Samsung 50" DLP as monitor: blinking issue

[kal10]

Hi, I have a new Dell Inspiron laptop (Vista) and I'm running it to my
Samsung 50" DLP TV (HLN507W). I'm using the TV as the external monitor using
a standard 15-pin cable (the TV has a 15-pin input specifically for this
application). I can hook up the laptop to the TV and see the desktop on the
TV just fine. However, about 30 seconds after I hook the laptop up to the
TV, the TV starts to blink (about every second or so). I never had this
problem with my old Dell desktop (running XP), and I had the desktop hooked
up to the TV for about a year. I've tried all five resolution settings on the
laptop, but they all have the same problem. The Samsung manual suggests
1024x768 as the optimal resolution, but again, the same blinking problem
results. Any thoughts anyone might have would be greatly appreciated. Thank
you.

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

It's a refresh rate problem. You will see the settings in control
panel/personalization/Display Settings/Advanced settings/Monitor tab/
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Mark L. Ferguson
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[kal10]

Mark, thank you for your help. Unfortuneately, I have already tried this
(and just did so again). I tried 60, 75 and 85 Hertz (the only three options
available). 60 was the preset, 75 increased the blinking rate and 85 turned
the screen black. Could there be some other solution?

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

No, unless you can come up with a better monitor driver, I don't think that
is going to work for you.

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[kal10]

I see. Well, I've tried updating the driver, but I doubt Samsung publishes
one spcifically for its TV. I'll have to begin looking. Thanks none the
less for your help.

 

[Canuck57]

This really does sound like a refresh rate issue. If it changes from
60->75->85 as you suggest, it is settings related. It is also possible you
video settings you need cannot be driven by your video card but that usually
happens with weird resolutions and 1024x768 is not weird. What is weird is
1024x768 is not usually a wide screen. Plus refresh is not independent of
resolution.

So off to Google I go..and I see it rated for 1280x720. Now that is a
resolution I might expect of a wide screen DLP TV. So lets start from
scratch shall we?

Select a resolution of 1289x720, this is beside the Monitor tab, the Adapter
tab - Click on List All Modes. A list will appear. Pick as close to 60 Hz
as you can and save.

If this works and is better, if you have florescent lights near by and see a
faint flicker, and in the List All Modes selection there is 59 or 56 Hz,
select it. It is not likely, but possible higher hertz will yield a better
picture. You can try it, but stick to the native resolution.

If that does not work, let us know what kind of video card it is. It is
also listed in the advanced properties Adapter type area.

 

[kal10]

Hi, thanks for the help. I'm off-site the whole day/evening and away from
the TV, but I'll try this when I get home later tonight. I do have the
laptop with me though and under List All Modes, there are three 1280x720
options (all 60 Hertz): 256 Colors, High Color (16 bit) and True Color (32
bit). I'll try all three late tonight and report back. Also, the video card
is an ATI Radeon X1270. Thanks again for the assist.

 

[kal10]

Hi, so I was able to try several 1280x720 resolutions (many showed up once it
was hooked up to the TV). However, none worked. I tried the 60, 59 and 50
hertz (50 worked the worst), but they all still had the blinking issue. So
perhaps that was not it? As I said, my graphics card is an ATI Radeon
X1270. Any other thoughts?

 

[Frank]

Hi, so I was able to try several 1280x720 resolutions (many showed up once it
was hooked up to the TV). However, none worked. I tried the 60, 59 and 50
hertz (50 worked the worst), but they all still had the blinking issue. So
perhaps that was not it? As I said, my graphics card is an ATI Radeon
X1270. Any other thoughts?

:

Yeah...get a better vcard.

Frank

 

[Canuck57]

Hi, so I was able to try several 1280x720 resolutions (many showed up once
it
was hooked up to the TV). However, none worked. I tried the 60, 59 and
50
hertz (50 worked the worst), but they all still had the blinking issue.
So
perhaps that was not it? As I said, my graphics card is an ATI Radeon
X1270. Any other thoughts?

X1270 should be able to drive it. Also, no need to "unhook" the TV. In
fact, it is better if you boot the PC with the TV on first. The video card
when powered up can to a certain degree sense what it needs to do. But I
really down being a wide screen TV it is 1024x768.

Look for settings like interlaced and non-interlaced. Also could try other
known wide screen resolutions. But no sense in ones like 1024x768.

It is also possible if it is a laptop, running Vista and is not using
dedicated memory the card cannot output the frame rates needed. The frame
flicker could be Vista swapping if not enough memory.

Maybe hit on Samsung for the right settings. They may have a file to load
that allows your monitor to be recognized. If Samsung or the manual suggest
settings, use them. It it still does not work, either PC isn't powerful
enough or the TV isn't good enough to do it. I tend to think if Vista on a
laptop, using a UMA memory video chipset, this is the issue. It might work
better with XP MCE.