Monitor at 60Hz after a fresh installation: 60Hz old bug again!

[Guest]

After a fresh installation Windows Vista desktop runs at 60Hz. The monitor
refresh rate is not automatically adjusted to 75Hz, why we still have this
old bug?
It's old because we have the same bug in Windows XP SP2, but for the full
screen DirectX applications (and also previous versions) that run at 60Hz.
Any chances to fix this bug in 2007?

 

[Bones]

This isn't a bug as AFAIK. It is set up that way because TFT monitors
usually need to be set at 60. Is Windows supposed to read your mind and set
it to your liking?
You wouldnt be too happy if you had an LCD monitor and couldnt get a display
after install because the refresh rate was auto set at 75.

 

[Guest]

This isn't a bug as AFAIK. It is set up that way because TFT monitors
usually need to be set at 60. Is Windows supposed to read your mind and set
it to your liking?
You wouldnt be too happy if you had an LCD monitor and couldnt get a display
after install because the refresh rate was auto set at 75.

I don't agree with you because also my very old CRT monitor has the refresh
rate coded into the hardware and readable, so Windows should be able to read
and set a resolution at lest of 75Hz if supported. If Windows is able to
enumerate my monitor refresh rate without to need a drivers, I don't
understand why Windows Vista should set the refresh rate a 60Hz whan my
monitor support also the 75Hz.
I don't like linux, but this winter I tried Utuntu linux and my monitor has
been detected correctly and set automatically at 85Hz and also many years ago
I tried Mandrake linux and my monitor refresh rate detected correctly. So I
don't understand why Windows is not able to do this?

 

[milleron]

I don't agree with you because also my very old CRT monitor has the refresh
rate coded into the hardware and readable, so Windows should be able to read
and set a resolution at lest of 75Hz if supported. If Windows is able to
enumerate my monitor refresh rate without to need a drivers, I don't
understand why Windows Vista should set the refresh rate a 60Hz whan my
monitor support also the 75Hz.
I don't like linux, but this winter I tried Utuntu linux and my monitor has
been detected correctly and set automatically at 85Hz and also many years ago
I tried Mandrake linux and my monitor refresh rate detected correctly. So I
don't understand why Windows is not able to do this?

It's not as crazy as it sounds. Refresh rates below 75 Hz, sometimes
below 85Hz, on CRT monitors often caused flickering of the display
that was not only visible but fatiguing and annoying. This is not the
case with LCD monitors which are flicker-free at 60 Hz. Setup starts
at 60Hz because that's the recommended setting for LCDs. If they're
capable of vertical refresh rates up to 70 or 75, setting them there
shouldn't damage them, but there's simply no point in doing so. I
think that Vista setup was correct on this one.

 

[Guest]

Why DirectX full screen applications/games run at 60Hz? Why my monitor
refresh rate switch from 75Hz to 60Hz when I execute a full screen DirectX
application? Why we found the same Windows XP 60Hz bug in Windows Vista?

 

[milleron]

Why DirectX full screen applications/games run at 60Hz? Why my monitor
refresh rate switch from 75Hz to 60Hz when I execute a full screen DirectX
application? Why we found the same Windows XP 60Hz bug in Windows Vista?

I can't follow you, Bill. What bug? Please describe the problem
you're having with the refresh rate. I'm sitting here with a
dual-monitor setup, and both LCD displays are set to 60Hz. I'd never
do that with CRT monitors, but LCD monitors give flicker-free, perfect
images at 60Hz.

 

[Guest]

The matter is simple really. Ever since Windows 2000, it has been hard-coded
in the OS to default to 60 Hz when it runs a fullscreen Direct3D or OpenGL
application. This, to my knowledge, was originally done to prevent potential
harm to the monitor. The problems with this "feature" were two fold: 1) It
would not revert back to the original setting after the D3D or OpenGL
application ended, and 2) The fact that if the display works correctly at the
slected refresh rate on the desktop, it will work correctly at the same
refresh rate and same resolution in a 3D application. Windows was not
intelligent enough to know that because Windows doesn't think. Programmers
think, and the ones responsible for this "feature" didn't think enough.

The solutions to this problem range from the down and dirty to the hardware
manufacturer-supported. The original fixes were programs that you could run,
select the refresh rates you wanted for each resoltution, and the program
would edit the Windows Registry and delete every refresh rate entry below the
target value for each resolution you specify. That way when Windows would
default to the lowest avail setting, it would only see the refresh rate you
had specified. The newer approach, and the one I use in XP revolves around
the graphics card manufacturer's drivers. Most new drivers have a section in
them for setting the refresh rate overrides for your display. Unfortunately
the beta drivers from NVIDIA for Vista do not appear to have that setting
available.

I, myself, am about to try one fo the older workarounds and see if that
works. I'll post here with my results. My problem is actually a bit more
complicated. The setting in the control panel is set for 85Hz, but Windows
is only running at 75 Hz (confirmed through the monitor's On Screen Display).
Changing it back to 60 Hz, then back up to 85 Hz doesn't seem to do
anything. I'm hoping this will fix my issue as well

-Paul

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

This is a great post. Very informative. Thank you for your level of
detail!