MCE & XBOX360 Extender Display Problem - help!

[bodogbodog]

I am new to Windows MCE but very happy with progress to date.

Today I got a Cat 5e cable run between my router and Dell 9150 Media Centre and my XBOX 360 and hey presto they connected - no bandwidth issues now!

So everything is coming through fine to my XBOX 360 which is connected to my 42" Plasma panel - again both the XBOX 360 (set to HDTV) displays images that fill the whole screen a) when playing games and b) when using MC through the 360 to view pictures or the standard WMCE video clips they fill the whole screen (I dont need to use the plasma "stretch screen setting").

So now to the problem - when viewing TV streamed from the WMCE Dell - both live or recorded via the 360 as an extender I am only getting a square display (I think its 4:3 ratio) that doesnt fill the screen. I have tried using the plasma's "stretch screen" function but it wont stretch the TV image (remember that for other media it is showing full screen correctly).

So I am trying to get it so that the TV image fills the whole screen (16:9) - as it does when displaying the other WMCE media like pictures and video clips.

My Dell has a Hauppaugge WinTV-PVR-150 MCE tuner card and that all works fine (and there doesn't seem to be any settings I can access for it anyway outside MCE) - although I have a standard dimension 19" LCD attached to the Dell as opposed to a widescreen LCD (however I have tried setting the MCE dispay settings to say I have a widescreen monitor attached to the PC to see if that made the display stretch on the linked 360 and plasma - but it doesn't!

I'm hoping someone can help me with this as I don't really want to watch letterboxed partial screen displays of TV via the 360 extender.

[bodogbodog]

OK - well a bit more exploring with the remote control discovered the "i" or "info" button (depends on the remote control) - its the information button and within that set of menu's the ZOOM function - which allows progressive levels of zooming of the display picture. That fixed the problem.

I'm now 100% up and running (apart from the absence of a free EPG here in Australia - I might give the new epgStream service a try).

[Mantorok]

Hey bodogbodog,

Are you able to display live/recorded TV to your plasma at 50Hz? What res are you using (576p, 720p, 1080i)?

[bodogbodog]

Originally Posted by Mantorok

Are you able to display live/recorded TV to your plasma at 50Hz? What res are you using (576p, 720p, 1080i)?

I use 720p but have used 1080i with no problems.
I have the XBOX set to High Definition (HD) mode on the back of the XBOX360 with no display issues. I'll check later and post what happens when setting it to 50Hz after turning the HD switch off (its a bit of a juggling act to get to the back of my XBOX360 in the cabinet)

[Mantorok]

Thanks for doing that.

Based on what others have said I gather 720p and 1080i are 60Hz only. Do you notice any jerky motion on camera pans or scrolling newsbars on live/recorded TV at these resolutions?

[lameus2]

Originally Posted by bodogbodog

I use 720p but have used 1080i with no problems.
I have the XBOX set to High Definition (HD) mode on the back of the XBOX360 with no display issues. I'll check later and post what happens when setting it to 50Hz after turning the HD switch off (its a bit of a juggling act to get to the back of my XBOX360 in the cabinet)

Hey bodogbodog,

Did you ever get around to trying this test out?

Thanks!

[bodogbodog]

Ok - I've tested it (trust me that is a huge sacrifice while watching Bathurst )

Settings:
1080i / 50hz / Normal screen (not widescreen) - works fine for live TV
1080i / 50hz / Widescreen - also works fine for live TV

As per my post above if you fiddle with the ZOOM settings using the i or Info button on the remote you can get the picture to fit the screen

[lameus2]

Thanks for the prompt reply!

So with the XBOX set to 50Hz, do you have the cable switch set to TV or HDTV?

Hopefully I have got this right - trying to ensure that all will be ok before I buy a 360 to extend my MCE PC to my Panasonic CRT RPTV.

Cheers,

[bodogbodog]

I had it set to TV and on 50Hz in the XBOX 360 dashboard - you can't change the Hz setting in the XBOX 360 dashboard if you have the switch at the back set to HDTV.

I can't comment on your specific setup but the XBOX 360 as an extender to your MCE is a great thing - the functionality that is available and the performance is great. My key piece of advise is to ensure you can connect the devices via a wired network - I couldn't get it working via wireless.

[lameus2]

Thanks for the responses and the advice.

One final question: are you still using Component (YPrPb) connections for the TV/50Hz mode?

Edit: Fix typo

[bodogbodog]

Yes - component connections on all settings in the test (standard component cable that came with the XBOX 360)
(It's hard enough reaching around the back of the XBOX 360 to flick the switch let alone recabling the video from the XBOX 360 to the Plasma!)

[mich]

Alot of people have commented that the xbox is noisy when watching DVDs and playing games. Can anyone comment on how noisy it is when watching live or recorded HDTV?

[logifuse]

Originally Posted by mich

Alot of people have commented that the xbox is noisy when watching DVDs and playing games. Can anyone comment on how noisy it is when watching live or recorded HDTV?

Depends on how loud you have the volume turned up.

I know it sounds like a joke, but it's true. My normal night time viewing level with a surround amp means I don't hear it. If I'm just using the TV speakers & they're not very loud, you can hear the 360's fans. And that's just SD.

Justin

[mich]

so i'm guessing alot louder than your HTPC with the zalman heatsink then?