MiSTer FPGA Forum

Hi,

So I've recently purchased a Dell G2723H monitor for both my day job and my gaming PC. It's decent monitor for its price and I'm really enjoying the upgrade over my previous cheap Samsung effort.

The only problem is I can't get it to work properly with my MiSTer.

I've created an alternative .ini for it as I also use my MiSTer with my 4K TV so no drama but it would be nice to add MiSTer to my home office/gaming setup.

I'm connecting to the monitor via HDMI and I'm using the monitor's audio out port to a pair of PC speakers. Technically this works with a pretty much default .ini. I only set vsync_adjust=2 and video_mode=8 - everything else is default. The problem is every time I load a core and then a game the monitor loses sync for about 10-15 seconds. This happens on all the cores I've tried it with so far (NES, SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis, PSX, Minimig and Master System). My 4K LG TV also loses sync on both core and game loading but only for about 1-2 seconds, which is much more palatable.

Some games that change resolution mid-game (mostly on PSX) have the same 10-15 second sync loss on the monitor whenever it happens, but these same games don't do this on the LG TV using the same settings.

The monitor claims to support VRR (in both AMD and nVidia flavours) so I thought I'd try using setting vrr_mode=1 in the .ini used for the monitor but this made the problem worse! It now loses sync for even longer - around 20-30 seconds every time I load a core or a game, and I get no sound out of the speakers connected to the monitor (sound works fine with VRR mode off).

Is this likely a problem with the monitor that can't be solved via any .ini settings, or am I just not finding the right configuration of settings?

Sorry but I'm not very technical when it comes to display technology and I find it all very overwhelming.

I don't think I can post external links on here yet but if you search for Dell G2723H you should find the product page easily enough if you need more information about the monitor specs.

Thanks guys.

This is a Freesync monitor. Try vrr_mode=2. Works fine on my Dell S2721DGFA. Also set the vrr_min_framerate=X, vrr_max_framerate=X accordingly to the VRR range that this monitors supports.

Okay great I'll give that a go when I get home from the office. I'm not sure what the VRR range on that monitor is but presumably it's in the specs so I'll have a look. I'll let you know if it works. Thanks for the reply.

Edit: According to the resolution specifications in the manual the horizontal scan range is 30 kHz to 279 kHz and the vertical scan range is 48 kHz to 240 kHz.

Is that the VRR range? If so is it the vertical scan range I’m after?

Thanks.

Okay so I've had some success.

I set vrr_mode=2 vrr_min_framerate=48 vrr_max_framerate=240

This has solved the sync problem when loading games and when the resolution switches in-game. Once a core has loaded I can launch a game and it'll display instantly with no hiccups from the monitor.

The problem when loading a core still remains though. I timed it and with every core I load, no matter the core, the monitor loses sync for approximately 32 seconds every single time. It doesn't matter if I'm doing Main Menu Core -> Console Core or Console Core -> Another Console Core. The monitor just sits there saying 'Scanning for signal' for around 32 seconds before finally finding it. It's not the end of the world - I can still load cores and play games, but stuff like this annoys me and I'd like to get to the bottom of it if possible. More annoying still is that if I also have another device running on one of the other input sources on the monitor it'll automatically switch to that during those 32 seconds because it detects that source before the MiSTer. Again, not the end of the world but still pretty annoying.

Any suggestions of what I might be able to change in the .ini to combat/fix this? Or do you think it's just the way the monitor is and I'm stuck with it? It is a budget gaming monitor after all.

32 seconds sync loss? This isn't normal for sure. Same happens via DisplayPort connection? The included monitor cables are mostly shitty. Have you tried better ones?

I don’t know about the DisplayPort as I’ve not got a HDMI to DP adapter handy to test. I do have one in the office though so if I can’t get this sorted sooner I’ll bring it home with me next week and try it.

Good shout on the HDMI cable. I have other cables I can try, though I’m not sure of their quality. I’ll give it a go and see what happens.

Right, I tried switching HDMI ports on the monitor but the same problem persists. Then I tried using the cable from my PS5 and still the same issue. I don’t know how good that cable is but it’s the only replacement I had to hand.

I’m beginning to think it’s an issue with the monitor. Like I say my 4K LG TV can handle the MiSTer with only a second or two of lost signal at most and that’s using the exact same settings.

I’ll test the DisplayPort when I can and see if that’s any better but that won’t be until next week some time.

Thanks for the help and suggestions so far. I appreciate it.

