Raspberry Pi A, User Manual, Page: 118 / 314

P A R T I
C O N N E C T I N G T H E B O A R D
102
Figure 6-4:
The raspi-
config
Advanced
Options screen
A1 Overscan
Many TV sets feature overscan , which means the visible picture area is slightly smaller than
the transmitted picture. In broadcast TV, this is often used to hide additional data such as
time code information but in computing, it can result in the edges of the display becoming
hidden. By contrast, using a TV signal with a modern monitor can reveal the previously hid-
den edges with their additional data.
You may need to adjust the overscan for one of two reasons: the image from your Pi is sur-
rounded by black bars, in which case the overscan needs to be reduced or disabled altogether;
or the image from your Pi extends beyond the visible edges of your screen, in which case the
overscan needs to be increased. The latter is most common when using the Pi’s composite
video output (see Chapter 2, “Getting Started with the Raspberry Pi”) with an older TV set.
To adjust the overscan setting, highlight the Overscan option with the cursor keys and press
Enter. A menu will appear asking whether the overscan should be enabled or disabled. If you
are using a monitor or TV using the Pi’s HDMI port, choose Disable by pressing Enter; other-
wise, press the Right arrow key to select Enable and confirm with the Enter key. To exit
raspi-config
, press the Right arrow key twice to highlight Finish and press Enter. You
will be prompted to reboot to apply the new setting; confirm with Enter.
The Overscan menu in
raspi-config
only allows you to enable or disable the setting; to
control the size of the overscan to maximise the visible screen area on an old TV, see Chapter
7, “Advanced Raspberry Pi Configuration”.
A2 Hostname
A system’s hostname is the name it uses to identify itself on the network. When you use the
console or terminal on the Pi, you’ll see the hostname as part of the prompt that accepts your