Custom refresh rates?

[The Belgain]

I think my monitor is capable of running 1280x960 at 90Hz (since it can do 1280x1024 at 85, and 1280x960 at 90 would require a lower horizontal refresh rate), but the refresh rates that seem to be supported (as an option in dislpay properties that is, after disabling "hide modes my monitor can't display")by my Radeon 9000 Pro (Sapphire) are 85 and 100 (plus others obviously), but not 90. How can I enable this refresh rate?

At the moment I'm using Rage3D twaek, but it doesn't seem to have that refresh rate as an option either.

Powerstrip seems to support doing this, but how safe is it to do? Do I risk damaging my monitor of graphics card? Can I just set any new value for the vertical refresh rate as long as it doesn't make the horizontal refresh go above the maximum?

[theReal]

You're right - Powerstrip can do this (great proggie!)

If your monitor is fairly new (which I guess it is) then it will just go to stand by when asked to display refresh rates it cannot deal with. I also don't think you can harm a Radeon 9000 by displaying a 90Hz picture.

[The Belgain]

I've tried it and my monitor does display the picture at 90 Hz (I emailed Sapphire and they said there was no risk of the card getting damaged), but the picture quality is not as good as at 85 Hz (strange elliptical line things accross the screen) so I'm gonna stick to 85 Hz. There doesn't seem to be much point sacrificing picture quality for a 5 Hz increase (though I am really sensitive to refresh after having been using a flatscreen for a year).

For my next monitor, I'll either get a flatsreen or a monitor that can do something stupid like 1280x1024@120 Hz (Iiyama VM Pro 454).

[trodas]

The Belgain - i wont recommend flatscreen, becuase it has poor color depth (the colors are too "soft" and dont get even close to average monitor, not talkign about my EIZO) and also because i NEED custom resolutions to use - for example 856x640 for nonscalled DVDplayback. (as DVD vertical resolution is 853, and Winblows horizontal display size is tied to numtiply by 8 values, this is the solution)

Instead i recommend you remove LC filters from you GFX card and your MONITOR and improve your cabling - you then can get VERY nice and SHARP picture even in 1024x768 at 100Hz.

Everytime i see my poor friends with their blured resolutions at poor refreshrates (to these will not that that much blured), i regret their lifetask - looking at blury image crap.

So, stenad up and so something for yourself - kill the LC filteèrs the mad companied added there just to pass the CE norm and enjoy then beautifull picture, what you never ever seen before.
I can guarantee you that with proper changes, you will not beleive your eyes.

[The Belgain]

What are LC filters? The limitation with the refresh rate I can get is due to my monitor, not my graphics card. My monitor has 90 KHz horizontal bandwidth so it can't supply more than about 90 Hz at 1280x960.

In addition to this it seems to do this refresh rate quite badly at that res. Suggestions?

So you'd recommend a good 19" CRT (flat) rather than an LCD? I think I'd agree with you there although LCDs are slowly getting better.

[trodas]

LC filters are tiny SMD components mounted near VGA connector and rendomly, due to diferent engineering, into every monitor before the signal meet the IO, what work with it...

If you dont have a clue, dont mess with it. Find anyone close, who have a clue. I cant help you trought forum there.

But the gfx card LC filters might affect he quality too - into my case they does. A lot.

If the refreshrate are close to its limits - no wonder. And no suggestions, except the most hard one - replace.

I definitively recommend a GOOD (show before buy into resolution you wanted to use and refreshrate too - NO EXCEPTIONS!) 19" monitor over a LCD panel - if you dont work with only a text, yet.
Into that case, LCD is better.
Futhermore, you have to hack your card, monitor and cable in order to get decent display quality, so, the resume is, ofcourse, up to you.

I agree that the LCD pannels getting better. Its good. But they are still way from good monitors, when come to mentioned things and since they dont show GREAT 856x640 resolution i need, they are not for me ;) :D :cool:

[The Belgain]

Just curious, but where do you get 856x640 resolution from? I thought the vertical resolution of DVDs was 480 for NTSC and 576 for PAL?

And why would you want your horizontal resolution to be equal to the vertical resolution of your DVD?

[trodas]

You tought it wrong.
Widescreen DVDs apear unresized on screen 853x480 pixels big (depend on movie aspect, theres about 420 vertical pixels used...)

The 640 vertical lines is just for pixel-aspect match 1:1.333, as need on monitor 4/3 screen.

On DVD the signal is stored at 720x480 NTSC or 720x576 PAL.
Sadly, the PAL is only a resized version of NTSC, so, theres no quality improving - they dont scan then movie twice, dont worry...

So, they ENLARGE the NTSC to match PAL, but when the PAL got played on WIDESCREEN TV/COMPUTER, the signal got verticaly again stretched down, so, into both cases you end at 853x480, no matter what.

(tought, SOME DVDs are nonstandard, like Armageddon R1, whats only 640 pixels wide (and 273 pixels on height...) ...)

http://blanka.3web.cz/matrix.htm