Ted Zieglar said:
Get real...a CRT monitor is not going to look like an HDTV, particularly
a model that's almost 10 years old.
Move up to an LCD monitor. 17" and even 19" LCDs are inexpensive these
days. Read the reviews, because there are plenty to choose from. For the
full HDTV effect go for a widescreen.
..or just buy a monitor company and have them custom build one for you. <sigh>
titus12, in case you're not as rich as others (no matter how "inexpensive" new monitors may be), and you want or need to keep what
you've got, there ARE things you can do to help.
The best thing you could do is to adjust the color settings. You're using an ATI card, so you should be able to use either the CCC
(yech!) or the ATI control panel to do this; what drivers (Catalyst version) are you using? You could also get a copy of Ray's
great utility ATT (ATI Tray Tools) which will do a better job. You should use the color adjustment functions to turn down the
contrast; that should help reduce the blurred text. Then you can fiddle with the others until you get a nice sharp picture. I
highly recommend using ATT, because then you can create various color profiles which you can assign to hotkeys. I have different
profiles for different uses. For example, I use a high-gamma one for games, a low-contrast one for text, a high-brightness one for
movies, and so on. I just press the hotkeys when I need to change them. You can also set hotkeys for color adjustment, so for
example you could press a key to increase or decrease gamma, etc., that way you can easily tune it to your liking.
Also, try using the ClearType function of Windows XP (Display Properties->Appearance->Effects->smooth.) or turn it off or change the
setting if you already are using it. Get a copy of Microsoft's ClearType Tuner and use that to adjust it. Windows has a few
different options for font smoothing, try toggling the option (Control Panel->System->Advanced->Performance Settings->Smooth Edges
of Screen Fonts).
What else. You should also make sure you have the latest drivers for your video card (
http://support.ati.com/) and monitor
(
http://www.viewsonic.com/support/drivers2.htm or
http://www.viewsonic.com/support/drivers/drivers.cfm?category=1&formName=monitor).
If your monitor drivers installed a color profile (ICM), then use it; it will tell the video card how best to display on itself
(it's in Display Properties->Settings->Advanced->Color Management).
You could also try using the monitor's adjustment controls. Use the color settings the same way as with the video card's color
settings. Also, use the hourglass, hooking, horizontal and vertical convergence controls, horizontal and vertical focus, and moiré
controls. These can all increase the sharpness of the screen. If you haven't degaussed your monitor in a while (or if it doesn't
automatically do it-that loud clacking sound when you turn it on), then do that as well.
Also, try different refresh rates. Your video card can do a wide range of them, so try different ones from 60HZ to as high as your
monitor is capable of (yours can do up to 89HZ at that resolution which isn't too bad); your monitor doesn't have a preset rate for
1280x1024 so it probably defaults to 60HZ which will flicker more and not be as sharp.
I had a couple of other ideas but they've flown out of my head as I was typing. I'll post back if I remember them.
HTH
