DVI to HDMI LCD distortion problem using EDID tweak

[fireblade]

I am forwarding a message that explain well this trouble.

Maybe it is solvable following this step, but i'm too newbe to do on my own.

The discussion was taken from this topic:

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=48955

I hope that can be solved here because you know well the driver functions, i am surprised that nvidia haven't already solved this problem....

I have a MSI NX8500GT-TD256EH (GeForce 8500GT) connected to a ViewSonic VX2435WM. The monitor has a HDMI input and I am using the included DVI to HDMI cable. The native resolution is 1920x1200. I'm running Vista 32-bit with 163.69.

Before I load the Nvidia drivers, the picture looks normal. However, once I load the drivers, the picture becomes distorted (blurry text, messed up colors, etc). When I look at the resolution notice on the monitor's OSD, it says it is running at 1200p. Before the Nvidia drivers are installed, it says it is running at 1920x1200.

I've looked all over the Nvidia control panel and I believe the software thinks the video card is connected to a HDTV, rather than a monitor. It shows that it is being connected via HDMI, even though the output on the video card is DVI.

I have connected the monitor to some other other computers and it works fine on both a Radeon 9600 and a MSI 8600GT. They are all connected the same way: DVI output from video card into HDMI input on monitor. When it is connected to these computers, the monitor's OSD correctly recognizes 1920x1200 and the Nvidia control panel shows it is connected via DVI.

I have tried a few different versions of the latest ForceWare drivers and also tried BETA drivers. Right now I am running 163.69.

Any suggestions on what I can do to get a clear image? Right now the only thing that works is uninstalling the Nvidia drivers and using the standard VGA drivers from Microsoft, which obviously isn't an option.

[jtrot1000]

See if 174.31 works.

[Unauthorized]

Actually the workaround you mentioned works, originally posted by bryanb in the NVIDIA Forums:

Hey guys,

I've discovered a workaround for this problem. Basically you can use a registry key to override the monitor advertising itself as an HDTV (by setting the number of EDID extensions to 0). Using the following steps, I am now getting proper 1920x1200 resolution on my LG monitor:

1. Start the installation of the latest Nvidia drivers and cancel out once the files are extracted

2. Open nv_disp.inf. By default for the current drivers this is in C:\NVIDIA\WinVista\169.25

3. In the [nv_SoftwareDeviceSettings] section add the following:

CODE

HKR,, OverrideEdidFlags0, %REG_BINARY%, 1E,6D,3F,56,00,00,FF,FF,04,00,00,00,7E,01,00

NOTE

The first 4 bytes (1E,6D,3F,56) in my OverrideEdidFlags0 are specific to the LG monitor I'm using. For other monitors, you will need to replace them. Using Phoenix EDID Designer, extract the current EDID and open up the byte viewer. The bytes are in byte 8 through 11.

4. Uninstall your current drivers and reboot

5. Install the modified drivers by running the previously extracted setup.exe. By default for the current drivers this is in C:\NVIDIA\WinVista\169.25. You'll get a warning about the driver not being signed because of the modified inf. Just press OK.

The correct line for my LG L245WP is the following:

HKR,, OverrideEdidFlags0, %REG_BINARY%, 1E,6D,24,56,00,00,FF,FF,04,00,00,00,7E,01,00

I think it could be difficult to put this workaround in the modified inf as it is specific to your monitor. Just try to follow the steps, it's not that hard! Some additional hints:

1. Use WinRAR to extract the files from NVIDIA's driver file.

2. Open the included INF file if it matches your configuration or replace it using the right modified INF from LV2GO.

3. Download and run Phoenix EDID designer to find out your EDID bytes 8 through 11. (That is maybe the most confusing part, but try.)

4/5. Install the new driver using setup.exe like you would install any other driver.

[®®®]

FAQ'd!

