Set up 1366 x 768 resolution RPi4

Hello,
new to osmc, using a RPi4, I’m starting to get a little familiar with it.

At the moment, I’m trying to find out the best resolution. I’m using an old Philips 32PF9541/10 TV over HDMI. Docs say its physical resolution is 1366 x 768 px. My guess is that best is to use that resolution - the TV can do 1920x1080i, but my guess is you cannot create more quality output than you have input. Anyway, output is not really good, displayed height is only ~half of possible (black bars top and below the active area), and I texts from the very left drawer are cut off.

So I added hdmi_mode=86 to /boot/config-user.txt which should enable the RPi to output 1366x768. But now - so I guess - I would have to set osmc’s resolution to that figures, but they are not offered in the GUI.

Are my above thoughts correct - and in case - how would I add 1366x768 to my osmc?

Thanks a lot in advance,
Wolf

If it’s anything like the two old screens I have, you can’t set 1366x768 when using HDMI, only when using the VGA input, and I wouldn’t recommend that.

I set mine to 1280x720 progressive, which is about as good as it gets.

To check what your TV is telling the Pi, you can run:
edid-decode /sys/class/drm/card?-HDMI-A-1/edid

$ edid-decode /sys/class/drm/card?-HDMI-A-1/edid
EDID version: 1.3
Manufacturer: PHL Model 1 Serial Number 16843009
Made in week 1 of 2006
Digital display
Maximum image size: 64 cm x 36 cm
Gamma: 2.20
RGB color display
First detailed timing is preferred timing
Display x,y Chromaticity:
  Red:   0.6396, 0.3300
  Green: 0.2900, 0.5996
  Blue:  0.1503, 0.0595
  White: 0.2890, 0.2988
Established timings supported:
  640x480@60Hz 4:3 HorFreq: 31469 Hz Clock: 25.175 MHz
  800x600@60Hz 4:3 HorFreq: 37900 Hz Clock: 40.000 MHz
  1024x768@60Hz 4:3 HorFreq: 48400 Hz Clock: 65.000 MHz
Standard timings supported:
Detailed mode: Clock 74.250 MHz, 640 mm x 360 mm
               1920 2448 2492 2640 hborder 0
                540  542  547  562 vborder 0
               +hsync +vsync interlaced 
               VertFreq: 50 Hz, HorFreq: 28125 Hz
Detailed mode: Clock 65.000 MHz, 400 mm x 300 mm
               1024 1048 1184 1344 hborder 0
                768  771  777  806 vborder 0
               -hsync -vsync 
               VertFreq: 60 Hz, HorFreq: 48363 Hz
Monitor name: Philips FTV
Monitor ranges (GTF): 48-62Hz V, 15-50kHz H, max dotclock 90MHz
Has 1 extension blocks
Checksum: 0x8b (valid)

CTA extension block
Extension version: 3
32 bytes of CTA data
  Video data block
    VIC   1 640x480@60Hz 4:3  HorFreq: 31469 Hz Clock: 25.175 MHz
    VIC   3 720x480@60Hz 16:9  HorFreq: 31469 Hz Clock: 27.000 MHz
    VIC   4 1280x720@60Hz 16:9  HorFreq: 45000 Hz Clock: 74.250 MHz
    VIC   5 1920x1080i@60Hz 16:9  HorFreq: 33750 Hz Clock: 74.250 MHz
    VIC   6 1440x480i@60Hz 4:3  HorFreq: 15734 Hz Clock: 27.000 MHz
    VIC   7 1440x480i@60Hz 16:9  HorFreq: 15734 Hz Clock: 27.000 MHz
    VIC  18 720x576@50Hz 16:9  HorFreq: 31250 Hz Clock: 27.000 MHz
    VIC  19 1280x720@50Hz 16:9  HorFreq: 37500 Hz Clock: 74.250 MHz
    VIC  20 1920x1080i@50Hz 16:9  HorFreq: 28125 Hz Clock: 74.250 MHz
    VIC  21 1440x576i@50Hz 4:3  HorFreq: 15625 Hz Clock: 27.000 MHz
    VIC  22 1440x576i@50Hz 16:9  HorFreq: 15625 Hz Clock: 27.000 MHz
  Audio data block
    Linear PCM, max channels 2
      Supported sample rates (kHz): 96 88.2 48 44.1 32
      Supported sample sizes (bits): 24 20 16
    AC-3, max channels 6
      Supported sample rates (kHz): 48 44.1 32
      Maximum bit rate: 640 kb/s
    MPEG 1 (Layers 1 & 2), max channels 2
      Supported sample rates (kHz): 48 44.1 32
      Maximum bit rate: 1072 kb/s
  Speaker allocation data block
    Speaker map:
      FL/FR - Front Left/Right
  Vendor-specific data block, OUI 000c03 (HDMI)
    Source physical address 1.0.0.0
Underscans PC formats by default
Basic audio support
Supports YCbCr 4:4:4
Supports YCbCr 4:2:2
0 native detailed modes
Detailed mode: Clock 74.250 MHz, 640 mm x 360 mm
               1920 2008 2052 2200 hborder 0
                540  542  547  562 vborder 0
               +hsync +vsync interlaced 
               VertFreq: 60 Hz, HorFreq: 33750 Hz
Detailed mode: Clock 74.250 MHz, 640 mm x 360 mm
               1280 1720 1760 1980 hborder 0
                720  725  730  750 vborder 0
               +hsync +vsync 
               VertFreq: 50 Hz, HorFreq: 37500 Hz
Detailed mode: Clock 74.250 MHz, 640 mm x 360 mm
               1280 1390 1430 1650 hborder 0
                720  725  730  750 vborder 0
               +hsync +vsync 
               VertFreq: 60 Hz, HorFreq: 45000 Hz
Detailed mode: Clock 27.000 MHz, 640 mm x 360 mm
                720  732  796  864 hborder 0
                576  581  586  625 vborder 0
               -hsync -vsync 
               VertFreq: 50 Hz, HorFreq: 31250 Hz
Detailed mode: Clock 27.000 MHz, 640 mm x 360 mm
                720  736  798  858 hborder 0
                480  483  489  525 vborder 0
               -hsync -vsync 
               VertFreq: 59 Hz, HorFreq: 31468 Hz
Checksum: 0xd1 (valid)

No 1366x768. Weird. They build in a panel at that resolution, but you cannot use it?? -

Allright, I set overall resolution to 1280x720 and found video settings in playback to configure a decent scaling.

Nevertheless strange - how can these Dutch fellows design a device where the physical resolution is not accessible…?

Cheers,
Wolf

Not limited to Philips. AFAIK all ‘HD ready’ sets were 1366x768 and don’t support that through HDMI. Back then HDMI had no concept of these ‘VESA’ modes above about 800x600.