ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre 3 Media Center Plug-in- Can you get rid of borders?

[SJMaye]

This is the older version of the TMT software.  I only use if for BluRay playback because when i play a DVD it does not fill the screen.  It has a blue border around it.  Is there way to get rid of this?

[SJMaye]

Let me bump this one.  Doesn’t anyone else have the blue border on TMT3?  I could not find any setting to eliminate.  Can the picture be expanded to fill?

[mikinho]

Sounds like you don’t have your TV type setup properly in Media Center.  Have you tried both CRT and Flat Panel?  Aaron has a post about it here somewhere.

[phoneguyinpgh]

The solution to your issue is to make a few registry changes that move the UI to the edges of the screen.  I had this issue as well.  I will try to dig up the changes and repost.

[Aaron Ledger]

Here’s the post. The required registry changes are in the comments.

[phoneguyinpgh]

Thanks Aaron.

[SJMaye]

I remember reading your article, Aaron.  Maybe I am missing it, but I currently have no problem with over or underscan.  Everything is fine, except with TMT3 (which I neecd to reinstall since the reinstall of Win7).

I submitted a support ticket with Arcsoft.  I have not been able to try this yet, but here is what they recommended:

Please change MCE resolution as the same of your desktop resolution. The following are the steps:
MCE -> task -> Settings -> General -> Windows Media Center Setup -> Configure Your TV or Monitor -> Display, next -> Monitor, next -> Select Your Display Resolution: select a resolution which is same as your desktop resolution

[SJMaye]

Caught a deal for TMT5.  I am getting the blue borders still.  Can I use the same registry entries to get the picture out to the edges of the screen?

[Aaron Ledger]

Sure. Give them a try. Just make a backup (Export) of the registry folder with the entries if you want to revert.

[SJMaye]

I have not had a chance to try the registry changes yet.  Since then I was trialing RecordedTV HD and had a similar problem with a border.  In trying to resolve the border I read a post on the RecordedTV HD forum.  They mentioned using the exact same registry fix which assured me they were not aimed only at TotalMedia Theatre, but at all MC applications and screens. 

Then there was another post stating that the border thing happens anytime you select TV/Rear projection TV during TV setup in MC.  The comments said if you select monitor or flat panel display it has the same effect as the registry fixes.  And it appears to be true.  Borders were eliminated.

[Aaron Ledger]

At least for “Flat Panel,” WMC will “overscan” the picture by zooming in about 5% or so which not only shows less picture, but the PQ is also damaged due to the extra scaling.

[SJMaye]

I did note the PQ degradation.  So does the registry fix avoid that?

[SJMaye]

[quote=Aaron Ledger]

Sure. Give them a try. Just make a backup (Export) of the registry folder with the entries if you want to revert.

[/quote]

I had issues on BD playback in TMT5 that I finally got resolved.  Now I want to fix the borders.  I reverted my tv selection back to the correct rear projection tv.  Below is the post showing the registry changes.   Everything in Media Center looks and plays great now.  Will these changes only affect TMT5?

40 weeks ago by NitDawg…

To push the UI elements back out to the corners after getting rid of overscan, you can modify the registry:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionMedia CenterSettingsMCE.PerUserSettings]

“marginLeft”=dword:00000000

“marginTop”=dword:00000000

“marginRight”=dword:00000000

“marginBottom”=dword:00000000

“marginSaved”=dword:00000001

“useDefaultOverscanMargins”=dword:00000000

 All this does is move the UI elements back to the corners.

[Aaron Ledger]

The entries will affect all of WMC. If you’re concerned, just export the folder from regedit before making the changes and then reverting is as simple as double-clicking the .reg file you created.

[SJMaye]

[quote=Aaron Ledger]

The entries will affect all of WMC. If you’re concerned, just export the folder from regedit before making the changes and then reverting is as simple as double-clicking the .reg file you created.

[/quote]

 

Thanks Aaron.  I will give it a try and report back.

[Author]

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