[Guest crt]

Thanks for this info - saved me from pulling my hair out. Had the same issue with an 8600GT and a Westinghouse L2410NM panel. For anyone else with this panel, the EDID bytes were 5c 85 80 51.

[Guest Kevin Yang]

I have the same monitor and solved this problem (as described in this thread) in Windows XP. I also have Ubuntu on the same machine and after installing the latest linux drivers from NVidia I get the same exact problem, blurry and washed up colors. Anyone found a fix for this in Linux?

[Guest mesh]

I have the same monitor and solved this problem (as described in this thread) in Windows XP. I also have Ubuntu on the same machine and after installing the latest linux drivers from NVidia I get the same exact problem, blurry and washed up colors. Anyone found a fix for this in Linux?

Haven't tested it but http://analogbit.com/node/23 might help linux users.

[Guest VG]

Hi, I just wanted to share my experience with this issue so that it might save someone the complete aggravation that I've gone through with this.

First, the EDID extraction tool, Phoenix EDID designer, will NOT work with 64bit vista. I tried it on 3 different machines and no results at all. I didn't try using an XP boot, that was gonna be my next step to see if I could get it to work that way so I could get the appropriate EDID info. I may give it a try and I'll post back if it works.

Second, I've been having this issue with a gtx280 and a Westinghouse L2410nm. Initially I had no success, but after looking over the nv_disp.inf I noticed there was a section called [nv_SoftwareDeviceSettings_GT2x]. I added the override string to the end of that section also and I about fell out of my chair when I rebooted and I legible text on my screen :)

Here's a copy and paste of the 2 sections of the nv_disp.inf so that everyone can see what I did......

[nv_SoftwareDeviceSettings]

HKR,, InstalledDisplayDrivers, %REG_MULTI_SZ%, "nvd3dumx,nvd3dum"

HKR,, UserModeDriverName, %REG_MULTI_SZ%, "nvd3dumx.dll"

HKR,, UserModeDriverNameWoW, %REG_MULTI_SZ%, "nvd3dum.dll"

HKR,, UserModeDriverGUID, %REG_SZ%, "{9A516B97-E7C1-451B-9165-C5035994A3F5}"

HKR,, VgaCompatible, %REG_DWORD%, 0

HKR,, MultiFunctionSupported, %REG_DWORD%, 1

HKR,, RMDisableInst2Sys, %REG_DWORD%, 1

HKR,, RMCacheLoc, %REG_DWORD%, 0

HKR,, UseBestResolution, %REG_DWORD%, 1

HKR,, PowerMizerEnable, %REG_DWORD%, 0

HKR,, PowerMizerLevel, %REG_DWORD%, 0

HKR,, PowerMizerLevelAC, %REG_DWORD%, 0

HKR,, FeatureControl, %REG_DWORD%, 4

HKLM,"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\TMM",UseIViewHelper,%REG_DWORD%, 1

HKR,, NV_Modes, %REG_MULTI_SZ%, "{*}S 720x480 720x576 1152x864 1440x900 1680x1050=1;1920x1440x8,16=1D;1920x1200x32 1920x1440x32 2048x1536x32=1F;640x480x32 800x600x32 848x480x32 960x600x32=1FFF;640x480x8,16 800x600x8,16 1024x768 1280x768 1280x800 1280x960 1280x1024 1360x768 1600x900 1600x1200 1920x1200x8,16=3D;720x576=8032;2048x1536x8,16=D;{400-40F,42F}S 1600x1200x64=2;1280x768x64 1280x800x64 1280x960x64 1280x1024x64 1360x768x64=3C2;1600x1024x64=3F;1280x720x64=3FF;1600x900x64=42;1152x864x64=7FE;"

