Input Signal Out of Range

Thats really weird, as its a movie file, it shouldn't have any effect on your monitor.

No the intros to games generaly arent movie files even though the developers will make a movie file of them to post online during betas to wet peoples apetites for the game. I have had this same problem happen with a lot of games but once I get in the game and set the res higher it fixes it. This game doesnt have the intro linked to the in game res yet though so its a problem.

It isnt the .bik files. It is something in the executable that sets your resolution to 800x600 before setting it to whatever resolution the game is currently set to. I do not know what this is or how to fix it.

Workaround:

1. Highlight game icon or shortcut
2. Turn off monitor
3. Press enter on your keyboad
4. Wait for audio confirmation that you are on the title screen.

I am not saying the issues doesnt need to be fixed, just tryin to give you a way to make it slightly less annoying.

Also to my knowledge turning your monitor off and on has absolutly no effect on its longevity. The reception of an unreadable signal should also not cause any problems. When it recieves an out of range signal all that it does is route that current displayed image to the one you see when it's out of range. The fact your monitor "locks up" does seem... odd.

if i understand that correct, your saying the exe is forcing them to run 800x600. If thats it, its wrong the exe dont do anything to the resolution before they have finished loading. The .bik videos are made in 800x600

Another workaround is to disable them
you can do that in the user.setting located
xp C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Ironclad Games\Setting\
vista C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\Setting\

change ShowIntroMovies to FALSE

Hmm, that doesnt seem to do it. I cant tell for sure because I dont have the same problem he does.

To see what I mean, rename the .bik files to .old. You will get the resolution change, then an error saying it cannot find the .bik. Look at how huge the text is in this error window. That indicates that the resolution has been modified without it ever loading the bik. After you get this message you will see a giant arrow on your screen. After the you get the sins beta screen you will then see this cursor shrink as the resolution once again appears to be adjusted.

I am running the game on a 19inch (viewable) monitor at the 1280x1024 setting.

It is interesting to note that I get the exact same results described above if I toggle intro movies off or not.

I did just come up with a better fix, play the game in windowed mode! Its in the graphics section under options. (duh why did I not think of this before!) The size for windowed mode cannot be changed in game, it has to be changed in the user.setting file Multianna was kind enough to point out to me.

Okay maby I didnt make it cear enough. When I decided to switch over to LCD a few years ago I did intensive research on them so I could buy the best one and know everything about them I could. It has been a while but I distinctly remember reading than running an LCD monitor below its native resolution can damage it. You can do it but it is very bad for it. There is a processor in every LCD monitor as well as ram and its all running on its own little BIOS. My monitor is a pretty high end model and has built in protection so it shuts down after 30 sec or so so I dont ruin it if a res comes up that is not healthy for my monitor.

Running at a lower resolution than what is native to your monitor makes your monitor processor have to translate everything and you will actualy get lower FPS than running at a higher res. Programs like FRAPS wont tell you this and will display how many FPS your computer is cranking out without regard for what your monitor is actualy displaying. Actualy running at ANY resolution other than your LCDs native resolution is bad for it and hurts your Frams Per Second. For some reason it is a lot worse for it to run below spec than above.

No, you were clear enough. Perhaps it's just the fact that we can't talk and can only type that is getting signals crossed. Your coming across as defensive in the post above. I am not attacking you, your knowledge, or belittleing your problem. It is a problem. I am just trying to make it so you can continue to enjoy the game while the resolution issue gets fixed.

Both of my suggestions fix your problem.

1. If the monitor isnt on, it cant be damaged.
2. If you run the game in windowed mode the resolution doesnt change.

So give either suggestion a shot. Personally I suggest #2, cause #1 is just plain annoying. Should clear up your issues. I am sure the devs will look into it and make it more LCD monitor friendly.

Check back in if your still having issues.

Ohh I wasnt offended. I was mostly refering to the comment about turning it off and on not damaging the monitor. I wasnt worried about that harming it. Mostly my reply was aimed at people who dont have built in protectiong and dont know that they are harming their monitor. You can look your monitors native resolution up online and if you want your monitor to have a long happy life I suggest running your computer and games at that resolution or higher, never lower. This will also improve your frame rates. Some LCDs have realy high native resolutions.

The problem is not so much my monitor shutting down in protection mode as it is all the people whose monitor doesnt shut down. That intro is damaging every LCD monitor that displays it.

That strikes me as a bit odd--aside from excessively low/high refresh rates, an LCD shouldn't care what the resolution is. You could probably solve your particular issue just by using a utlity to lock the refresh rate to the same as your desktop.

@multianna - I just realized something, the config line yor referring to:
change ShowIntroMovies to FALSE
most likely does not have anything to do with the company and game logo .bik file. That is why it makes no difference. It is referring to an intro movie not included in the beta that will probably play when you play the game the first time.

Just tested this cause I have a few minutes and it appears to be the case.

@devs

Can you make it so removing or renaming the .bik files (for those who do not wish to see them) does not cause a big giant error message of doom. That or make a config option where I can turn them off?

It does disable the intro binks--with that set to false, you should just get a static screen with both logos on it, rather than any videos. Not sure how you'd still get the videos with that set.

Have you purchance checked your refresh rates? I used to play CS on a Nokia 27" (I think it was 27") with a native resolution of 1280x1024. I never had it on that resolution when I played CS and I used that monitor for three years and it never had any issues with the resolution droppage.

Most games now a days with not be at your monitors native resolution, unless it's in windowed mode to begin with. However, a lower resolution is not going to cut the life on your LCD or damage it.

However, I have seen refresh rates being too high or too low create conflicts when trying to switch the resolutions, especially doing things like turning off the monitor.

