Maybe OT - Settings For Widescreen LCD Monitor

[Bob Huntley]

I've got a Radeon X1800 XL, and have just upgraded my monitor for a
Widescreen Acer AL2032WA.

Its supposed to run with a screen resolution of 1680 * 1050 pixels - but my
Catalyst control centre only offers me a choice of the "standard"
resolutions (e.g. 1280 * 1024, 1400 * 1050, 1600 * 1200 etc.). I'm running
the monitor on the DVI cable, and the ATI control centre correctly shows the
display as an Acer one.

Is there a way I can force the ATI card to correctly detect the monitor and
offer a choice of widescreen modes.

Thanks in advance,

Bob Huntley

 

[W]

Did the monitor come with drivers? I got a dell wide screen and had to
install the drivers before ATI recognized the native resolution which is the
same as yours 1680*1050
Bill

 

[Bob Huntley]

Thanks for the reply.

No, it came with a CD but that had nothing except the user manuals as PDF
files.

I've just managed to find a set of drivers on the Acer FTP site - called
AL2032.ZIP. This unzipped a set of files called 07F0.INF, 07F0.CAT &
07F0.ICM. I've installed these, but apart from changing the monitor name in
Device Manager from "Plug & Play Monitor" to "ACER AL2032W" nothing else
seems to have happened. I'll try a re-boot next in case the drivers need
that to come into effect - see if that does anything.

Bob Huntley,

 

[Sean]

I've got a Radeon X1800 XL, and have just upgraded my monitor for a
Widescreen Acer AL2032WA.

Its supposed to run with a screen resolution of 1680 * 1050 pixels - but my
Catalyst control centre only offers me a choice of the "standard"
resolutions (e.g. 1280 * 1024, 1400 * 1050, 1600 * 1200 etc.). I'm running
the monitor on the DVI cable, and the ATI control centre correctly shows the
display as an Acer one.

Is there a way I can force the ATI card to correctly detect the monitor and
offer a choice of widescreen modes.

Thanks in advance,

Bob Huntley

I'm not using CCC drivers anymore so can't remember the exact option but
there is an option in the CCC panel to force resolutions not listed. Look
for it and force the res you want.

 

[Bob Huntley]

Thanks for the reply.

I tried that - but it only offered a limited choice of options as well.

I managed to get it working by the use of Powerstrip - seems to work OK at
the Windows desktop and my next step will be to try it with a range of
games. If all else fails, I'll keep to that solution - but its a bit of
fudge and shouldn't be necessary.

Bob,

 

[Bob Huntley]

Latest update - Powerstrip works OK at the Windows desktop, but both DX9
games (Flight Sim & Tomb Raider Legend) don't recognise the Desktop setting
and only offer the Standard resolutions.

 

[Geoff]

Latest update - Powerstrip works OK at the Windows desktop, but both DX9
games (Flight Sim & Tomb Raider Legend) don't recognise the Desktop setting
and only offer the Standard resolutions.

Hi it's Geoff again from the thread I started relating to the same
subject. Hmmm...One of the only 'games' I really play is FS2004, so this
is bad news. I've read a lot of things that make me feel a widescreen
monitor isn't worth the hastle. Well I'm going to keep researching what
my best options are anyway, but from the sound of things I'll only use
Powerstrip as a last resort. At $30 (so that's about 20 GBP for me) it's
at least part the way to a new cheapo graphics card should I decide on a
widescreen monitor, so I'd rather spend the extra for that I think (as
long as I can find a cheap one that does the required resolution!). Well
I'll stick around this thread anyway for anymore opinions about it.

Cheers,
Geoff.

 

[Bob Huntley]

Geoff,

I'll think you'll be OK. After a bit of experimentation its now working on
my copy of Flight Sim 2002 (I don't have the 2004 version) so I think you'll
be OK.

Not sure if this is the best solution, but it worked for me. I set up a Hot
Key combination in Powerstrip to switch to the right screen resolution, and
tried to run it inside Flight Sim. It apparently failed to work (the screen
stayed as 1600 * 1200) - but I was then able to go the Flight Sim display
options menu and be offered a choice of 1680 * 1050 (it wasn't available to
select yesterday). I picked that selection, and the monitor is now running
correctly at that resolution.

PS - Also had to adopt a similar approach on Tomb Raider Legend - so it
seems to be generic Direct X behaviour. For Open GL games (Doom 3) I just
had to edit the config. file.

 

[Geoff]

Geoff,

I'll think you'll be OK. After a bit of experimentation its now working on
my copy of Flight Sim 2002 (I don't have the 2004 version) so I think you'll
be OK.

Not sure if this is the best solution, but it worked for me. I set up a Hot
Key combination in Powerstrip to switch to the right screen resolution, and
tried to run it inside Flight Sim. It apparently failed to work (the screen
stayed as 1600 * 1200) - but I was then able to go the Flight Sim display
options menu and be offered a choice of 1680 * 1050 (it wasn't available to
select yesterday). I picked that selection, and the monitor is now running
correctly at that resolution.

PS - Also had to adopt a similar approach on Tomb Raider Legend - so it
seems to be generic Direct X behaviour. For Open GL games (Doom 3) I just
had to edit the config. file.

