to add HDTV modes to the Displays Manager.
In Desktop area, scroll down until you find the appropriate HDTV resolution.
On our test computer, it was necessary to click on the plus sign by HDTV in Desktop area to actually see the HDTV settings.
Hint: Most 32" HDTVs are only 720p. I used a television that actually accepted 1080p but with a little research I learned that it actually down-converted the picture. This down-conversion was a problem in reading the text on the television when following friends on Facebook, checking email, or reading the news online. As such, we went ahead and set our computer to 720p.
Select the HD resolution appropriate for your television and click Apply.If your video disappears, just wait wait about fifteen seconds. In order to keep your new video setting, you must press a button. Since you cannot see that button, it is a good idea to just let the timer reach zero and return you to the resolution your television could display.
After it times out and the computer reverts to a resolution that you can see, return to the resolution selection bar and pick another resolution.
As long as you do not accept any of these resolutions that do not work, you should be able to simply wait until the timer reaches zero and returns you back.
If you can still see the screen, click Yes to keep these settings or the video will revert back.
If you clicked Yes to keep the new settings, you should now have HD output from your computer to the television.
Here are the standard resolutions for HD television in case you need the reference.
852 x 480 = 480p.
1280 x 720 = resolution for 720p.
1,920 x 1,080 = 1080p and 1080i.
If you have troubles again, you should be able to repeat this process. However, if you have to repeat this frequently, you may have another problem happening creating this situation.
When I first applied this process to the test computer, it was necessary to do it frequently. Then I did a little research and found that the used television we had selected for our tests had a common issue with the first HDMI port failing. Other customers had switched their cable boxes and gaming stations to the second HDMI port on that back of that particular model and all their problems disappeared. Once I did the same for our test computer, I only had to do this once more until I messed around with our computer's settings. And in my case, I did that a lot at first intentionally, even recreating this problem specifically once I understood it a bit so I could record and document these steps to share with you.
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