--- author: '' category: '' date: 2013/12/09 15:18:45 description: '' link: '' priority: '' slug: fixing-hdmi-overscan-on-ubuntu-again tags: '' title: Fixing HDMI overscan on Ubuntu again type: text updated: 2013/12/09 15:18:45 url_type: '' --- A while ago, I wrote about using a cheap 1080p TV as external monitor on Ubuntu. That happens to cause some weird problems because the TV is trying to be smart about clipping things, etc (just `read it if you want. `_) In it I outlined a bunch of approaches that succeed in fixing overscan with different levels of success. Here's some extra detail for one of those, setting up a custom mode which doesn't trigger overscan: First, go to http://www.arachnoid.com/modelines/ and create a modeline for some mode that is close to 1080p but not quite there. How close to 1080p you can get before your TV decides "this is 1080p I am doing overscan" will vary. For example, I can do 1800x1012 with this modeline and can probably do a bit more:: Modeline "1800x1012_60.00" 151.42 1800 1912 2104 2408 1012 1013 1016 1048 -HSync +Vsync Then, to experiment, we can add this mode to X using xrandr. Here HDMI1 is the output I have connected to my TV:: xrandr --newmode "1800x1012_60.00" 151.42 1800 1912 2104 2408 1012 1013 1016 1048 -HSync +Vsync xrandr --addmode HDMI1 "1800x1012_60.00" xrandr --output HDMI1 --mode "1800x1012_60.00" I don't think it works as well as the force-dvi hack from the last time, but hey, I do get HDMI audio, and I have not seen this described elsewhere using xrandr.