GF FX 5200: Picture is "out of focus" on TV but "crisp and crystal clear" on monitor?

Hi group,

I sure hope some one can help me out! :-)

I'm having trouble getting a good picture out of my tv-out connection. The
picture on the TV looks very "blurry", it is hard to exactly describe. It is
as if two frames have been displaced horizontally.

I'm using a GF FX 5200, 128 MB, TV-out (via s-vhs to scart), with the latest
detonator drivers from nVidia. (Colors are ok, I'm not having the common
s-vhs to scart black'n'white color problem). The TV is a new 32" widescreen
digital TV. I have also tried with my older TV - same result.

The picture on the TV is 640 x 480, and runs in overlay mode. As I live in
Denmark, the output format has been set to PAL B / PAL G (Denmark) - which
should output at 50 Hz. However, I believe the output is 60 Hz (i.e. NTSC),
which would explain why the image is corrupted on the TV.

How on earth do I set the refresh rate to 50 Hz, besides selecting the PAL B
or PAL G as the output mode? When I go into advanced and "screen adjustment
/ resolution" for the secondary output device, I can choose between 640x480,
800x600 and 1024x800 all in 60 Hz. I cannot choose a different refresh rate
in the drop down box, as it is disabled?

Thanks for your time!

Best regards
Michael

Have you tried to fool around with the "monitor timings" ? There is a tab
for that sort of thing, where you can like force it. Try messing with that,
othewise, who makes your video card?
"Michael F. S. Christensen" <> wrote in
message news:bm5v2n$smt$...
> Hi group,
>
> I sure hope some one can help me out! :-)
>
> I'm having trouble getting a good picture out of my tv-out connection. The
> picture on the TV looks very "blurry", it is hard to exactly describe. It
is
> as if two frames have been displaced horizontally.
>
> I'm using a GF FX 5200, 128 MB, TV-out (via s-vhs to scart), with the
latest
> detonator drivers from nVidia. (Colors are ok, I'm not having the common
> s-vhs to scart black'n'white color problem). The TV is a new 32"
widescreen
> digital TV. I have also tried with my older TV - same result.
>
> The picture on the TV is 640 x 480, and runs in overlay mode. As I live in
> Denmark, the output format has been set to PAL B / PAL G (Denmark) - which
> should output at 50 Hz. However, I believe the output is 60 Hz (i.e.
NTSC),
> which would explain why the image is corrupted on the TV.
>
> How on earth do I set the refresh rate to 50 Hz, besides selecting the PAL
B
> or PAL G as the output mode? When I go into advanced and "screen
adjustment
> / resolution" for the secondary output device, I can choose between
640x480,
> 800x600 and 1024x800 all in 60 Hz. I cannot choose a different refresh
rate
> in the drop down box, as it is disabled?
>
> Thanks for your time!
>
> Best regards
> Michael
>
>

Sounds like the flicker reduction slider is set too high in your display
settings.
Lower it down to reduce the blurriness.

"Michael F. S. Christensen" <> wrote in
message news:bm5v2n$smt$...
> Hi group,
>
> I sure hope some one can help me out! :-)
>
> I'm having trouble getting a good picture out of my tv-out connection. The
> picture on the TV looks very "blurry", it is hard to exactly describe. It
is
> as if two frames have been displaced horizontally.
>
> I'm using a GF FX 5200, 128 MB, TV-out (via s-vhs to scart), with the
latest
> detonator drivers from nVidia. (Colors are ok, I'm not having the common
> s-vhs to scart black'n'white color problem). The TV is a new 32"
widescreen
> digital TV. I have also tried with my older TV - same result.
>
> The picture on the TV is 640 x 480, and runs in overlay mode. As I live in
> Denmark, the output format has been set to PAL B / PAL G (Denmark) - which
> should output at 50 Hz. However, I believe the output is 60 Hz (i.e.
NTSC),
> which would explain why the image is corrupted on the TV.
>
> How on earth do I set the refresh rate to 50 Hz, besides selecting the PAL
B
> or PAL G as the output mode? When I go into advanced and "screen
adjustment
> / resolution" for the secondary output device, I can choose between
640x480,
> 800x600 and 1024x800 all in 60 Hz. I cannot choose a different refresh
rate
> in the drop down box, as it is disabled?
>
> Thanks for your time!
>
> Best regards
> Michael
>
>

> Sounds like the flicker reduction slider is set too high in your display
> settings. Lower it down to reduce the blurriness.

No, it didn't do the trick :-(

Regardless of what level the slider is located at, the image still looks
"blurry" / distorted. The slider of course changes the image displayed on
the TV, but it is still as if the image has been "displaced horizontally".
The only way to describe it would be to imagine two equal images being layed
on top of each other, but with a "horizontal displacement". This gives an
out of focus image, although both overlapping images are sharp enough by
them selves.

