Wide Screen Monitor

[dazuk1972]

So when you select 1440x900 in Display Properties, your monitor goes blank?

Go into the Advanced section, Intel GMA driver settings again (go to Display Settings), and change the resolution from there (make sure the refresh rate is at 60 Hz) and see what happens.

Have you updated the Intel GMA drivers? You might need to first find out what type of integrated GPU is on your motherboard (eg. Intel GMA 950) and then get the latest drivers for it from Intel.com.

Sorry, I kept forgetting to answer the question. My screen does go blank for about two or three seconds when I click on Apply.

I'm not sure how to find out if I need updating my Intel GMA Drivers. Where abouts do I find this info out? Also, is it risky doing the update because I think somebody here said he went to do one and something went wrong and he had to re-install Windows.

Many thanks.

[dazuk1972]

ok intel graphics with widescreen monitors is hell, if it start playing with u. once i had to reinstall windows just to fix easy, cause it was making be go crazy.

inshort, u need newer drivers, not from windows update, but the one from intel.com. thats going to fix it.
as admin said check ur refresh rate and fix it to 60. also see if ur using some monitor drivers from ur old monitor or something. uninstall / delete those from device manager. then restart and start praying

Why did you have to re-install Windows. I'm getting worried encase I have to do the same. From what you said and using the word "praying" as a figure of speech, I don't want to mess my PC up doing this over a small thing. I need to know what went wrong with you so that it helps me avoid the same blunder.

Many thanks.

[admin]

Sorry, I kept forgetting to answer the question. My screen does go blank for about two or three seconds when I click on Apply.

I'm not sure how to find out if I need updating my Intel GMA Drivers. Where abouts do I find this info out? Also, is it risky doing the update because I think somebody here said he went to do one and something went wrong and he had to re-install Windows.

Many thanks.

So what happens after that 2 or 3 seconds, does the new resolution apply and does it look normal on the monitor?

As for the drivers, the first thing you need to do is to find out the type of chipset your motherboard uses. There are lots of tools that can tell you this, but I prefer to use CPU-Z (start the software and go to the "Mainboard" tab, the motherboard type and chipset should be displayed there).

You can either go to the motherboard manufacturer's website and download the latest graphics drivers for your integrated GPU, or you can go straight to Intel (which will usually have newer drivers, although the safe option is to go to the motherboard manufacturer's site since their drivers will be fully tested on your motherboard).

If you choose to go to Intel, then go here:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/default.aspx

From the left side, select "Chipset", "Desktop Chipset" and then choose the chipset that matches your one. After selecting the OS, the "Graphics Media Accelerator" drivers should be in the list of available downloads.

[atifsh]

once i had to reinstall windows just to fix easy

my main point was to fix it easy. that was a new install anyway. u dont have to worry much, its just drivers. u can always reinstall , uninstall and fix stuff manually.

[dazuk1972]

So what happens after that 2 or 3 seconds, does the new resolution apply and does it look normal on the monitor?

As for the drivers, the first thing you need to do is to find out the type of chipset your motherboard uses. There are lots of tools that can tell you this, but I prefer to use CPU-Z (start the software and go to the "Mainboard" tab, the motherboard type and chipset should be displayed there).

You can either go to the motherboard manufacturer's website and download the latest graphics drivers for your integrated GPU, or you can go straight to Intel (which will usually have newer drivers, although the safe option is to go to the motherboard manufacturer's site since their drivers will be fully tested on your motherboard).

If you choose to go to Intel, then go here:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/default.aspx

From the left side, select "Chipset", "Desktop Chipset" and then choose the chipset that matches your one. After selecting the OS, the "Graphics Media Accelerator" drivers should be in the list of available downloads.

The only time it looks normal is when I go back to the small screen. The only times it doesn't look normal is when it fills te screen but people's faces are oval-shaped as if I'm watching a DVD on the 14:9. This is where the screen looks as if it's pushed down from the top and pushed up from the bottom to expand the sides to the sides of the monitor screen.

Many thanks.

[dazuk1972]

my main point was to fix it easy. that was a new install anyway. u dont have to worry much, its just drivers. u can always reinstall , uninstall and fix stuff manually.

OK. Many thanks for that info.

[admin]

The only time it looks normal is when I go back to the small screen. The only times it doesn't look normal is when it fills te screen but people's faces are oval-shaped as if I'm watching a DVD on the 14:9. This is where the screen looks as if it's pushed down from the top and pushed up from the bottom to expand the sides to the sides of the monitor screen.

Many thanks.

So you get a black border around the picture?

I guess this is when a digital camera shot of the monitor displaying a picture is worth a thousand words ... it would be great if you can switch to 1440x900, take a picture of the monitor displaying the Windows desktop, and then take another one where it is playing back a DVD using the same resolution (so it shows up the aspect ratio problem)

[dazuk1972]

So you get a black border around the picture?

