Connecting to hd TV [ Edited ]

[aras]

lead_org

Again thanks for your reply.  I did a search and found a couple of sites with the drivers but before I do I just want to check once more that I am doing the correct thing.

The graphics card on my laptop is an ATI Radeon Mobility 7500.  When I went to the ATI site I received a notice stating that I should instead get the drivers from Lenovo.  This is is the URL with the warning I came across:

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/737-28041SupportforATIMobility.aspx

So I instead went to the Lenovo site and found that indeed there is a driver newer than then one I have installed.  My current driver is 6.14.10.6525 dated 2005/03/22 whereas the newer one is 6.14.10.6547 dated 2007/09/19 found here:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-41918

In contrast the omega drivers based on ATI's catalyst 4.3 for win xp are found here:

http://www.ngohq.com/home.php?page=files&go=cat&dwn_cat_id=14&go=giveme&dwn_id=150

or is this a better URL from which to download the omegadrivers? 

http://downloads.guru3d.com/Radeon-Omega-Drivers-4.8.442-download-1817.html

This website states that these are the newest drivers and should work for every ATI radeon card ever made.

Fascinating as I research this more and more....  This is the original omegadrive site:

http://www.omegadrivers.net/index.php?option=com_phocadownload&view=section&id=1&Itemid=54

But it warns:

Starting from Catalyst 6.6 and up, the following cards/chipsets (including Mobility) are no longer supported by the ATI or Omega Drivers:

Radeon 7k Series
Radeon 8k Series
Radeon 9k-9250 Series

For these cards please use the Omega Drivers v3.8.252 or older (available on the Archive section), thank you.

And of course I found the same file as above to download there for the Omega Radeon driver 2.5.30 which is based on Catalyst 4.3.

So... which do you think is the best bet?  I am beginning to understand lead_org your advice for the omega driver in that it should include the ability to set the resolution of my external monitor as this guy who makes the omega versions of the radeon drives seems to be a freelance modifier of drivers for the gaming community as opposed to the update that Lenovo is providing on their website.

Thanks again for your help.  Just need some confirmation that I correctly understand your advice.

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

i use the omega driver for my T40, T41, T42 and T43, they all work okay. I haven't personally tried the updated Lenovo version yet, since the omega driver has more resolution options (including widescreen, which was not provided by the official drivers sometimes back), so i use it since it provides all the functions i need.

[aras]

lead_org

I was able to successfully install the omega drivers for ATI Radeon but I still have the same problem.  I can only clone my laptop desktop on to the HDTV or extend my desktop across both displays.  I cannot switch between the two displays and thus have 1920 x 1080 resolution on the HDTV while keeping the laptop display at 1024 x 768.  I can see the box to indicate the HDTV as the primary display but the option is greyed out/inactive.

So, under display properties I can see monitor 1 (laptop) and monitor 2 (Sony Bravia) but the Sony is highlighted as inactive even though my laptop display is cloned on the HDTV.  As soon as I right click the monitor 2 icon and choose to activate the monitor the software instantly chooses to extend my desktop across both displays rather than allowing me to switch which one is primary and which secondary.

I am beginning to wonder if what I am trying to do is simply not possible with my older ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 video card.

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

go into your display property under advanced display property.

under display properties, advanced, then under the ATI displays tab, you can choose which one you want to use as a primary and secondary LCD.

[aras]

Thanks lead_org.  That did the trick!

If this was my original posting I would say the issue is resolved and give you kudos! 

[IanF]

For a hardware manual try the following:

http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/39t6190.pdf