[jeremymc7]

Overscan is a bitch. On a regular basis I curse the ATSC for not addressing overscan properly. My (1080i only) HDTV is circa 2003, and is a huge reason that I keep coming back to XBMC.

As far as going DVI->Component, I know that DVI includes all the pins necessary to output a VGA signal, and that most chipsets have the capability to go into a component mode where they stop sending the H&Vsync signals along their own wires and populate the RGB wires with YCbCr. I wonder that nobody has figured out how to turn this on in os-x.

They have. You have to select HDTV 1080i in and pay for SwitchResX or comparable. But it doesn't work perfectly. Mostly from overscan issues.

[bearcat2000]

Jeremy, you mention overscan issues, but can this be solved by using the xbmc controls to adjust screen size/overscan?

[jeremymc7]

Jeremy, you mention overscan issues, but can this be solved by using the xbmc controls to adjust screen size/overscan?

Yes, and maybe. XBMC does have some tools for setting the viewable area and maintaining the ratio of height to width. This might be enough to resolve someone's personal situation.

In other cases and on a best scenerio the best way to do it would be to adjust the TV. Sometimes this can be done in the user menu. In many cases though this can only be done in the service menu. Even then most TV's service menu's are very critic, hard to use, may need additional test equipment, and then there is almost a good chance you can damage your set if you don't know what your TV.

I have access to the service menu of my set, and even have the service manual which steps through the process; but still very hard to get it right or even understand certain sections in the manual.