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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3236
Location: Midland, MI11/19/15 5:54 PM |
OT: 2nd monitor blurry
Got a new laptop and now my Samsung LCD monitor is not as sharp and clear as it was with my 6 year old laptop. Looked at resolution (lowered it on the laptop), sharpness settings, etc. and have had no luck. Googled a bunch and tried several things but still no joy. Any ideas?
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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield11/19/15 6:45 PM |
Maybe covering ground a second time for your but here goes. Change your laptop's display resolution back to native. Find the native resolution of the monitor and use it for the second monitor. Horizontally they may be different so your desktop might be shaped a little different. The laptop's graphic chip probably has a utility to manage monitors, in addition to Window's tool. Some of those tools might be useful, others might be better managed by Windows. Download the latest version.
Another thing is to take notes with pen and paper about the menu settings presented when the buttons on the monitor are used. For instance, I have a routine on a post-it to switch between DVI and VGA so the monitor can be used on two systems. Some of the pages of settings reached with the buttons are pretty arcane and a couple of levels down, but you may find 'the one.' Also, there's probably an auto button that helps sometimes.
A personal irritation about graphics chips these days is they want the drivers to be updated even a couple of times a month for game play. I don't play games and the drivers are large and can be buggy, so I stick with a stable version.
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walter
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 4391
Location: metro-motown-area11/19/15 6:46 PM |
theres a windows setting
that does "aliasing" to fonts...try disabling it.
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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3236
Location: Midland, MI11/19/15 7:00 PM |
Native resolution
Both the laptop and the monitor are 1920 x 1080 native resolution and are set to that. The laptop display is crystal clear so it's not a Win10 thing unless it treats monitors differently (can't find where that would be the case).
Hitting "auto" on the monitor changed nothing.
A key point seems (to me) is that with a 6 year old computer I had better resolution on the monitor. Strange.
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19083
Location: PDX11/19/15 7:20 PM |
Is the OS using a generic driver for 2nd display?
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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield11/19/15 9:13 PM |
clone desktop instead of stretch (to test)?
Same cable? Reset connection a few times at both ends (vigorously enough to clean them)? Tried another cable?
That's TV resolution, have you tried another device feeding into the monitor like a DVD/Blu-Ray? Of course you've tried the old laptop and it's still "better than new."
Compared refresh rate and other settings between new and old while plugged in?
Plugged the old & new laptop into your main 'man cave' 1080 HDTV to compare?
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Jesus Saves
Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 1150
Location: South of Heaven11/20/15 11:05 AM |
Did you remove the protective film from the new monitor? Just asking!
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ErikS
Joined: 19 May 2005
Posts: 8337
Location: Slowing boiling over in the steamy south, Global Warming is real11/20/15 11:43 AM |
never mind
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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3236
Location: Midland, MI11/20/15 3:22 PM |
A list
The difference is that I was using the video cable from the old laptop and the new laptop uses HDMI. I've been using this monitor for a year. I'm not at the computer right now but I think I need to look at the HDMI settings. The new laptop doesn't have a video output.
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Steve B.
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Posts: 769
Location: Long Island, NY11/20/15 4:59 PM |
What's the use of a laptop without a video out ?.
You can get a USB to VGA or HDMI adapter. They run $60-$70 or so
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walter
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 4391
Location: metro-motown-area11/20/15 7:49 PM |
"What's the use of a laptop without a video out ?"
VGA is old-tech. most current-production laptops have replaced VGA ports with HDMI -- 1 cable handles high-def video + multi-channel audio.
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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield11/20/15 9:14 PM |
It think it parses out like
The difference is that I was using the video (VGA) cable from the old laptop and the new laptop uses HDMI. I've been using this monitor for a year. I'm not at the computer right now but I think I need to look at the HDMI settings (laptop and monitor ends.) The new laptop doesn't have a video (VGA) output.
And from that extrapolate the (modern 1080) monitor also has an HDMI.
Looks like you're on target.
If it's still out of focus I'm still recommending a simple sanity-check of swapping an HDMI cable from behind the TV and putting it in the monitor. To me your monitor is just another TV (spoken by someone who was irked by the industry delivering "1050" line LCD monitors for years, I mean 30 more lines guys?!?) Just another TV also means I can read PDFs on my 60" plasma from across the room, less eyestrain focused that far away. (wireless keyboard, but rotating an 80lb display is a b__ch. ;^)
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Steve B.
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Posts: 769
Location: Long Island, NY11/20/15 11:04 PM |
You are correct Walter, I mis-read the comment as no video of any kind.