I guess this is when a digital camera shot of the monitor displaying a picture is worth a thousand words ... it would be great if you can switch to 1440x900, take a picture of the monitor displaying the Windows desktop, and then take another one where it is playing back a DVD using the same resolution (so it shows up the aspect ratio problem)

Here is the first DVD photo with the wrong wide screen format.

http://img198.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=27161_DSCF0901_122_967lo.JPG

Here is the second DVD photo on the small screen. Notice the difference in the shape of the title.

http://img244.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=27455_DSCF0902_122_350lo.JPG

Here is a photo of a painting on the small screen.

http://img267.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=27627_DSCF0903_122_209lo.JPG

Here is the same photo in the wide screen mode, notice the shape of the photo stretches outwards at the sides.

http://img162.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=27790_DSCF0904_122_490lo.JPG

Here is a photo of this sites homepage on the small screen.

http://img213.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=27847_DSCF0909_122_202lo.JPG

Here is the other photo of this sites homepage in the wide screen format. Notice the logo and the writing looks stretched. Also notice the difference of the shape of my Start icon.

http://img142.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=28005_DSCF0908_122_93lo.JPG

Many thanks.

[admin]

Are you able to adjust the screen height/width on the monitor? Sometimes there's an "auto" function that helps to correct these sort of problems (automatically adjust height/width for you).

Also, are you using DVI or VGA to connect to the monitor?

[doctorhardware]

dazuk1972,

Are the displays LCD or CRT's. What I am seeing is that the pictures are bowed at the top and bottom of the pictures. Which happens with a CRT(picture tube) and will have adjustments to correct your problem that is being displayed.

[dazuk1972]

Are you able to adjust the screen height/width on the monitor? Sometimes there's an "auto" function that helps to correct these sort of problems (automatically adjust height/width for you).

Also, are you using DVI or VGA to connect to the monitor?

I haven't seen those options. It says Full Screen for the wide screen and Native for the small screen. That's all there is under Display Ratio. There is an Auto mode but it doesn't work for the wide screen.

Apart from the power lead, I'm using the lead that is fixed in the monitor that is plugged in the back of my PC, that is the plug that's blue with a screw bit at each end.

I'm not sure if I'm using DVI or VGA.

Many thanks.

[dazuk1972]

dazuk1972,

Are the displays LCD or CRT's. What I am seeing is that the pictures are bowed at the top and bottom of the pictures. Which happens with a CRT(picture tube) and will have adjustments to correct your problem that is being displayed.

Mine is a TFT monitor.

Many thanks.

[admin]

I haven't seen those options. It says Full Screen for the wide screen and Native for the small screen. That's all there is under Display Ratio. There is an Auto mode but it doesn't work for the wide screen.

Apart from the power lead, I'm using the lead that is fixed in the monitor that is plugged in the back of my PC, that is the plug that's blue with a screw bit at each end.

I'm not sure if I'm using DVI or VGA.

Many thanks.

A blue cable suggest VGA. If it was DVI, then you usually won't get a problem like this, but with VGA, you do need to adjust the width/height of the screen.

The adjustments I'm talking about are on the monitor itself, not in the driver (although some drivers allow you to do this too). Go into the menu of the monitor and there should almost always be some setting to allow you to adjust the width/height of the picture.

Failing that, and if there's no option to change the width/height in the Intel GMA Drivers settings, then you might have to explore using a tool call PowerStrip to adjust the height/width. It should be under the "Advanced timings" options (similar to this screenshot: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/ima...ng-options.png) where you can adjust the height/width (size) of the picture, as well as the position.

[doctorhardware]

A blue cable suggest VGA. If it was DVI, then you usually won't get a problem like this, but with VGA, you do need to adjust the width/height of the screen.

The adjustments I'm talking about are on the monitor itself, not in the driver (although some drivers allow you to do this too). Go into the menu of the monitor and there should almost always be some setting to allow you to adjust the width/height of the picture.

Failing that, and if there's no option to change the width/height in the Intel GMA Drivers settings, then you might have to explore using a tool call PowerStrip to adjust the height/width. It should be under the "Advaced timings" options (similar to this screenshot: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/ima...ng-options.png) where you can adjust the height/width (size) of the picture, as well as the position.

That is one thing I did not know about LCD monitors. I have never experience this problem before. I guess you can teach a old dog a new trick.

[admin]

It's not so much that you need to always make adjustments with VGA connections, but with DVI, you usually *can't* make any adjustments in terms of width/height or even position. With VGA you can, and sometimes you might need to make small adjustments (or use the auto adjustment mode). I've never seen one that needed so much adjustment like in dazuk1972's pictures though.