# [SOLVED] display problems with hdmi

## xtx

installed gentoo yesterday using dvi, worked great. kde looked fantastic using the first party nvidia-drivers.

switched to hdmi today... problems. text looks slightly fuzzy, the top bottom left and right of the screen are cropped off slightly, the text in kdm looks huge... 

i've read about edid problems and followed http://analogbit.com/node/23 but it did not help at all. not sure what's going on. not sure if it is an edid problem anyway as dvi worked fine. 

do i need to reinstall xorg with hdmi plugged in or something?Last edited by xtx on Thu Feb 16, 2012 6:59 pm; edited 1 time in total

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## xtx

in case it helps my monitor is a samsung syncmaster b2330 and my video card is the nvidia gt240

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## xtx

any help at all here would be great, i'm driving myself nuts. forcing font dpi helps but the problem is not fixed. 

anybody have any clue why dvi would work fine but not hdmi?

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## SDNick484

Unfortunately what you're describing does sound like a EDID issue.  I have had that problem myself, particularly when connecting to a HDTV instead of a monitor.  What was happening in my case was that the EDID info being provided was incorrect, and so to fix it I wrote an xrandr script which set the correct values for the HDTV.  I got the values from MythTV's wiki, but unfortunately it largely varies by manufacture. 

I recommend reading up on xrandr, then experimenting with different configs.  Actually, what you should do is run xrandr with a working DVI connection, record the timings, then do it with the HDMI connection and see if they're different.  If they are different, then use xrandr to force the DVI timings when connected with HDMI and see if that resolves your issue.  If it does, then modify xorg.conf to use those values (or have an init script run xrandr when X starts).

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## chithanh

What you describe is called overscan. Some drivers enable it by default for outputs connected to HDMI, see if there is a setting where you can disable overscan.

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## xtx

thanks for the replies. i found a setting on my monitor that changes it from av mode to pc mode. never knew the option was even there because i never needed to mess with it before while using a dvi cable. anyway i re-installed gentoo because of a bluetooth problem that is driving me crazy (didn't help at all) but i changed the setting to pc and when i emerged the nvidia-drivers the overscan problem went away- the screen fits now.i still have to force dpi though, the fonts are initially huge. i'm not convinced my monitor looks the same as it did with the dvi though... it could be in my head but things look slightly different. websites that i think used to have silverish buttons or whatnot appear pretty much just white now.

ah well, can't complain- at least it looks ok. hope an updated nvidia driver comes out soon and fixes all these problems

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## katfish

what are the benefits when using hdmi instead of dvi?

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## xtx

there aren't any... unless your monitor has speakers- hdmi transfers audio too. i just needed a longer cord and purchased an hdmi instead of a dvi. they're smaller and less of a pain to plug in i guess.

i'm sticking with it out of stubbornness. it should work.

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## xtx

resurrecting this thread- i noticed today that my monitor is definitely not displaying colors correctly. for example, i have been working on a website for my fraternity www.niutke.com and the background on my monitor seems almost completely black while on other monitors it is more of a textured gray background.

everyone always says with hdmi that either the information is getting sent properly or not at all. well.. that is not occurring for me. there is a severe drop in quality using hdmi as opposed to dvi. 

any solutions?

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## xtx

nobody else has color issues with hdmi?

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## Gusar

Have a look at this: http://analogbit.com/fix_nvidia_edid

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## xtx

thank's gusar! you reminded me to try this again. trust me, i always google and search into problems before posting, i have seen and even tried that edid fix before but it did not work.

for anybody with a similar problem: the trick that got mine to work this time was using the --to-dvi option when running the edid_disable_exts script on the .bin file.

colors now appear as they should.

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