Custom Resolution Utility (CRU)

[Sancho]

ToastyX,
you are the MAN! Here's why:

For years I've used PowerStrip with an old PC running a Sapphire Radeon 9600XT hooked up to an old Sharp Aquos (circa 2005). That allowed me get near-native (1368x768; Aquos is 1366x768). I decided I wanted a better AGP card that would run madVR, and picked up a Radeon HD 3850, specifically because it's supported by PowerStrip. But when I installed it and the latest drivers from Guru3D, I could not make PowerStrip use 1368x768 (copied the timings from the 9600XT and pasted them in).

This is under Windows 7 32-bit. And FWIW, PowerStrip worked fine with the 9600XT and the drivers Windows Update found.

Then I remembered reading about your awesome utility. With it I was able to define the custom res., and then PowerStrip would take the timings. I used the PowerStrip Custom Resolution window to tweak CRU to use the same timings, as close as I could. And that all works great. I've got another, older PC that inherited the 9600XT, both going to the Aquos through a Monoprice DVI switch. Using the same timings in both instances of PowerStrip is a great benefit, as I don't have to fine tune the Aquos settings.

Due praise concluded, I have a question:

Is there any reason to use PowerStrip with the 3850, since I can define the timings in CRU? PowerStrip does have the added option of positioning the Windows desktop (handy to correct for the extra pixels). That said, is there any reason NOT to use PowerStrip, in terms of conflicts? From what I can tell, CRU is a run-once-set-and-reboot app, while PowerStrip can be set to load and adjust settings when Windows boots (that's how I set it).

Anyway, thanks a lot for this brilliant little app

[Mangix]

(07-19-2013 01:14 PM)ToastyX Wrote:  The patch is supposed to get around that. I don't know why that isn't working for you.

The simplest solution is to use the HDMI port on your video card. Otherwise, you will have to craft an extension block that makes the driver think it's HDMI. I'm not sure what information it uses to determine that.

I must clarify: Your patch works flawlessly. However I don't actually use it as the TV is limited to doing 79Hz anyway. And unfortunately I've discovered that the TV does internal processing at 60Hz and can not really handle displaying 78 frames per second properly(stuttering on motion tests).

Interesting idea with the HDMI port. I used to use a mini-HDMI cable and I swear when I did an EDID override that the control panel showed a DVI connected monitor. Maybe something has changed since then.

What about byte 14 of the EDID? MonInfo uses this to change the input type(I tried with a random EDID and it changed the byte from E8 to E2). I've had success a long time ago with this but have not tried recently for reasons above.

[ToastyX]

(07-19-2013 10:11 PM)Sancho Wrote:  Is there any reason to use PowerStrip with the 3850, since I can define the timings in CRU? PowerStrip does have the added option of positioning the Windows desktop (handy to correct for the extra pixels). That said, is there any reason NOT to use PowerStrip, in terms of conflicts? From what I can tell, CRU is a run-once-set-and-reboot app, while PowerStrip can be set to load and adjust settings when Windows boots (that's how I set it).

You don't need to use both, but they can be used together because they work differently. CRU tells the video driver what resolutions to use with the monitor, while PowerStrip talks to the video card directly using its own driver.

[ToastyX]

(07-20-2013 06:21 AM)Mangix Wrote:  Interesting idea with the HDMI port. I used to use a mini-HDMI cable and I swear when I did an EDID override that the control panel showed a DVI connected monitor. Maybe something has changed since then.

It will show DVI, but it won't try to send a dual-link signal through the HDMI port.

(07-20-2013 06:21 AM)Mangix Wrote:  What about byte 14 of the EDID? MonInfo uses this to change the input type(I tried with a random EDID and it changed the byte from E8 to E2). I've had success a long time ago with this but have not tried recently for reasons above.

The driver doesn't use that information. It uses something in the extension block.

[Sancho]

(07-22-2013 09:38 AM)ToastyX Wrote:  

(07-19-2013 10:11 PM)Sancho Wrote:  Is there any reason to use PowerStrip with the 3850, since I can define the timings in CRU? PowerStrip does have the added option of positioning the Windows desktop (handy to correct for the extra pixels). That said, is there any reason NOT to use PowerStrip, in terms of conflicts? From what I can tell, CRU is a run-once-set-and-reboot app, while PowerStrip can be set to load and adjust settings when Windows boots (that's how I set it).

You don't need to use both, but they can be used together because they work differently. CRU tells the video driver what resolutions to use with the monitor, while PowerStrip talks to the video card directly using its own driver.

Thanks for the explanation, ToastyX.

Now if you could just magickally make my 9600XT take 1366x768... ;-)

[Nazar]

Hello friends!