What Kerry meant was there's no VGA output.
Sounds like an HDMI cable is all He needs.
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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3236
Location: Midland, MI11/21/15 4:54 PM |
HDMI cable
quote:
Sounds like an HDMI cable is all he needs.
I bought a new HDMI cable just for this application, so unless I somehow got a defective HDMI cable (only 4' long) I don't see how the cable could be the issue, but I do have other HDMI cables I can swap in so will try that.
The monitor is 1080p native and is set to native mode so that's not it. I haven't found time to look at the "HDMI settings" on the laptop but I'm hoping I find something there.
HDMI should certainly be better than VGA so it seems either a bad cable or some incompatibility of the interface settings must be the source of the issue. I have found similar reports but they seem unrelated to my setup.
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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5101
Location: Nashua, NH11/21/15 6:21 PM |
HDMI cables either work or they don't
There's no halfway with HDMI. If you're getting an image and sound, there's nothing wrong with the cable.
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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3236
Location: Midland, MI11/21/15 6:49 PM |
Halfway house
quote:
There's no halfway with HDMI. If you're getting an image and sound, there's nothing wrong with the cable.
Actually that was my assumption. I know that there are all kinds of claims about "better" cables but I've never really believed them. Same applies to audio equipment, speaker wire, cabling for home theater, etc. I've been into hi-fi for decades and there are always "special cable" proponents but every time a blind comparison is done, nobody can tell the difference.
I've loaded a new video driver and will see what it looks like after a restart. So far I cannot find any settings anywhere to examine. From control panel all you get is a generic video monitor icon and a message saying the 9 year old MS driver is up to date.
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19083
Location: PDX11/21/15 6:51 PM |
" From control panel all you get is a generic video monitor icon and a message saying the 9 year old MS driver is up to date."
hmmm.... I thought that reply got ignored.
Is there any place to diddle the refresh rate in the generic driver cfg?
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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3236
Location: Midland, MI11/22/15 6:02 PM |
Refreshing
quote:
Is there any place to diddle the refresh rate in the generic driver cfg?
Not that I can find. Any hints as to where to look?
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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield11/22/15 9:15 PM |
What are the make and model for the laptop and monitor? That will help focus troubleshooting.
Try right clicking the start icon to access a menu with the control panel choice. Intel, AMD and Nvidia have clearly labeled control panel apps. OEM systems may or may not include the apps.
Once the control panel is open you may need to change the view or icon size from the over simplified "categories" view to one that is more explicit.
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walter
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 4391
Location: metro-motown-area11/23/15 5:28 PM |
running win10? try this for grins
disable all the visual features in the OS, to see how that affects perceived sharpness.
-open windows explorer, right-click on "my computer" or whatever your machine is called
-select "properties"
-select "advanced system settings"
-select "advanced" tab
-under "performance" section, click on "settings"
-select "adjust for best performance" and click "OK"
this disables all of the MS nonsense...and it can have a noticeable effect on perceived screen sharpness to the better.
if you dont like the results, change the last selection back to whatever it was before you selected "adjust for best performance"
Last edited by walter on 11/24/15 8:19 PM; edited 1 time in total
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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3236
Location: Midland, MI11/23/15 5:59 PM |
Better?
I did download the latest Dell video driver and that has helped noticeably. Now it's a question of "Is it really not as good as it was?" vs. "It's certainly not as good as it was."
Walter, Win10 doesn't work like that now. You go to a general settings list and I've already been through all that.
System is a Dell Inspiron 7000 15 with a 6th Gen Intel Cor i5 6200U processor.
The second monitor is a Samsung S22C300.
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walter
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 4391
Location: metro-motown-area11/23/15 9:10 PM |
fwiw...win10 still works like that
although it truly sounds like a driver problem, so this is irrelevant.
here's a win10 screen-shot from my machine for these settings im referring to:
<img src=https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/12301645_10207185407425411_5277007966252494689_n.jpg?oh=f5c204cbc019099af6cfec379d0dc9b7&oe=56DE0E69>
Last edited by walter on 11/24/15 8:27 PM; edited 2 times in total
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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield11/23/15 9:13 PM |
Using contract prices I'd say a couple of hundred dollars of technical support so far.
That ctrl alt f12 combo is freaking fast.
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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3236
Location: Midland, MI11/24/15 5:11 PM |
Path?
Walter, just curious the path you took to get to that screen. It doesn't come up via Settings, System, Display nor via Control Panel, System or Control Panel Display. As you say this appears to be a driver issue (and it's better with the new driver) so I ask more out of curiosity.
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