Problems wi th new HD computer monitor

[stephenb]

A curly question for the computer / graphics experts out there....


I purchased a new Asus HD computer monitor for my PC, and currently running it at 1920x1080, hightest colour 32 bit.

The motherboard is an Asus M2N68 motherboard with on-board graphics adapter, 4Gb RAM

I am seeing a "stepped" shading pattern on Stellarium - see attached image. Whilst my laptop produces a smooth, gradual level of shading, this monitor and PC produces a "stepped" appearance.

This is a brand new system.

I am suspecting its the on-board graphics card and I may need to get a PCI graphic card. I do not suspect it is the monitor. I have adjusted the software to all maximum values.

Any thoughts? Am I being too picky (yes I know I am), but I expected to get beautiful, smooth transitions with the graphics.

[Satchmo]

Sounds like your colour bit depth is set at 16 bits. Go into your graphics chip/card settings and set it at 32bit depth at 1920 X 1080. I have similar setup and Stellarium certainly looks fine at 32bit depth with no steps.

In any case, you want to get a dedicated PCI graphics card so you get a nice smooth frame rate when you are panning the sky. The 3d acceleration performance of those on board graphics chips is usually rubbish.

You can get a pretty fast graphics card for under $100 these days. I use an NVidea 9600GT .

[stephenb]

Thanks Mark, definately set to 32-bit, 1920x1080, 60Hz. I think it might be time for a better graphics card. Thanks for the tip re: NVidea 9600GT. I'll check out my local computer shop next week and post the results.

[mithrandir]

Stellarium demands good OpenGL to get it running at an acceptable frame rate.

You didn't say what your onboard video was, but whatever it is, an NVidia PCI card will be better.

You do have a suitable slot? All reasonable priced cards these days are PCI Express.

[Barrykgerdes]

I had a look at that screen shot and could not see any stepping on my screen although I have seen the effect on other computers.

I only have three very simple display cards (intel, SiS and Nvidia all on mother board) that are all running in 32 bit mode at 1680 x 1050 and do not see the stepped colour.

If you want to run Stellarium on a better card avoid ATI cards as they do not have the upgraded drivers to handle the latest code in OpenGL.

Over the last 12 months a lot of work has been done in improving the rendition of shadings etc in Stellarium so maybe you should wait for the next release which due in the not to far future (I hope). I have compiled the latest svn code in Windows but there are a few bugs intoduced by some major changes to the core code so the current version is not completely stable. This is delaying the release of a new upgrade.

The next version will have many new features included as static plugin modules (they will be already loaded) including an upgraded telescope control system. If you want to see how the development is progressing there is a patch of the changes made up to the middle of August. This is available at www.iceinspace.com.au/uploads/4747.zip (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/uploads/4747.zip) . I have a later patch but as it is not completely stable I can only provide it on special request.

Barry

[dpastern]

I'm also seeing some stepping on my system (using Beta 0.10.0). I'm running a Quadcore Q6600 (stock speeds), 8GB DDR2 RAM and a Nvidia 8800GT 512mb video card. I do not think it's necessarily an issue with the hardware. It might be an issue with the software displaying under Vista's Aero perhaps? Are you running Vista? Myself, I'm not really perturbed by the banding/stepping, so I'm too lazy to turn off Aero and test it. Aero does screw up OpenGL imho.

Dave

[vindictive666]

hi barry

i run a 1gb ati eah4870 and it ran stellerium just fine :) on a quad core 4gb ram ect ect

ever since i upgraded the drivers for the card it wont run lol

its interestingly weird :)

regards john

ps running the latest version of stellerium (or was Running)

[stephenb]

Sorry, I should have mentioned... I am running the 0.10.2 and Windows XP Home.

I have noticed the movement when panning is a bit "jerky" on the full screen also. None of these problems were evident on the 14" laptop.

I have confirmed that it is set to 32-bit, 1920x1080, 60Hz.



Andrew, looking at the Motherboard specs, it states: "Intergrated NVidia GeForce 7 Series Shader model 3.0 Direct X9 graphics processor"

Yes, I have a spare PCI slot.




I'm running XP Home Dave.




Thanks Barry, I tried this several times and kept getting RunTime DLL error messages and Application errors. I couldn't get a screen short to provide you with the exact wording of the error messages, sorry. I ure-installed 0.10.2 again without the patch and it works okay now. I will try a new PCI card but I tend to agree that it appears to be an issue with Stellarium rather than the hardware.