I am happy to have found this wonderful utility (CRU), just need a little help to tune it. Maybe someone would be so kind as to advise me. And here's my story:

I've recently installed a new video card to my system (Sapphire Radeon HD 7770) and PowerStrip says that it does not support advanced pixel clock adjustment for this card. I can not set custom refresh rates in the "Advanced Timing Options" of my Display Profiles (and this is very important, as I still use an old high quality Trinitron CRT, and I'd like to be able to set higher custom refresh rates for certain resolutions).

This setting was working very nicely on my old Sapphire 5750 card with PowerStrip advanced timing menu... But no more for 7770...

So, I wrote to PowerStrip Support, and they replied me with an advice to do a search for "EDID override". And I did search, and I came here to this CRU thread.

But when I try to run CRU, it does not detect my CRT monitor. It says "No displays found in the registry". And my CRT is recognized as Generic non-PnP Monitor by Windows 7, while in my AMD Vision Engine Control Center in "My VGA Displays" -> Properties I set Monitor Attributes so as to uncheck the "Use EDID" option and I set the maximum resolution and maximum refresh rates manually. The problem is that AMD Desktop Properties only allow for certain preset resolutions and refresh rates. So, for example, I want to have 115 Hz on 1280*960 (which my CRT supports very nicely), but the AMD drivers only allows me to have 85 Hz on this resolution.

Well, any advice how to fix this? I thought CRU would be the solution, but it does not seem to recognize my display in registry...

[ToastyX]

"Generic non-PnP Monitor" means the video card is not receiving an EDID from the monitor, so there's no EDID in the registry for CRU to work with. It's still possible to create an EDID override, but CRU doesn't currently work with non-PnP monitors. For now, you will have to create one manually: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/794...rates.html

I can create one for you if you list all the resolutions and refresh rates you want.

[Nazar]

(07-23-2013 03:11 PM)ToastyX Wrote:  It's still possible to create an EDID override, but CRU doesn't currently work with non-PnP monitors. For now, you will have to create one manually: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/794...rates.html

I can create one for you if you list all the resolutions and refresh rates you want.

You're great, ToastyX! Thanks for the tutorial from SevenForums. I've looked into it, and it seems what it does is create a custom .INF file with the desired resolutions. I'll look more into it, as such a custom tailored .INF file would be very handy.

In the meanwhile, I've managed so far to dig out another utility -- Radeon Custom Resolution Manager -- http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/3226...on-manager . And I was able to create the custom resolutions I wanted with this utility. And they do work.

Now I got just one more little problem to solve. What was good about PowerStrip was that it was able to enforce the custom timings and refresh rates automatically for any resolution whenever I switched to it (or whenever any other program switched to it.) And I use different resolutions for different purposes (like higher resolutions (1920*1440) for text editing, browsing, desktop work, and lower resolutions (1280*960, 1280*1024, and sometimes a few others) for gaming and certain older applications). So, now that I can't use PowerStrip this doesn't work anymore, and I have to go manually to the AMD Vision Engine Control Center -> Desktop Properties and set the required refresh rate there each time the resolution is changed, because otherwise when a resolution is changed it would apply some different refresh rate, which is either too low or too high.

So I'm looking for a solution to fix this issue. How to make my system apply the required refresh rate automatically for the chosen resolutions whenever that resolution is used?

My most used resolutions are like:

1280*960@119Hz
1280*1024@112Hz
1600*1200@96Hz
1920*1440@81Hz

I'd greatly appreciate if your could create a sample override as offered above.

[Nazar]

I'm just updating to say that I've followed the tutorial from SevenForums and was able to create the required .INF file. And it works like a charm!!! I used the registry data for another monitor in Phoenix and changed the Standard Timings to reflect what I wanted to have. Then I created the .INF file and used it as a driver for my Generic non-PnP monitor. And it worked!!! And what is great is that now it also automatically applies the desired refresh rate whenever I switch to any resolution out of those I created with Phoenix.

I have just one more question. My monitor allows up to 160 Hz refresh rates and up to 2560*1536 resolutions. With Phoenix, however, I was able to set the refresh rate even for lower resolutions (like 800*600) to a maximum of 123 Hz. If I try to set the refresh rate higher, it says that the refresh rate must be not more than 123 Hz. Why so? Any way to change that?

And thanks again for the directions!!!

[Nazar]

And here's another update After I've created and used that .INF file, I was actually able to further edit that monitor info in CRU, which is really great! And there I was able to set refresh rates up to 160 Hz in Detailed Resolutions!

Well, it would seem I've solved all my issues. Thanks for the tips!!!

On the side note, I think it would be really awesome if CRU had internal functionality to do all that on its own for a Generic non-PnP monitor (without Phoenix etc.) It would be a universal all-in-one solution