If you read above where I explained the error you get when you disable the files by renaming them, I still get get error with intromovies set to false. If it is set to false, it should not be trying to load the renamed files, hence should not give me the error.

Edit: I found my problem.
I just tried it again, and with it set to False I am still getting animated logos.
When I set it to FALSE. I get what you described. Who knew the files were case sensitive? I apologize.

Okay I did some research because my memory might be faulty and here is what I found. Only people with 17" or bigger monitors need to be worried about running too low a resolution but everyone with an LCD needs to be careful about running too high a res. The refresh rate can also cause this problem. I have a few links here.

http://www.pcuser.com.au/pcuser/hs2.nsf/lookup+1/598CF4A694783B1BCA2570D800800E31

http://www.mcse.ms/message2069807.html

The probem is not my settings but the fact that the intro overrides the settings in my Video Card as well as my settings in game. I did disable the intro so it is not a problem for me anymore and thankyou for the help. This issue needs to be fixed though.

LCDs are physically incapable of running higher than their native resolutions. There are only so many pixels, and attempting to do this will generally just result in the display panning when you move the mouse to the edge, and certainly won't cause any damage.

Advice about excessively high refresh rates causing display damage apply pretty much exclusively to CRTs, and at that any decent ones will simply refuse to operate (with an out of range OSD message) to prevent such damage from ever occuring. With LCD's it's not a matter of damage but just what it's able to do, and what it isn't.

[See here] for more info (A bit more trustworthy source than a couple of random forum postings...).

I turned up more than those forum postings but the others were all manufacturer made PDFs that were like 200 pages long lol. The processor in LCDs is what can be damaged and the damage is caused by overheating. The processors in LCDs all use passive cooling that is not very efficient. Higher end LCD models can run resolutions that are higher and lower than what is native but everything has to be translated by the processor. It takes more processing to translate a lower than spec res than a higher than spec one. Translating from the native res will slow down your LCD refresh rate. You will notice more ghosting of the mouse.

My monitor continues to display the image even when it says the input signal is out of range but shuts itself down when the processor reaches a critical temperature. Not all LCDs have this feature and cooking a processor will certainly lower its life expectancy if it doesnt have a total meltdown that is.

Thats all from me on this subject. Please fix this. Thankyou

Having to heat the processor for a mere 10-20 seconds will hardly lower its lifespan noticeably -- and the crashing really sounds like a monitor issue, not game issue. 800x600 is still a resolution in use, if rarely (usually when you haven't had a chance to reset resolution after installing video drivers... but I know a few who work at that resolution). Your monitor should be able to handle it without crashing.

Edit: Opening sentence may have been a little abbrasive, deleted it just in case.

I have looked all over for a utility to lock the resolution and refresh rate to the same as my desktop with no luck. Do you know of one in paticular I can try to find?

Probably whatever video card control program you use.

Try this.

Thanks Kryo,

I got it and set all the perameters but SINs as well as a demo I got off of Stardock Central is still forcing my machine into 800x600. I think that program only actualy locks the refresh rate and not the reslution. I removed all modes below 1024x768 but they still show up in the settings. It does only show the refresh rates I edited it to show so that part is working. Am I doing something wrong? I am thinking about deleeting all the drivers for my monitor and trying this program again even though it said I didnt need to in the readme.

Yes, it won't lock the resolution, just the refresh rate. To avoid stretching, just set it to 1:1 mode rather than stretch-to-fit in your video driver settings. Any resolution lower than the screen's optimal res will just be letterboxed then.


I would still like to see just where you read that using scaling on an LCD (a rather key function, mind you) can cause damage under normal circumstances. If such a thing did happen, I'd attrbute it more to poor design or running the display in a too warm/dusty environment to begin with. I play older games that run only at 640x480 and 800x600 (scaled up) all the time, and I've never had any problem at all resulting from doing so. And my display isn't a high end model by any means.

Edit: Just looked up IBM Thinkvision LCDs. Every one of them listed support for resolutions as low as 640x480 or lower (yes, including 800x600)--that wouldn't be the case if using those resolutions caused damage, which could open IBM up to lawsuits.

Yeah I looked up the same thing on the IBM site and saw the res and refresh chart. I think that is just a generic chart they use in all the different monitor info and troubleshooting stuff. It mre of a general guid you can use to determin what refresh rate to use with what resolution setting.

The resolution problem I am having should only affect you if you have a 19" or bigger LCD. It doesnt stress the processor unless you set it too high or too low from the native resolution. Someone in here said they dont see how overheating a processor for a mere 10-20 seconds can harm it so I guess they havent overclocked many processors. You can have anything frm a catastofic meltdown to a totaly corrupted BIOS in 3 or 4 seconds if your temps get realy out of control. I want to be done with that subject though.

To get back on topic, or off topic hehehe. Where do I set the video to 1:1? I went all through the Nvidia controll panel and went to the video driver by right clicking, going to settings, advanced, adaptor, driver, then driver details and never saw an option to control this setting.

And unless the system is REALLY badly designed, you shouldn't have a really out of control temp! A short term rise of a few degrees shouldn't hurt anything, and if you get any more than that your system is borked anyway.

Try Reforce, and set all the resolutions to 60Hz to be safe. Reforce has always worked for me in the past.

If you have an ATI card, the control panel has a refresh rate force option.

I would recommend using Reforce and setting the resolutions to a setting you feel is safe, which is usually around the 60Hz mark.

EDIT: That message can suggest a refresh rate being used outside what is supported by your monitor. It could be trying to use a maximum refresh rate that is not supported by your monitor. Try force the refresh rate and let us know how it goes.

2nd Edit: Some posts on the page weren't displayed when I wrote this. Sorry if any of it is answered.