Windows 7 - Jerky aero and video when 2 screens at different refresh rates

Hi,

I've been trying to resolve this for weeks, without any success. I hope someone will be able to help me.

I'm using two screens, the first one for computer use, the tv for watching videos :

PC monitor : 1680*1050@60
TV : 1920*1080@24

The thing is that no matter what hardware i tried, i get jerky aero and video when video is playing on the tv.
I tried with two different systems, a couple of nVidia GPUs or a new ATI GPU (see my specs), results are always the same.
I tried with all the renderers, codecs, players.

I guess this is because of the different refresh rates.
If i set both screens to 60Hz, aero/video are smooth.
It's also good when i deactivate the PC monitor, so only the TV is running at 24Hz.
But i want to keep both screens and the tv at 24Hz to avoid jitter when watching blurays.


Issue doesnt happen on XP.


So how can i fix this ?

Will 2 GPUs or an integrated GPU + a PCI-E GPU will do it ? So each one would handle its own screen.
I could try to add a cheap PCI GPU but i don't know if the motherboard would let it run along with the PCI-E GPU at the same time.

Thank you in advance for your advices,
Regards.

Hmmm, this is actually about 24FPS (frames per second) and obviously HDMI. What brand of TV is it, will it display 30FPS? Although you say it looks fine when you turn off the Monitor. Does your GPU and the TV have VGA out/in? I'm thinking the GPU is having problems dealing with the different output formats or resolutions. What kind of output is connected to the Monitor?

You say,"If i set both screens to 60Hz..." I'm thinking you're mixing up Hz and FPS, where are you making the changes, and what settings exactly? Am I correct the TV is hooked up to HDMI out? A Guy

Monitor is a Philips 22" 220AW, TV is a LG 42" 42LH3000 Full HD (1080p)

PC-Monitor : DVI-DVI
PC-TV : DVI-HDMI (tried HDMI-HDMI, same results)

TV handles 1080p@23,24,25,29,30,50,59,60 as you can see in the screenshot attached.

I dont think it has something to do with the TV or the monitor, and issue is exactly the same with nVidia (9400GT, 8800GT) or ATI (HD5770) but does not happen on XP.

I tried nVidia or ATI control panels or Windows screen resolution panel, it's all the same.

It works fine when i deactivate the monitor by using "Win key + P" because Windows Aero doesnt have to deal with different refresh rates.

Monitor @ 60 + TV @ 24 = Aero and video jerkiness
Monitor @ 60 + TV @ 60 = Aero and video smooth (beside screen at 60 --> video @ 24 jitter)
Only TV @ 24 = Video smooth

Are you trying this in the HDCP Input or regular HDMI port?

I tried both, DVI to HDMI cable and HDMI to HDMI cable, same results.

I get the same issue with different motherboards, different CPUs, different GPUs (nVidia and ATI) and it works fine on XP, so to me, it's only related to Windows 7 and its aero thing, and the way it handles different refresh rates on multi displays...

I've seen alot of posts on various forums talking about the same thing, but i haven't found any workaround.

My last try will be to add a second GPU (PCI or PCI-E x1) so each screen would have its own GPU.
If that doesn't work, i'll set up a dedicated HTPC for the TV...