[Walter Dnes]

Note to moderators; this should probably go in a FAQ somewhere

How to find out what video modes your HDTV will support. I developed this idea after reading http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Modeline_Database

1. Connect a computer to an input of the HDTV, and boot linux on it.
2. If you're currently running X, shut it down and go to a text console
3. Restart X with the command
   

   startx -- -logverbose 6

4. Exit X and move or copy file Xorg.0.log to another name so that it doesn't get clobbered next time you run X (may require root/sudo permissions). You may now restart X if you wish.
5. View the saved copy of the log file with your favourite editor or file viewer. Look for the 2nd or 3rd occurence of the string "ModePool".

On my system I get...

(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): --- Modes in ModePool for PANASONIC-TV (DFP-0) ---
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "nvidia-auto-select" : 1280 x  720 @  60.0 Hz  (from: EDID)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "1920x1080"          : 1920 x 1080 @ 59.94/60 Hz (CEA-861B Format 16) (from: EDID)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "1920x1080_60"       : 1920 x 1080 @ 59.94/60 Hz (CEA-861B Format 16) (from: EDID)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "1920x1080_60i"      : 1920 x 1080 @  60.1 Hz Interlace  (from: EDID)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "1920x1080_60i_0"    : 1920 x 1080 @ 59.94/60 Hz (CEA-861B Format 5) (from: EDID)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "1440x480"           : 1440 x  480 @  60.1 Hz Interlace  (from: EDID)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "1440x480_60i"       : 1440 x  480 @  60.1 Hz Interlace  (from: EDID)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "1280x720"           : 1280 x  720 @  60.0 Hz  (from: EDID)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "1280x720_60"        : 1280 x  720 @  60.0 Hz  (from: EDID)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "1280x720_60_0"      : 1280 x  720 @ 59.94/60 Hz (CEA-861B Format 4) (from: EDID)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "800x600"            :  800 x  600 @  60.3 Hz  (from: X Server, VESA)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "800x600_60"         :  800 x  600 @  60.3 Hz  (from: X Server, VESA)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "720x480"            :  720 x  480 @  59.9 Hz  (from: EDID)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "720x480_60"         :  720 x  480 @  59.9 Hz  (from: EDID)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "720x480_60i"        : (1440)x 480 @ 59.94/60 Hz Interlace (CEA-861B Format 7) (from: EDID)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "700x525"            :  700 x  525 @  60.0 Hz DoubleScan  (from: X Server)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "700x525d60"         :  700 x  525 @  60.0 Hz DoubleScan  (from: X Server)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "640x512"            :  640 x  512 @  60.0 Hz DoubleScan  (from: X Server)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "640x512d60"         :  640 x  512 @  60.0 Hz DoubleScan  (from: X Server)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "640x480"            :  640 x  480 @  59.9 Hz  (from: X Configuration file ModeLine)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "640x480_60"         :  640 x  480 @  59.9 Hz  (from: X Configuration file ModeLine)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "640x480_60_0"       :  640 x  480 @  59.9 Hz  (from: VESA)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "640x480_60_1"       :  640 x  480 @ 59.94/60 Hz Interlace (CEA-861B Format 1) (from: EDID)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "512x384"            :  512 x  384 @  60.0 Hz DoubleScan  (from: X Server)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "640x480_60_1"       :  640 x  480 @ 59.94/60 Hz Interlace (CEA-861B Format 1) (from: EDID)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "512x384"            :  512 x  384 @  60.0 Hz DoubleScan  (from: X Server)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "512x384d60"         :  512 x  384 @  60.0 Hz DoubleScan  (from: X Server)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "400x300"            :  400 x  300 @  60.3 Hz DoubleScan  (from: X Server)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "400x300d60"         :  400 x  300 @  60.3 Hz DoubleScan  (from: X Server)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "320x240"            :  320 x  240 @  60.1 Hz DoubleScan  (from: X Server)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): "320x240d60"         :  320 x  240 @  60.1 Hz DoubleScan  (from: X Server)
(II) Dec 27 23:35:13 NVIDIA(0): --- End of ModePool for PANASONIC-TV (DFP-0): ---

The output very nicely contains the names to use in the "Modes" decalaration of

Subsection "Display"

In my xorg.conf, I can stick in...

Modes           "1920x1080" "1280x720" "720x480"

to cover playback of standard streams I capture from OTA TV. If you collect Youtube clips or download other videos, you can choose additional modes as required. Or you can set up scripts to launch X using different versions of your xorg.conf file.

 

[Walter Dnes]

On second thought, maybe this is nNvidia-specific.

 

[classicsat]

Okay by me, for my Linux systems have nVidia based graphics. The Windows machines, incedentally, have Intel graphics. Go figure.