# What is " HDMI PC full mode" on Alba tv?



## Tyrone Burton (Aug 24, 2012)

I've got an Alba LCD32880hdf HDTV which has an odd option in it's settings. It's not in the video section, just in the settings. I'll try to tell you exactly what I see when I use it. Now the option only appears when I connect a device via HDMI, this can be a games console or a normal DVD player. When I use it I can see more of the image that was hidden, turn it off and some of the image is covered. Also when using it it seems to make the image sharper, but this could be because when Turing it off your zooming in, thus making the image fuzzy. Because of it's name people have suggested that it when turning it on it's sending out pc levels, but when I use a brightness test pattern the I can still see the below black either with it on or off. Sorry for this post being so long, it's just a rather odd and confusing setting. Any ideas what it could be?


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

Likely disables scaling and/or overscan. Many TV's display a PC input differently than a standard video input. Typically to reduce blur to make text readable.


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## Tyrone Burton (Aug 24, 2012)

Sorry about this, this is off topic but what is overscan? From what DVE disc is telling me it let's you see more of the image.


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## Tyrone Burton (Aug 24, 2012)

Dogg said:


> Likely disables scaling and/or overscan. Many TV's display a PC input differently than a standard video input. Typically to reduce blur to make text readable.


My tv doesn't have a pc input, just HDMI. HDMI pc full mode also appears when I connect a standard upscaling DVD player via HDMI. And DVD players shouldn't have anything to do with anything PC.


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

It's a byproduct of old CRT technology, and technically, overscan doesn't apply to digital signals. Thus isn't present over DVI and HDMI, however, real world usage would prove different. Even if it's not overscan, it likely still disables any image scaling or processing which is often used by many TV's.

Overscan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Tyrone Burton (Aug 24, 2012)

The main reason I have it on is it let's me see the full image. How would I know if the tv isn't scaling an image? My tvs native res is 1366x768.


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

Unless the input resolution is 1366x768, the image is being scaled.


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## Tyrone Burton (Aug 24, 2012)

Yes but if I have HDMI pc full mode on which you say may be stopping it's scaling, how would I know if it's not scaling? Would there be a black borders around the image?


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## Tyrone Burton (Aug 24, 2012)

Sorry if this question is confusing, I don't think anyone has heard of this option before.


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

I don't know that there is a way to verify. Change the input resolution and see what happens.

And I also stated that it likely disables processing. For example, many TV's have playback features like "movie mode", which changes the appearance of the image. So "PC mode", or whatever it's called, is likely just a "no processing" setting. All of the options should be noted in the User Manual. Unless Alba is one of the low tier brands that don't offer decent documentation or support.


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## Tyrone Burton (Aug 24, 2012)

Well my tv has a film mode which is to do with the film cadences I believe. Well when I use it nothing happens to the cadences as I tested the film mode with spears and munsill. You could be right in saying it disables processing, I will try tomorrow to see if the film mode works with this pc full mode off.


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