On a 2509m monitor, the custom scaling is grayed out or dimmed. How can it be made useable?

[LBC]

On a 2509m monitor, the picture is larger than the screen. On the menu under image control, custom scaling is gray. How can I get the custom scaling to be active?

[lasvegaswireman]

Here are the specs for your HP Pavilion 2509m LCD monitor. According to the specs, your monitor's native, maximum, and recommended resolution is 1920 x 1080. Please make sure that this is the resolution Windows is set to. Additionally, please state whether the monitor and computer are connected via VGA, DVI, or HDMI cables. Please provide the full model name and/or product number of the computer being use and the operating system installed.

[LBC]

Yes, the resolution is 1920 x 1080. The computer is a Gateway DX4870-UB21P, P/N DT.GDDAA.004. The operating system is Windows 7 Home Premium. They are connected with HDMI Cables. This is a new computer that I am setting up. The previous computer, on which the monitor worked correctly, was an HP HPE-300z, P/N WS387AV#ABA. This computer and the monitor were connected with DVI cables. The mother board on this computer died at the age of 2 years and 2 days. So, I have a new computer.

[LBC · Accepted solution]

The actual concern was that that the whole picture was not visible on the screen. It was larger than the screen. I solved that problem by buying an HDMI to DVI adapter and connecting the HDMI cable through the adapter to the DVI input to the monitor. The picture now fits the screen. The picture is also significantly sharper and brighter. The custom scaling is still grayed out, but I'm going to call the problem solved. Thanks to lasvegasman for the idea of a cable problem. LBC

[djonathan]

Converting your HDMI PC-output to the monitor DVI-input via an adapter will work, but it is not a "solution".

HDMI-out to HDMI-in should work, but it does not. No one at HP seems to understand that the problem is called overscan. The question I'd like to see answered is "If the Custom Scaling option were it not grayed out, could be used to disable overscan?"

I have a dv6-7000, and when I connect via HDMI the image on the 2509m is "too big" (all four edges are clipped).  When I connect to my Panasonic PT-AE900u projector, the same thing happens.  However, the projector menu option for Position settings offers an Overscan ON/OFF.  It defaults to ON.  When I turn it OFF, the displayed image "shrinks" back to normal, i.e. it matches the image on the laptop display.  QED.