NVIDIA Corporation
82
Chapter 6
Configuring HDTV
Table 6.3
Optimizing HDTV Viewing
Underscan
The
Underscan
setting
works
by
centering
a
lower
resolution
on
the
HDTV
screen,
the
dimensions
of
which
you
can
further
adjust
with
sliders
in
the
current
release
of
the
driver,
as
shown
in
For
component
out,
NVIDIA
determined
through
market
research
that
15%
overscan
is
common
with
many
TVs
(both
SDTV
and
HDTV).
NVIDIA
used
this
information
to
create
two
custom
resolutions
that
are
optimal
for
Web
browsing,
running
applications,
and
playing
games
on
HDTV
sets.
These
resolutions
are:
•
720p
:
1088
x
612
(85%
of
the
full
1280x720.)
•
1080i:
1600
x
900
(1632
x
918
is
85%
of
the
full
1920x1080,
but
that
is
so
close
to
1600x900
that
1600
x
900
is
used
instead.)
explains
how
to
use
the
Underscan
setting.
User task
Recommended
Corrective
Method
Reasons
Watch movies
Native
Underscan correction always reduces the quality of the video being
watched since it changes the size of the native video resolution by
compressing the size of the pixels.
In addition, sometimes there is additional electronic information
recorded in the invisible portions of the video stream. This is not
supposed to be seen directly by the user, as it can be very distracting.
Underscan or overscan shift would cause this information to now
become visible.
• Browse the Web
• Run Windows
applications
Overscan shift
Underscan
Browsing the web requires that the end user see all information in the
browser window. Either of these modes will allow the users accomplish
this and provide the best web viewing experience.
Play full-screen
games
Underscan
If the application correctly queries the graphics driver and requests the
modes it supports, you will be able to play the game in the corrected
underscan mode and see all of the information on your display.
However, some games do not query the graphics driver. Instead,
these games hard code the resolutions supported in the game directly
into their code. Therefore you can use an alternative way to correct
the resolution, such as checking the display for correction options.
QuadroGuide_.book Page 82 Thursday, July 27, 2006 6:48 PM
