Ubuntu – How to fix HDMI HDTV overscan when I the TV has no aspect ratio setting

hd-videohdmiintel graphicsresolutiontv

I have a 32" Vizio HDTV. It's a few years old, but running well. I just connected a new nettop to it using HDMI out. It's the Intel 3×00 graphics chipset.

I'm seeing overscan, where the resolution in Ubuntu is set to 1280×720, but the TV itself is 1366×768. When I go into the Monitors control applet, I cannot change the resolution to anything other than the current or 640×480.

A user had a similar overscan problem, but fixed the overscan by adjusting his TV's aspect ratio settings. I do not have that luxury.

Is there a way I can do this without having to delve into xorg.conf or other command-line craziness? I'm more than comfortable doing so, but there must be a cleaner way.

I'm running Ubuntu Natty, keeping up with updates and such.

Here's the output of lspci:

colin@bricktop:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 12)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 12)
00:04.0 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Core Processor Thermal Management Controller (rev 12)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset HECI Controller (rev 06)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 06)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio (rev 06)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 06)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev 06)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev 06)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 06)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev a6)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 5 Series Chipset LPC Interface Controller (rev 06)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 4 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 06)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset SMBus Controller (rev 06)
00:1f.6 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Thermal Subsystem (rev 06)
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 06)
02:00.0 USB Controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 03)
03:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9287 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)

Best Answer

You may be able to use xrandr to add a new mode to the specific output and then select that new mode. See xrandr --addmode and xrandr --mode in the xrandr manpage.

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