mac desktop wont go to 720 x 540

[Walter Biscardi]

You need to use your Kona Control Panel to change this, NOT the Apple Display controls.

First set to the Kona Control Panel to output SD and then you’ll be able to get the correct display size.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com

Director, “The Rough Cut”
https://www.theroughcutmovie.com

Now editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Bob Flood]

thanx walter

ok i just tried this and the closest i can get is like this:

my apple desktop display is set for 1280 x 720. this is also my kona primary display, which i cannot change, and each time my desktop grabs the card, it forces the primary display on the card to 720p

so i set my secondary to 525, do a downconvert, and set my downconvert to crop, in essence blowing up the output ,

does this sound right?

if so, why does a 720 x 540 photoshop wimdow NOT fille the frame? is that right?

and in the past when i have tried this desktop extension with a straight video out (as supplied on the powerbooks) i can get my second display, the video out to 720 x 540. so is this the way the card interacts with the g5?

geez i though i had my brain wrapped around this stuff, hoo boy!

thanx in advance agin

bee eph

[Jim Wynn]

I’m running into the same behavior. I’m just putting together a Quad 2.5 with a Kona LHe card. The system will be used in SD for the time being. When I select Macintosh Desktop in the Control pane of Kona LH Control Panel, the Primary (native) format is 720p 59.94 and the Video Format is greyed-out. It shows the frame buffer to be set to 720p 59.94, RGBA. All the outputs are down-converted to 525i29.97. But the Displays pane of System Preferences gives the choices of 1280×720 (interlaced) or 1920×1080 (interlaced) at 59.94. This is shown on an SD monitor which the Formats pane of the LH Control Panel shows to be down-converted. I don’t know if this is a bug or a feature.

[Bob Flood]

Thanx Jim

Its good to know someone else is not crazy as well (the apple must only see the card as a hi def device, hence only the choice of hi def resolutions)

AS for now its probably a bug. after macworld it’ll be a feature!

bee eph

[Gary Adcock]

[Jim Wynn] “When I select Macintosh Desktop in the Control pane of Kona LH Control Panel, the Primary (native) format is 720p 59.94 and the Video Format is greyed-out. It shows the frame buffer to be set to 720p 59.94, RGBA. All the outputs are down-converted to 525i29.97.”
This is all correct.

Now.

I do not know what you guys are doing but 720×540 is not a supported video resolution for FCP.
NTSC is 720×480 for DV,
720×486 for D-1,
720×576 for PAL

Also 720×540 is not a supported Cinema Display resolution that I have ever heard of.

Gary Adcock
Studio37
HD and Film Consultation
Chicago, IL USA

[Scott Thomas]

No, 720×540 is not a supported resolution anywhere except inside of Photoshop, After Effects or any other software where you want to work in square pixels, but in a resolution close to SD. (It’s so much fun trying to explain pixel aspect to the uninitiated.) 720×540 is important when you are dealing with software that doesn’t understand pixel aspect to begin with. At one time, that was Photoshop and After Effects.

[Bob Flood]

I am sorry

i used the wrong terminology (i guess i got 720 x 540 stuck in my head from Photoshop) and as such i have lost the true meaning of my post, which is that whether its 720 x 540, 720 x 486, or 720 x 480, i still cant get the mac desktop to go to that size, even using the downconvert on the kona lh!

the smallest i can get is 1280 x 720, which doesnt really giv me cut off or title safe or ,more importantly, how its gonna look on a tv! I know i can use that app called echo fire, but i would like to not have to spend the money

anyway, i hope i made it clear now, and would still like to hear any answers or what have you

thanx again

bee eph

[Gary Adcock]

[Bob Flood] “the smallest i can get is 1280 x 720, which doesnt really giv me cut off or title safe or ,more importantly, how its gonna look on a tv! I know i can use that app called echo fire, but i would like to not have to spend the money”

Now I am more confused than before.
what are you trying to do?
what app are your trying to get to display on what kind of monitor? and how is it connected to your kona LH?

Be specific….

Gary Adcock
Studio37
HD and Film Consultation
Chicago, IL USA

[Scott Thomas]

Ok then, back to what Walter was asking; What output settings do you have for the Kona Control Panel? Are you feeding a signal to the input? Is it set for passthrough (EE), or desktop? We’ll need more information.

[Bob Flood]

sorry :}

i guess i was asking “is this broken?” as opposed to “how do i do something?”

(sometimes im too smart for my own good!)

1. i would like to use my kona lh card as a mac desktop extension for purposes of previewing Photoshop, AE, and any other app i have that makes pix for tv…i guess in this case specifically photoshop as thats all i use besides the fcp “family”

2. we also have a graphic artist station, with artist, running a g5 and i was trying to determine how viable a kona lh card is for that, for purposes of previewing AND rendering

i have a g5 running fcp 5.0.4, qt 7.0.3 and photoshop cs (v8)

so what i want to do is see my photoshop output on a 720 x 486 NTSC tv, and i thought i could set my mac desktop on the kona side to 720 x 486, and do that. but as i said, there is no setting on my apple display preferences for the kona side of the desktop to go below 1280 x 720.. and so on..

other than echo fire, how can i see a photoshop comp, on my ntsc monitor, at 720 x 486, using my card? and i f the answer is no, any reasons as to why would be helpful

thanx again

BTW i was at one of your demos, gary, when you came to minneapolis, when are you coming again?

bee eph