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    Please do not post a support request without first reading and following the advice in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

    Video looks scrambled on older TV. New TV works fine

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    scrambledvideo issue
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    • T
      trickstar321
      last edited by

      Hey guys I recently purchased a raspberry Pi 4 model b and I'm trying to get this problem sorted.
      I own a older 65inch 1080i resolution TV. When I start the PI it boots up fine. Visually on my TV there is no distortion.
      I get the 5 raspberry symbols in the top left and the boot up process is visible.
      The issue is when it finishes loading and the retropie screen comes on the image is scrambled all over the screen. It looks like hundreds of horizontal lines racing all over the place. I can tell the lines match the color of the logo or whatever screen is that is supposed to be displayed, just, extremely scrambled.
      I thought I might have had a bad install but I tried it on my newer 1080p smart tv and it loaded completely fine no issues.
      Could this be a resolution or refresh rate issue? I tried to force 1080i resolution through raspi-config but it didn't work.
      Also, I'm connecting the HDMI to my TVs DVI port using a HDMI to DVI adapter. This works for my PS3 so I do not think it's the issue.
      Plan to post a video but I'm at work currently.
      Anyone have an idea what going on?

      Thanks.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • mituM
        mitu Global Moderator
        last edited by mitu

        I get the 5 raspberry symbols in the top left and the boot up process is visible.

        They're 4 (one for each CPU/core), unless there's a weird image mirroring that adds an extra raspberry.

        Can you post your config.txt configuration file from the sd card ? What TV model/vendor is it ?

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        • T
          trickstar321
          last edited by trickstar321

          Ah woops, there's actually only 4. I miscounted. The tv has some overscan due to it being a rear projection TV. Model is Hitachi 65s7000. Here is a video of them problem. http://imgur.com/gallery/zwettDG

          My config file is default. I have tried changing the HDMI mode to 5 for 1080i 60hz. Didn't work.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • mituM
            mitu Global Moderator
            last edited by mitu

            @trickstar321 said in Video looks scrambled on older TV. New TV works fine:

            My config file is default. I have tried changing the HDMI mode to 5 for 1080i 60hz. Didn't work.

            So the config.txt wasn't modified. It looks like the video mode switching during the DRM/KMS initialization is not correctly changing to the right resolution.

            Try adding manually to config.txt the 1080i mode:

            hdmi_group=1
            hdmi_mode=5
            

            and see if the video resolution works.

            T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • T
              trickstar321 @mitu
              last edited by

              @mitu Ah sorry I mean that my config file was default except that I changed the HDMI mode to 5 kept group at 1. Made sure to remove the hashtags as well. No success still the same scrambled video. I know the resolution changes are working correctly as I easily forced 1080p for the newer smart TV upstairs. Any other ideas I'm at a loss. I have also tried 720p on the older tv as the tv is also compatible with that resolution. Still nothing.

              I 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • I
                IyonUK @trickstar321
                last edited by

                @trickstar321 tried HDMI mode 20?

                T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • T
                  trickstar321 @IyonUK
                  last edited by

                  @IyonUK yeah I've tried 5,20,39 and 40

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • mituM
                    mitu Global Moderator
                    last edited by

                    Can you try with hdmi_safe=1 in your configuration ?

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • S
                      smelly
                      last edited by

                      I chose to bump this thread as it was prominent in search results - yes, setting hdmi_safe to 1 was quite helpful in restoring a 480p display. Thanks, mitu.

                      I was able to fix this issue and restore 720p by using the following settings, which are similar to what hdmi_safe would force:

                      hdmi_force_hotplug=1
                      hdmi_ignore_edid=0xa5000080
                      config_hdmi_boost=4
                      hdmi_group=1
                      hdmi_mode=4
                      disable_overscan=0
                      overscan_left=24
                      overscan_right=24
                      overscan_top=24
                      overscan_bottom=24

                      see: https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/config_txt.html#hdmi_safe

                      saved me $150!

                      dankcushionsD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • dankcushionsD
                        dankcushions Global Moderator @smelly
                        last edited by

                        @smelly fyi setting overscan settings without overscan_scale=1 will not apply them to emulationstation - see https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Overscan/#the-console-looks-good-but-the-picture-is-off-for-emulationstationretroarchetc (and also see further up this page for other/better ways of solving overscan issues)

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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