Well that's good news. After what others are saying though it looks like
my card won't do any good in 3D anyway even though it's likely to
display the resolution I want. So I could get the widescreen monitor and
either use my current card with or without a trial version of Powerstip,
but work on upgrading the video card asap. At least I'll be able to use
it in 3D with Powerstrip if neccesary while I save my pennies.

 

[Benjamin Gawert]

* Geoff:

Hi it's Geoff again from the thread I started relating to the same
subject. Hmmm...One of the only 'games' I really play is FS2004, so this
is bad news. I've read a lot of things that make me feel a widescreen
monitor isn't worth the hastle.

It's no hazzle, at least nut usually (and with a better monitor)...

Well I'm going to keep researching what
my best options are anyway, but from the sound of things I'll only use
Powerstrip as a last resort. At $30 (so that's about 20 GBP for me) it's
at least part the way to a new cheapo graphics card should I decide on a
widescreen monitor, so I'd rather spend the extra for that I think (as
long as I can find a cheap one that does the required resolution!).

_Every_ Radeon card does 1680x1050 as does _every_ Geforce card (yes,
even the ancient Radeon 7200 or the Geforce256!). And all of the
somewhat newer (say less than 2 yrs old) drivers support that resolution
as well...

The thing is that both ATI Catalyst and Nvidia ForceWare drivers hide
widescreen resolutions until a widescreen display is connected to the
gfx card. To realize that such a display is connected the driver has to
read the DDC informations provided by the monitor. If, however, the
monitor doesn't provide such infos or the driver doesn't get it (i.e.
broken driver installation) then you will never see these resolutions
being offered...

Better widescreen displays like the ones from Dell, Apple or HP identify
themselves correctly so with these displays is plain plug and play. With
the Acer displays I heard several complaints like yours.

If I were you I'd try the display on another computer and see if it
works there as expected (you don't need a monitor inf file which often
is wrongly called "monitor driver"). If it does you should examine your
driver installation or if its not fixable think about a Windows
reinstall. If it doesn't work on another computer it's time to call the
service and complain.

Benjamin

 

[Geoff]

* Geoff:


It's no hazzle, at least nut usually (and with a better monitor)...


_Every_ Radeon card does 1680x1050 as does _every_ Geforce card (yes,
even the ancient Radeon 7200 or the Geforce256!). And all of the
somewhat newer (say less than 2 yrs old) drivers support that resolution
as well...

The thing is that both ATI Catalyst and Nvidia ForceWare drivers hide
widescreen resolutions until a widescreen display is connected to the
gfx card. To realize that such a display is connected the driver has to
read the DDC informations provided by the monitor. If, however, the
monitor doesn't provide such infos or the driver doesn't get it (i.e.
broken driver installation) then you will never see these resolutions
being offered...

Better widescreen displays like the ones from Dell, Apple or HP identify
themselves correctly so with these displays is plain plug and play. With
the Acer displays I heard several complaints like yours.

If I were you I'd try the display on another computer and see if it
works there as expected (you don't need a monitor inf file which often
is wrongly called "monitor driver"). If it does you should examine your
driver installation or if its not fixable think about a Windows
reinstall. If it doesn't work on another computer it's time to call the
service and complain.

Benjamin

Thank you Benjamin, that was all helpful information. I don't actually
have a widescreen monitor yet but I'm just investigating any problems I
may have if I buy one. So what you've told me is very helpful. I think
I'll go for a widescreen monitor and use my current card for whatever it
will cope with, then upgrade the card later when I can afford it so it's
better with games/video. I've realised yet another hurdle lately which
is that the newer way to connect graphics cards is with PCI-Express
slots, of which I don't have in my mobo. I know you can get some that do
AGP still but I guess it isn't the best way to go. The upgrading never
stops, huh?

Geoff.

 

[Bob Huntley]

Benjamin,

Thanks for the advice. I agree - I think the problem is that the Video Card
failed to identify the type of monitor, but don't know which of the two to
blame for the problem. The Catalyst Control Centre shows it as a Acer
MFMAV - so it least recognises the manufacturer correctly.

I did think about a clean Windows reinstallation - but decided that it was
too much hassle if I could avoid it.
Since the Powerstrip solution seems to be working out OK, I'll stick with it
for now.

 

[Bob Huntley]

A post-script - just tried a clean install of Windows on an old hard disk
retrieved from my attic, and no change. After installing the latest Catalyst
drivers I was only offered the standard resolutions.

 

[Tom Scales]

And you installed the drivers (inf) for the monitor?

 

[Benjamin Gawert]

* Bob Huntley:

A post-script - just tried a clean install of Windows on an old hard disk
retrieved from my attic, and no change. After installing the latest Catalyst
drivers I was only offered the standard resolutions.

Well, another possibility of course is that your gfx card is either crap
(DDC lines not connected to the GPU) or defective. Do you have another
gfx card to check if its your card or if the monitor is crap?

Benjamin

 

[Bob Huntley]

Yes, tried that.

And you installed the drivers (inf) for the monitor?

 

[Bob Huntley]

For info - problem solved by joining the enemy and replacing the ATI card
with a Nvidia Geforce 7900 GTX.
Detected the correct monitor settings straight out of the box, so its a ATI
problem.

(Its also much quieter than my old ATI card - recommended from that point of
view).

I'll consequently be signing off of this newsgroup, but before I go thanks
for the support provided.

Bob Huntley,