I still guess it is due to the refresh frequency being 60 hz and not 50 hz.
I can't get it to stay at 50 hz. I even tried the nVidia Refresh Tool from
"guru3d.com". When I set the refresh rate (in the nvidia control panel
installed with the detonator drivers) to 50 hz and click ok, and then go
back to the property page, it is back at 60 hz.

Any one know how to fix this? - or if this is the issue at all?

Best regards
Michael

Sorry that trick didnt work.
I know what you mean about the image ghosting, and yes, it does sound like
the TV is trying to display 60hz or an NTSC picture.
I'm assuming that you have a PAL TV?
If the TV output is set correctly to PAL, then this could well be a driver
bug.
I had a very similar problem a few months back.
Fortunately for me, my TV is capable of displaying PAL or NTSC, so it
wasnt much of a problem.
You could try updating your drivers to the latest 45.23 whql's available.
I would recommend uninstalling your old drivers first and running detonator
destroyer after that, to remove any registry settings that may be left
over.
Both are available from www.guru3d.com
After that, if the problems persist, you could try altering the TV output
region using TVTool version 8.xx, which you cam also d/load from guru3d
Good Luck!

Nym
"Michael F.S. Christensen" <> wrote in message
news:3f8865dd$0$22667$ ...
> > Sounds like the flicker reduction slider is set too high in your display
> > settings. Lower it down to reduce the blurriness.
>
> No, it didn't do the trick :-(
>
> Regardless of what level the slider is located at, the image still looks
> "blurry" / distorted. The slider of course changes the image displayed on
> the TV, but it is still as if the image has been "displaced horizontally".
> The only way to describe it would be to imagine two equal images being
layed
> on top of each other, but with a "horizontal displacement". This gives an
> out of focus image, although both overlapping images are sharp enough by
> them selves.
>
> I still guess it is due to the refresh frequency being 60 hz and not 50
hz.
> I can't get it to stay at 50 hz. I even tried the nVidia Refresh Tool from
> "guru3d.com". When I set the refresh rate (in the nvidia control panel
> installed with the detonator drivers) to 50 hz and click ok, and then go
> back to the property page, it is back at 60 hz.
>
> Any one know how to fix this? - or if this is the issue at all?
>
> Best regards
> Michael
>
>

> I'm assuming that you have a PAL TV?

Yes, it is a PAL TV.

> You could try updating your drivers to the latest 45.23 whql's available.

Ok - I'll post my results to the group once I have done that.

> I would recommend uninstalling your old drivers first and running
detonator
> destroyer after that, to remove any registry settings that may be left
> over. Both are available from www.guru3d.com

Thanks, I'll be sure to do that first then.

> After that, if the problems persist, you could try altering the TV
output
> region using TVTool version 8.xx, which you cam also d/load from guru3d
> Good Luck!

Hm, ok. I already tried TV Tool v8 (trial) - but I'm not sure where to
find/enable that option? I'll look for it when I have tried the above steps.

Thanks for all your detailed suggestions and help :-)

Best regards
Michael

> > I would recommend uninstalling your old drivers first and running
> > detonator destroyer after that, to remove any registry settings
> > that may be left
> > over. Both are available from www.guru3d.com
>
> Thanks, I'll be sure to do that first then.

YES ! ! !

I was getting more and more convinced that I had wrecked my GFX card some
how by all the driver mangling, but now, after following your advice it
works again! :-) *and needless to say, I'm very happy now*

The error was due to the detonator driver(s?) I had installed. First I
uninstalled the driver I was running (v41.09), and then rebooted. At this
point I must say that 640x480 at 8 bit color (with extensive dithering)
isn't as impresive as it back in the good old days ;-)

After the reboot, I installed .NET 1.1 and then I ran the Detonator R.I.P.
It found some regdb and files that was left over. These were swiftly
deleted.

I then rebooted once more.

With a cleaned GFX driver system, I installed the older driver (v40.71).
Then I rebooted. The problem persisted - TVOut was ghosted *oh my... - I was
sure that my card was fried at this point*.

I did the whole uninstall / RIP procedure again, and after the reboot to a
cleaned system, I installed a nearly antique driver (v30.82). A reboot
later, and my TVOUT was in perfect functioning order.

So: nVidia - it seems, very clearly indeed, that you have a problem with
your newer drivers regarding PAL output. I hope it will be fixed in your
up'n'comming driver releases. Thanks! :-)

It worked on both my machines - here are my specs:

Intel Pentium II, 450 Mhz
256 MB RAM (SDRAM 133)
Windows 2000 Prof. UK
Geforce 2 MX, 32 Mb, TVOUT (composite -> composite)
nVidia Detonator 30.82
Direct X 9.0b

Intel Pentium 4, 2.66 Ghz
512 MB RAM (3200DDR)
Windows XP Home (Pro) DK
Geforce FX 5200, 128 MB, TVOUT (svhs -> scart)
nVidia Detonator 30.82
Direct X 9.0b