PC gaming over HDMI??

[coolkev99]

I feel pretty ignorant on the newer HDMI video cards and such now on
the market.

With these HDMI video cards do you still need a sound card (or
integrated) for audio? Or does the video card handle it all? Can I
play PC games this way?

Basically.. I am thinking on having a desktop computer with dual
monitors, one my PC monitor, and another over HDMI to living room. I
would like the option to play PC games on the HDTV (with sound) in the
living room if I wanted. Would the HDMI carry all video + sound?
Would I need to "switch" the audio sources so they don't play on my
PC's speakers as well?

Is this possible?

 

[Arkaign]

It's definitely possible. One important thing to check is if your big-screen has the ability to turn off the overscan for TV broadcast. I have a TV right now that doesn't have that option, and no matter what I do, I can't get the standard resolutions to fill the screen properly. All of them are either way too small, or way too big, even though the screen is a physical 1920x1080.

 

[dflynchimp]

HDMI actually has more bandwidth(10.2Gbit/s) than DVI(SL 3.96Gbit/s or DL 7.92Gbit/s) making it ideal for simultaneous video and audio throughput.

If your graphics card has onboard audio through hdmi then I think it should be perfectly feasible.

 

[jvroig]

It's definitely possible. One important thing to check is if your big-screen has the ability to turn off the overscan for TV broadcast. I have a TV right now that doesn't have that option, and no matter what I do, I can't get the standard resolutions to fill the screen properly. All of them are either way too small, or way too big, even though the screen is a physical 1920x1080.

I'm planning to get a 40" Samsung LCD TV, and the model is full HD 1080p. I am not sure if it has the option to turn off overscan. Does this mean I shouldn't use it for gaming? I saw a 32" LG LCD TV used as a PC monitor, also sporting 1080p... as far as I know, they never fiddled with overscan, but it looked fine... could you please elaborate on your concern? I wouldn't want to waste my money on a 40" LCD TV if I can't also use it to game.

Thanks.

 

[Arkaign]

Well, the issues with overscan vary from model to model, and different video cards and drivers also affect the issue. There are a variety of workarounds and fixes, but the best scenario involves having a TV that was designed with a certain amount of effort towards taking input from PCs in the first place.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2247217,00.asp

^^ just an example link. If your TV is from a good brand like Samsung, and is going to be new, chances are you'll be able to get it working right.

With my situation, I have to use some odd resolution like 1840x1012 or something, which is fine for HD video, but terrible because almost all games want to try to run in a native PC res like 1680x1050, 1920x1080, etc.

 

[Stoneburner]

I game through HDMI on a 1080p screen. I have the audio running through the video card (4770). I have gotten an odd problem where the sound will not work in certain games when in dx10 mode. This happens in Far cry 2 and crysis. I'm not sure where the problem lies though, could be funny drivers, could be a wi ndows 7 issue. In every other game i've played (at least 10) hdmi video and sound out works perfectly.

 

[coolkev99]

I game through HDMI on a 1080p screen. I have the audio running through the video card (4770). I have gotten an odd problem where the sound will not work in certain games when in dx10 mode. This happens in Far cry 2 and crysis. I'm not sure where the problem lies though, could be funny drivers, could be a wi ndows 7 issue. In every other game i've played (at least 10) hdmi video and sound out works perfectly.

Does that use your sound card, or does the video card handle the sound? I'm confused on what handles what now.

 

[MStele]

Newer video cards with HDMI connectors will actually route sound through the HDMI connecter. Some will do it through a driver, or in other cases there is a connector on the the videocard that connects it with you your sound card.

 

[coolkev99]

Newer video cards with HDMI connectors will actually route sound through the HDMI connecter. Some will do it through a driver, or in other cases there is a connector on the the videocard that connects it with you your sound card.

Thanks! Thats very helpful info.

 

[ComputerDude67]

Newer ATI video cards have a sound card circuit embeded in the GPU to allow you to connect HDMI based video cards directly to a HDMI monitor for both video and sound. I have a Gigabyte 4870 with native HDMI connector that will play video and sound on my Hanns-G LCD w speakers. I do not use it though as I use a add in X-Fi sound card. You can change the sound output device in Control Panel\Sound in Windows. All the games I have played with the integrated sound works. Funny, as I have 3 sound cards in my computer; X-Fi, motherboard integrated sound and ATI video card sound.

