Default resolution when TV/Monitor is off

[Joon]

Hello,

Im quite new to the HTPC scene and i recently built a new HTPC, im quite happy with it so far, the community here was also a good source of information regarding this
There is however 1 thing that i cant solve, and that is the resolution of windows when my TV is not on, basically the system thinks its disconnected.
Windows reverts to a very low resolution (1024x768) when i turn off my TV, i usually leave XBMC running, but after i turn my TV back on it changes back to 1080p leaving XBMC in a very sorry state..unusable.
Now i've been scouring the net to change the default resolution of windows when no monitor is connected but this seems to have become a complicated matter in windows 8.1
I've found that i should be looking in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Video but there arent any values that seem to resemble a resolution.

Does anyone have an idea about this ?

Thanks in advance!

[CyberSimian]

There is however 1 thing that i cant solve, and that is the resolution of windows when my TV is not on, basically the system thinks its disconnected. Windows reverts to a very low resolution (1024x768) when i turn off my TV

I notice this when running Windows Media Center on Vista. I use a customised (non-standard) screen size for my TV, but Windows does not use it when the HTPC wakes up to perform an unattended recording (i.e. TV off). The work-around that I use has two parts:

(1) In WMC screen setup, select the specific screen resolution that you want to use; do not allow WMC to inherit the screen resolution that you have set up for the desktop.

(2) Never leave WMC running when you have finished using the HTPC; always exit WMC to the desktop. When you next switch on the TV to start watching live or recorded TV, restart WMC. Because you selected a specific screen resolution, WMC will now change your current screen resolution to the resolution that you selected. Problem solved! Note that it is possible to customise a WMC remote control to define a button to perform the equivalent of ALT-F4, to give you an immediate exit to the desktop from anywhere within WMC.

I do not know whether this would work with XBMC, as I have never used XBMC.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

[ewtaylo]

Joon-

It just so happens that this exact issue is part of a problem I am having (detailed in another thread here).

To answer your question I would look at the following:

Stop Resolution Change When Display or Receiver is Turned Off

I've run into an issue where if my receiver turns off before my HTPC goes to sleep, windows sets the resolution to 1024x768. This automatically goes back to 1080p when I wake my computer with the receiver on, however, all my windows are shrunk as well as my desktop icons are moved.

I found a way around for this (it should work in Windows 7, but I'm using Windows 8).

Open regedit as admin. Browse to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers\Configuration. Under here you'll see keys for each display (and default windows entries) your computer has detected. Under each one of these is a 00 or 01 (or maybe more) keys. Open up the 00 or 01 key and look at PrimSurfSize.cx and PrimSurfSize.cy. Are they showing 1920 and 1080? If not, make them. I'd also set the Stride value to 7680 (for 1080p). Now, under the 00 and 01, you'll see another 00 or 01 key, open this. Check ActiveSize.cx and ActiveSize.cy. Set these to 1920 and 1080, as well. X is your width (1920) and Y is your height (1080).

You could do this for every entry that isn't 1920x1080, however, I only needed to do it for the entry that started with "Simulated"

The above is quoted from: http://www.avsforum.com/t/1387832/htpc- ... t_22540175

For me the monitors that start with Simulated and NOEDID are the ones that are utilized when the display is turned off.