The box only displays 640x480 after the new update

[Anonymous User]

As per the title, the update has caused the box to stop outputting 1920x1200. Changing manually between 720/16:9 in the settings does nothing and it will only display at 640x480.

I'm guessing it is something to do with the fact I am using an HDMI to DVI converter to watch on a monitor, but it worked fine until this update broke it. Is there a way to roll back to the last firmware version, I would prefer to do that as the layout in this update is crap anyway.

[Anonymous User]

My white NOW TV box is stuck in a very squashed 4:3 ratio. It is connected to my TV via HDMI. I've not had issues before the update being applied today. I've changed settings, restarted and hard reset also but to no avail.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Anonymous User]

You could try this, didn't work for me but maybe worth a go anyway:

Access the hidden menu (press: Home x5, Fast Forward, Play, Rewind, Play, Fast Forward)

Select 'System Operations Menu'

Select 'Enable Selecting All Resolutions' (it should then read 'Disable Selecting All Resolutions')

Select 'System Reboot'

When the box has booted up you should be able to select other display modes in the options menu

[Anonymous User]

I might be being silly here (I'm totally non-techie) and not intending the following to be sarcastic, I'm just intrigued. If you're looking at routes such as purchasing an XBox or YouView box it doesn't sound like the issue is cost or anything. So why not spend the equivalent on a TV, it sounds far less hassle. It may be that you have really good monitors that give better sound / picture than a fairly basic low spec TV I guess, again I'm pretty non techie so I'm just interested really 🙂

[4268]

Hi @Anonymous User  also not partly techy here either.  I personally suspect the reason for using a monitor is the person is a bloke.  He has a "man cave" in which he has his PC etc.  There might not be room for a TV and monitor.  The person may need his PC for other things.   Whilst it is possible to hook up a PC base unit/laptop to a TV, it is debatable whether the output is sharp enough.  PC monitors are often used up close, for example it is likely a laptop monitor is less than arms distance away.  Having a TV this close would probably be uncomfortable on the eyes.  We don't know how much space the person has for their other PC related activities (perhaps Facebook/online banking etc).  You used to be able to buy "mini pc" that hooked up to a TV from Argos but I can't see it on their website now.  We also don't know how close to the screen they are sitting.  This might be the most comfortable option for them.  I may of course be totally wrong in this.

[Anonymous User]

@4268 Naughty

[Anonymous User]

4268 has pretty much nailed it 🙂

Space isn't abundant plus I would argue that cost is always an issue, it depends on whether it is justifiable or not. A youview box can be picked up for about £20, an xbox 360 might be a bit more but you can still get a cheap one on ebay and it does a lot more than let you watch now tv, so I could justify that. I use my monitor for more than watching now tv and it works fine for those things so replacing it with a tv which is going to have worse picture quality (unless I invest a considerable amount of money) doesn't seem like a worthwhile cost just to be able to watch now tv again.

Besides, it might be an old monitor but it still works! I'm one of those weird people who doesn't particularly like buying new stuff because things these days seem to be built to a budget whereas older tech was built to last. For instance, I'm typing this on a 20 year old keyboard which has outlasted many newer ones which were originally bought to replace it. When (if) this one finally dies I will probably buy another one exactly the same!

[commanda6]

Hi @4268

By Mini PC you mean something Similar two. What is at the link below There are also sometimes referred to as media PCs.

The not as common as they used to be you can now only generally get them if they are built to order(Like the link I provided below), or if you completely custom build one yourself.

I have a mini/media PC underneath my LG TV, although it's not actually used much now because when I got a couple of years ago, it was before I had the Xbox one and the LG tv.

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-silent-mini-pcII/

@Anonymous User If you are going to get a mini/media PC. I'd recommend you get one with Windows 10 installed as this will enable you to use the dedicated Windows apps that have been provided by many services , including Netflix and nowTV. You will get a much better experience with now TV if you use the Windows app instead of Silverlight. And if I'm being honest it might be time to replace your monitor something that has HDMI and display port. As it is these display interfaces that most media PCs connect to

[Anonymous User]

Again though, that's not really cost effective especially when I already have a PC. Plus the one you linked to isn't an HTPC and would struggle to run Word let alone do any kind of video decoding!

And yeah, I know my monitors are seriously old but they do everything I need them to except for let me watch now tv since the latest update. Also they use S-PVA panels so to get something with roughly equivalent picture quality I would have to skip the cheapy TN panels and go for more expensive IPS panels. And then I'd ideally have to replace both as they are 1920x1200 and new monitors are only 1920x1080, and having two different resolution screens doesn't always play nice with software and looks weird even in Windows. And this is a personal preference but although I think 1080 vertical resolution is fine for watching TV, I prefer 1920x1200 when doing PC stuff.

I think I'll borrow my friend's xbox 360 and see what the live streaming looks like on it, if it's not too bad then I'll probably pick up a cheapo one online. Thanks everyone for suggestions and especially SeeMoreDigital for stopping me buying a youview box in the nick of time, saved me a bit of hassle there 🙂

[commanda6]

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@Anonymous User wrote:

Again though, that's not really cost effective especially when I already have a PC. Plus the one you linked to isn't an HTPC and would struggle to run Word let alone do any kind of video decoding!

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Hi @Anonymous User

It wouldn't struggle to run word that is the old Intel atom-based PCs you're thinking of their the PC I gave you a link to is not Intel atom-based it's Intel Celeron based on that particular chip dates from Q1 2015 , it would playback HD video fine, but you couldn't encode video with it no.

http://ark.intel.com/products/87257/Intel-Celeron-Processor-N3050-2M-Cache-up-to-2_16-GHz

[Anonymous User]

The Word comment I admit was something of an exaggeration, and no, I was not confusing it with an Atom processor - FYI I have a home-built watercooled Intel i7 running at 4.2 GHz so I can tell the difference, thanks.

The Celeron N3050 is a basic entry level CPU which will struggle with video decoding in some situations. I certainly wouldn't use it to build a media PC.