 

[mooncancook]

I'm planning to get a 40" Samsung LCD TV, and the model is full HD 1080p. I am not sure if it has the option to turn off overscan. Does this mean I shouldn't use it for gaming? I saw a 32" LG LCD TV used as a PC monitor, also sporting 1080p... as far as I know, they never fiddled with overscan, but it looked fine... could you please elaborate on your concern? I wouldn't want to waste my money on a 40" LCD TV if I can't also use it to game.

Thanks.

Samsung LCD TVs has a 1:1 mapping option so you'll get perfect 1080p resolution on the screen. I play action/racing/sports games on my 46" Samsung using HDMI-DVI and it's so much better than the computer monitor.

 

[jvroig]

Samsung LCD TVs has a 1:1 mapping option so you'll get perfect 1080p resolution on the screen. I play action/racing/sports games on my 46" Samsung using HDMI-DVI and it's so much better than the computer monitor.

Thanks! It's settled, then. 40" Samsung LCD TV for me

 

[lopri]

No mater what I did (including overscan) I couldn't get sharp text using any digital connection from PC to TV. Only when using analog VGA I could get acceptable quality text. But videos/films looked great. Why is that?

If anyone gets not-fuzzy text using DVI/HDMI on your TV - are you using a receiver or connect the video card directly to the TV?

 

[buckshot24]

No mater what I did (including overscan) I couldn't get sharp text using any digital connection from PC to TV. Only when using analog VGA I could get acceptable quality text. But videos/films looked great. Why is that?

If anyone gets not-fuzzy text using DVI/HDMI on your TV - are you using a receiver or connect the video card directly to the TV?

I get crystal clear text with my dvi to hdmi cable directly into an lg 42 inch lcd. I get washed out colors and somewhat blurry text when I use the vga input.

 

[postmortemIA]

No mater what I did (including overscan) I couldn't get sharp text using any digital connection from PC to TV. Only when using analog VGA I could get acceptable quality text. But videos/films looked great. Why is that?

If anyone gets not-fuzzy text using DVI/HDMI on your TV - are you using a receiver or connect the video card directly to the TV?

i get perfect picture when i rename connection to "PC" or when i use "just scan" mode which guarantees1:1 mapping. also, in control panel for video card, overscan needs to be disabled.

so i get both VGa and HDMI to show up perfectly, jsut like running a LCd monitor on native resolution.

Most decent TVs support "just scan" mode

 

[coolkev99]

No mater what I did (including overscan) I couldn't get sharp text using any digital connection from PC to TV. Only when using analog VGA I could get acceptable quality text. But videos/films looked great. Why is that?

If anyone gets not-fuzzy text using DVI/HDMI on your TV - are you using a receiver or connect the video card directly to the TV?

Beware, not all HDTV's handle input singals the same (particularly when from PC) some DO NOT handle resolutions correctly AT ALL. Some handle it correctly and then apply a bunch of filtering and such which ruin the picture. Others look fine yet have horribly laggy response from keyboard/mouse input making gaming next to impossible. CNET does some decent reviews of HDTV's and test how they handle PC input. A few other review sites do this too. Do some reseach how you plan to use your TV before purchasing!

 

[TemjinGold]

If you are worried about overscan, ATi cards are better than nVidia ones. Not being a fanboy or anything, but I've used both and ATi's CCC has an actual option to adjust overscan while nVidia's do not (all you can do with theirs is to change the resolution if the picture isn't filling the screen.)

 

[Pooptacular]

If i were to use HDMI out on say a 5770 to my receiver that has HDMI in could I get 5.1 lpcm sound coming out from games? Or is it only for movies?

 

[Stoneburner]

Go to sound properties and select 5.1 for speaker setup and it works for games.

 

[KIAman]

Trust me, I occasionally game on my 55" LCD via HDMI through a Denon AVR and Polk 7.1 system (whenever wife and kids are away) and the video and sound quality is absolute bliss. I run with 2xHD4870 in crossfire so sound works right out of the box.

Bliss!