1. Regarding your BIOS, I
1. Regarding your BIOS, I just want to make sure you have an Intel branded board. If it’s not manufactured by Intel, I am not sure if manufacturers have implemented the same fixes for 24p as Intel has for SandyBridge graphics.
2. It may depend on your version of TMT5. I know in the original release of the feature, you had to disable by a registry entry. I have not tried the latest. TMT5 does “take over” when it begins playing and WMC is no longer responsible for what TMT5 chooses to do with the refresh rate.
3. 59.94Hz to be exact. You can have different display settings between Windows desktop and WMC, but if you don’t have any good reason for doing so, it’s probably best to leave them the same. If you’re interested in some more info on refresh rates and frame rates, this article is a good starting point.
4. Before Intel implemented the fix in their BIOS and graphics drivers for SandyBridge processors, the graphics engine would only output 24p appropriately if UAC was disabled. On a non-updated system with UAC enabled, a 23Hz setting would be the same result as a 24Hz setting (24.000Hz), but enabling UAC would allow the 23Hz setting to approach the proper 23.976Hz. I do not know technically why this was the case.
Your TV may be able to help you determine if TMT5 is changing the refresh rate if it displays information about the incoming video so you may want to check your TV manual.