Why zoom is out-of-control when connected to overhead projector?

[Guest]

When an overhead projector is connected to my computer, the slides or
documents (PowerPoint or Word) zooms to 500% or more and cannot be changed.

 

[Rick Altman]

I wonder if the use of a second display is forcing your primary display to
drop to a lower resolution. A drop in resolution would create the same look
as a zoom-in: everything gets bigger and you can't see as much. Do you know
what resolution you typically run at? I'm guessing it might be some nice
high number, as is common today, like 1280 x 1024 or even 1600 x 1280. And
if you are connecting to a typical XGA projector, that could force you down
to 1024 x 768.

That's my first thought...





Rick Altman

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

I wonder if the use of a second display is forcing your primary display to
drop to a lower resolution. A drop in resolution would create the same look
as a zoom-in: everything gets bigger and you can't see as much.

Good call. Come to think of it, we ran into exactly this situation setting up
for one of your Corel World conferences.

I don't recall the exact steps to fix it, but part of it involved the order in
which we fired everything up. ISTR that we had to attach the projector and
have it on first, then fire up the computer, but perhaps it was t'other way
round. Try it both ways, Presenter.

And if it goes wonky, get to the desktop on the PC, rightclick and check the
resolution (for both monitors if there are more than one). Set them both to
the max the projector's capable of (typically 1024x768 as Rick mentions)

 

[Rick Altman]

I remember those bad old days well, Steve! Older notebooks had to be turned
on with the secondary display already on and connected, otherwise the PC
might not recognize it at all.

In San Francisco, 1994, Corel CEO Mike Cowpland brought his notebook, we got
it all connected up, and then to blank the display, I switched the A/B box
to B, which was unused. We didn't have wireless remotes then, there was no B
key with the software, and the projector was a gigantic three-gun
floor-standing model that had no remote. I introduce him as our keynote
speaker (this is first thing, Day One), switch over to A, and...nothing. We
press Fn+F5 about 20 times, and then finally think to restart the computer.
It was just a bit embarrassing...



Today, notebooks are much smarter, but the auto-adjust to match the external
resolution is quite common, and could be unsettling if you are not expecting
it. I suspect that in Presenter's case, it isn't broken and doesn't need
fixing -- Presenter just needs to expect it...



RA

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

I remember those bad old days well, Steve! Older notebooks had to be turned
on with the secondary display already on and connected, otherwise the PC
might not recognize it at all.

Or worse, in this case ... recognize it and then set the notebook video to some
bizarro value to match. And in this case, refuse to switch back. We had to
resort to a Jim Hart Fixit. Not the one involving gutting it with that Gerber
knife of his, the one where you remove any and all video devices, then restart
Windows and pray that it finds and reinstalls the right one.

In San Francisco, 1994, Corel CEO Mike Cowpland brought his notebook, we got
it all connected up, and then to blank the display, I switched the A/B box
to B, which was unused. We didn't have wireless remotes then, there was no B
key with the software, and the projector was a gigantic three-gun
floor-standing model that had no remote. I introduce him as our keynote
speaker (this is first thing, Day One), switch over to A, and...nothing. We
press Fn+F5 about 20 times, and then finally think to restart the computer.
It was just a bit embarrassing...

Today, notebooks are much smarter, but the auto-adjust to match the external
resolution is quite common, and could be unsettling if you are not expecting
it. I suspect that in Presenter's case, it isn't broken and doesn't need
fixing -- Presenter just needs to expect it...

Yup ...

Over to you, Presenter ...

 

[Guest]

Your suggestion to hook up the projector and then boot up the computer
worked. The original problem wasn't just that the computer zoomed everything
to 500%, it flickered and no changes could ever be made to the computer. It
wouldn't respond at all to any commands. You'd have to shut down the
computer and restart it to get it to return to normal. But the suggestion to
boot after the projector was hooked up to the system worked perfectly. Thank
you so much.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Great ... very glad to hear that you've got the problem solved. Thanks for letting
us know it worked, too.

 

[Desert Dave]

Steve & Rick; I haven't been so fortuate with the Present's solution. I'm
still having the issue, no matter if I boot up with the pojector on turn it

 

[Echo S]

You might try updating your video driver.

What resolution is your computer display set to?

You may need to call the computer manufacturer. I would bet they've seen
this issue before.