Widescreen Gaming Forum

Just for fresh perspectives and knowledge sharing, what would be your first steps in optimizing this Hitachi 51F59 HDTV for PC Gaming? I am looking for feedback and insight, and ultimately would like to share a free tutorial to help eliminate some of the frustration and madness I've experienced in configuring this. Honestly, I admit I did get this PC to HDTV config working, but I am starting to suspect my setup may be far less than optimal, and am turning again to this forum for help...

The Hitachi 51F59 only outputs at a max resolution of 1280 x 1080. The interface being used is an HDMI to DVI on a BFG GeForce 6800GT 256MB AGP with the official Nvidia 93.71 drivers.

Hitachi 51F59 specs: http://www.hitachi.us/tv/browse/projection/16-9digital/51F59.shtml max resolution of 1280 x 1080, 1080i: full specs manual here: http://www.hitachi.us/tv/browse/projection/pdf/51F59.pdf
Full Owner's Manual here: http://merchant.satisfusion.com/library/manuals/owners/51F59.pdf

For you gurus out there:
What would you do to obtain the "best" (highest) resolution?
Question I've always wondered: What is the best way to calibrate/tune the picture if you ONLY plan to use this as a primary PC monitor? (that is, no TV signal was ever hooked up, or is planned to be hooked up)
For those who might offer step-by-step "try this" ideas - I will in fact try them! I have a full disk clone image backup of the entire system, and can always revert back to my base image in case something goes wrong.

Few tips to share with others:
I actually found the Nvidia HDTV Wizard to cause chaos with the setup of this HDTV. By switching back to the "classic" control panel, I was able to finally get this configured correctly.
Secondly, the Hitachi will go into an auto aspect mode, which drove me friggin' bonkers in the beginning. Without really knowing what was happening, all of the sudden (for example) your screen would be in a 4:3 Zoomed mode! Tip: use the TV menu setting options, go into Video (I think that's where, going from memory here) - and turn OFF the "AUTO ASPECT" option and manually set the 16:9 aspect ratio. I was finally able to stabilize what to me looked like random screen ratio switching by ensuring this option was off. For any gurus who could provide further insight - I would greatly appreciate understanding this functionality more. I am NOT suggesting that what I did was the BEST solution, but for me it at least always ensured I got the 16:9 ratio I wanted. Then, I could simply press a button on the TV's remote control to switch back to 4:3 etc. as I wanted it, not when the TV thought it should be that...

Well, thanks to all who might be able to share some insight and practical tips with me, I am looking forward to sharing my step-by-step guide with other interested users. Thanks!

Steve