HKR,, NV_Modes, %REG_SZ_APPEND%, "1024x768x64=FC2;{191-19E,400-42F,600-6FA}S 720x480x64 720x576x64 1152x864x64 1440x900x64 1680x1050x64=1;1920x1200x64 1920x1440x64 2048x1536x64=1F;640x480x64 800x600x64 848x480x64 960x600x64=1FFF;1024x768x64 1280x768x64 1280x800x64 1280x960x64 1280x1024x64 1360x768x64 1600x900x64 1600x1200x64=3D;720x576x64=8032;{40-16A,210-40F,42F-53E}S 2048x1536x8,16=12;640x480x8,16 800x600x8,16 1024x768x8,16=1FC2;848x480x8,16 960x600x8,16=1FFF;1600x1200x32 1920x1200x8,16 1920x1440x8,16=2;"

HKR,, NV_Modes, %REG_SZ_APPEND%, "1280x768x32 1280x800x32 1280x960x32 1280x1024x32 1360x768x32 1600x900x8,16=3C2;1600x1024x32=3F;1280x720x32=3FF;1600x900x32 1600x1200x8,16=42;1280x768x8,16 1280x800x8,16 1280x960x8,16 1280x1024x8,16 1360x768x8,16=7C2;1600x1024x8,16=7F;1152x864x32=7FE;1280x720x8,16=7FF;1024x768x3

2=FC2;1152x864x8,16=FFE;"

HKR,, OverrideEdidFlags0, %REG_BINARY%, 5c,85,80,51,00,00,FF,FF,04,00,00,00,7E,01,00

[nv_SoftwareDeviceSettings_GT2x]

HKR,, InstalledDisplayDrivers, %REG_MULTI_SZ%, "nvd3dumx,nvd3dum"

HKR,, UserModeDriverName, %REG_MULTI_SZ%, "nvd3dumx.dll"

HKR,, UserModeDriverNameWoW, %REG_MULTI_SZ%, "nvd3dum.dll"

HKR,, UserModeDriverGUID, %REG_SZ%, "{9A516B97-E7C1-451B-9165-C5035994A3F5}"

HKR,, VgaCompatible, %REG_DWORD%, 0

HKR,, MultiFunctionSupported, %REG_DWORD%, 1

HKR,, RMDisableInst2Sys, %REG_DWORD%, 1

HKR,, RMCacheLoc, %REG_DWORD%, 0

HKR,, PowerMizerEnable, %REG_DWORD%, 0

HKR,, PowerMizerLevel, %REG_DWORD%, 0

HKR,, PowerMizerLevelAC, %REG_DWORD%, 0

HKR,, UseBestResolution, %REG_DWORD%, 1

HKR,, FeatureControl, %REG_DWORD%, 4

HKLM,"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\TMM",UseIViewHelper,%REG_DWORD%, 1

HKR,, NV_Modes, %REG_MULTI_SZ%, "{*}S 640x480x8,16,32,64 1280x768x8,16,32,64 1280x800x8,16,32,64 1360x768x8,16,32,64 1680x1050x8,16,32,64 1920x1200x8,16,32,64=1;800x600x8,16,32,64 848x480x8,16,32,64 960x600x8,16,32,64 1024x768x8,16,32,64 1152x864x8,16,32,64 1280x960x8,16,32,64 1280x1024x8,16,32,64 1600x1200x8,16,32,64 1920x1440x8,16,32,64 2048x1536x8,16,32,64=3B;"

HKR,, OverrideEdidFlags0, %REG_BINARY%, 5c,85,80,51,00,00,FF,FF,04,00,00,00,7E,01,00

There's 2 other sections in there I assume for other types of video cards that might be applicable if someone is having trouble getting it to work with their setup. Nvidia really needs to fix this problem. I would imagine they know about after all this time.

Now, if I can just figure out how to get a 8800mGTS to hook up HDMI to a Samsung LCD TV with the same problem... :)

Hope this saves someone out there from going through the hours of frustration of trying to get this to work right.

VG

[Guest VG]

Well, since is the laptop forums, maybe I should post this over at the nvidia forums lol. My bad, but I am having this issue with that laptop and 64bit vista not reading the EDID though.