Sony Vaio VPCCW23FX Output To LCD HDTV, HDMI Cable Won't Play 1020P

[Steve R.]

I recently bought a Sony Vaio Laptop VPCCW23FX for my daughter as her high school graduation present. It uses the 2.13GHz Intel Core i3-330M Processor and is running Windows7.

I noticed that when outputting to an LCD HDTV the maximum resolution being reported by the VPCCW23FXB using the HDMI cable is 768P, not the expected 1020P. I expect that this issue may be because the laptop has a 14.1" (1366x768) Display. However, I've had a couple of online chats with Sony tech support, but have not yet resolved the situation. They implied that the VPCCW23FXB will display 1020, but so far no luck.

1. The VPCCW23FX displays that it is sending a 768P signal, but the HDTV monitor resolution reports 1,920x1080 pixels. So is there a chance that the VPCCW23FX is reporting the wrong output signal?????

2. As an experiment, I hooked-up the VPCCW23FX to a computer monitor that has an HDMI input. In that situation the VPCCW23FX only reports a 720P output. Even worse, the computer monitor reports that its native setting of 1,920x1080 pixels has been disabled! Theoretically, if the VPCCW23FX can output to an LCD TV at 768P then it should also do so for a computer monitor. Is there a possibility that the HDMI cable itself is somehow defective????

What are your thoughts?

 

[boblarson]

First thing to look at is to ensure that the latest Video Card drivers are installed. That is the number one source of video issues that I've seen. When you first get the computer, many times the drivers are pretty far out of date.

And it could be a cable but I'm not thinking that would cause the possible display values to be locked out. That sounds more like a driver issue to me.

 

[Vassago]

It's very unlikely to be a cable issue. Are you attaching the TV as a secondary moniter with extended desktop or cloning laptop's display? If you are cloning, you will not be able to go above 768 as that is the maximum resolution of the laptop display according to the document you linked to above. Make sure you have it set to secondary display so it can have it's own independent resolution.

BTW, the tv reports 1080p because it's upscaling to that. It can't properly display 768 so does it's most logical and expected processing to 1080p.

 

[Vassago]

Also, even in cloned mode, you should be able to set the video overlay to still play videos in 1080p and fullscreen.

 

[boblarson]

... according to the document you linked to above.

DOH! reading the documentation - Now why didn't I think of that?

 

[Steve R.]

First thing to look at is to ensure that the latest Video Card drivers are installed. That is the number one source of video issues that I've seen. When you first get the computer, many times the drivers are pretty far out of date.

Did that last night. Did not work. Forgot to mention.

Are you attaching the TV as a secondary moniter with extended desktop or cloning laptop's display? If you are cloning, you will not be able to go above 768 as that is the maximum resolution of the laptop display according to the document you linked to above. Make sure you have it set to secondary display so it can have it's own independent resolution (Emphasis added).

You have hit on an issue unknown to me that sounds very plausible as a solution. Yes my intent was to attach the HDTV as a secondary display. I will have to look into that when I get home tonight.

 

[boblarson]

Good luck with it. Hopefully Vassago's solution will take care of it. I know how it can be a pain when you just KNOW something should work and it doesn't.

 

[Steve R.]

Good luck with it. Hopefully Vassago's solution will take care of it. I know how it can be a pain when you just KNOW something should work and it doesn't.

Quite true. it amazes me how instructions/manuals/specifications can become so unclear when you actually try to use them.

 

[Vassago]

DOH! reading the documentation - Now why didn't I think of that?

I actually accidentally clicked it while trying to copy and paste and search for specs to check max resolution settings.

 

[Vassago]

You have hit on an issue unknown to me that sounds very plausible as a solution. Yes my intent was to attach the HDTV as a secondary display. I will have to look into that when I get home tonight.

When you had it attached, did you have a start bar on both screens (laptop and tv?) If so, then you had it in cloned mode.

Secondary displays in Windows 7 default to cloned mode. I love the auto detection of secondary display. It will also remember the settings you choose so if you deattach and reattach, it will detect and resume previous settings.

 

[boblarson]

I actually accidentally clicked it while trying to copy and paste and search for specs to check max resolution settings.

Sometimes my best fixes are found by accident.

 

[Vassago]

I've been dealing with HTPCs for years. There's nothing like having a crisp 1080p display on a DLP tv though once you have it set up. Everything looks better through a good pc with video processing. Even DVDs can look almost HD!

 

[Steve R.]

Success.

It will take a bit of experimenting, but I did get the 1020P output, my computer monitor was correctly identified, and it correctly displayed 1,920x1080 pixels.

For future reference, here is a short tutorial.

Thanks Vassago.

 

[Vassago]

Success.

It will take a bit of experimenting, but I did get the 1020P output, my computer monitor was correctly identified, and it correctly displayed 1,920x1080 pixels.

For future reference, here is a short tutorial.

Thanks Vassago.

I figured that was the issue. I'm glad you got it worked out. You'll have a lot of fun setting up software now. There are TONS of HTPC software that will consume large amounts of hours if you decide to see how far you can take this.

I assume you mean 1080p. You must type a lot of numbers between phone and keyboard.

 

[Vassago]

While you are at it, make sure you check out programs like Actual Multiple Monitors so you can have a taskbar and start menu on all monitors. They can also provide a lot of other enhancements such as automatic monitor placement of certain windows, different wallpapers on each monitor, and many more, which you will find necessary when dealing with multiple monitors.