Okay this is driving me nuts now. By way of an update I'll list everything I've tried so far:

Switching the HDMI port used on the monitor
Changing HDMI cables (I've now tried 4 different cables - one Xbox One cable, one PS5 cable and two generic no-brand cables)
Running update_all to make sure I'm on latest MiSTer Main and cores etc.
Setting vrr_mode=2 and vrr_mode=1, both also with vrr_min_framerate=48 vrr_max_framerate=240 (as well as testing with VRR mode turned off)
Setting vsync_adjust=0, vsync_adjust=1, vsync_adjust=2 (all both with and without the above VRR settings)

I cannot get this monitor to take less than 32 seconds to sync to the input no matter what I try. I've timed it on every test and it's always around 32 seconds too - it may vary by a second in either direction but never more than that. Once synced though it stays synced and seems absolutely fine, but changing cores, or switching on from a cold boot, takes an age to sync.

The monitor detects the signal from my laptop dock almost instantly. That's also connected via HDMI. I tried my Steam Deck dock and same deal - almost instant sync.

It just appears to be MiSTer it's struggling with. The question is: is that a MiSTer problem, an INI problem, or the monitor's problem? I'm out of ideas as to how to narrow it down.

The MiSTer works fine with both a default INI and with vsync_adjust=2 on my 4K LG TV however, so I'm leaning towards this monitor being junk to be honest.

I assume "Freesync" in the monitor OSD is enabled too?

There’s no option to either enable or disable it in the monitor’s OSD. In fact there’s literally nothing about it in the manual at all. Presumably it’s just on by default.

Yeah, noticed this too. Very strange. I have an option in the "Game" tab.

I've been doing a little digging. I probably should have mentioned this earlier but I'm using RMC's MiSTer MultiSystem Board and I was reading the manual to see if there was any settings I could change on the board that might help. I came across this:

"The DE10-nano board does not handle some of the HDMI specification fully. If you are using an HDMI
switch box or have other HDMI equipment connected to an intelligent switch, various undesired
operations may happen with using the MiSTer HDMI output, another device may switch on or off, or
not automatically be recognised as being on. If you discover any undesired operation, you can
isolate various connections from the HDMI output using the SW1 switch shown above.
If you wish to isolate SW1 (CEC) or SW7 (Hot plug detect) or any of the other connections shown,
just change SW1-SW7 to the OFF position (opposite to the image above)."

That's specifically talking about using a HDMI switchbox or other such equipment, which I'm not using, but was wondering if perhaps it might be related to the issue I'm having?

I might try to isolate some of the switches and see what happens but to be honest I don't know what I'm doing. Not sure what I lose or compromise by isolating each switch? Does anyone have any in-depth knowledge of this board and/or the various HDMI output connections mentioned?

Okay final update.

I read up on the HDMI spec and the various problems the DE10 Nano can exhibit because of it's incomplete/imperfect implementation of the HDMI protocol. The most common issue, as far as I can tell, is with CEC - a lot of people reporting that stripping the CEC signal will fix issues with TVs and monitors failing to lock to the signal etc. This gave me hope...

...which was short lived! Using the MultiSystem's switches I tried various permutations of stripping the CEC signal (SW1 on the MultiSystem board), DDC/CEC/HEC Ground (SW5) and Hot Plug Detect/HEC Data+ (SW7). Nothing worked.

I've tried every combination of INI settings I can think of. I've tried multiple different cables (all of which work fine elsewhere). I've tried using both HDMI ports on the monitor (also with different cables). I cannot, for the life of me, get the monitor to sync to the MiSTer's HDMI signal in less than 32 seconds (which seems weirdly specific).

I didn't buy the monitor for use with MiSTer but to be honest I think I'm going to return it and get something different as I've lost faith in it. The MiSTer works just fine with my old, crappy, cheap Samsung monitor that I replaced with this one. It works fine on two different TVs. It worked fine on two different TVs before those ones. It's just this monitor. Couple that with the complete lack of any information in the monitor's own manual about FreeSync and G-Sync (the primary reason I bought the monitor) and I'm beginning to think I bought a pile of junk, so it's going back. Think I'll be steering clear of Dell monitors from now on!

Thanks for the help and suggestions, I appreciate it.

well that sucks about the monitor, but you tried to make it work.

i can say, when im thinking about buying a TV or gaming monitor, i will always do a deep dive on rtings.com. and if they dont have a review about the TV/monitor i wont get it. they do all the testing for me, report the issues and give a detailed breakdown of their tested specs. it can be overwhelming with how much information they give you, but it is the best way to make an informed decision on a monitor

That's a good shout PikWik, thanks. I'll look up any prospective replacement on there and see what they say.