Monitor issue

[ElJerid]

I just purchased a Samsung T220 monitor and can't get it to work correctly
with my (old) Radeon 9800 Pro card.
I installed the latest Catalyst v. 9.3 drivers and Samsung monitor drivers.
However, when I set the resolution (in anlog mode) to the Samsung native
value of 1680x1050, the desktop image is larger than the monitor and I have
to scroll and pan to see it completely. It seems that the image is
1680x1050, but the monitor views only a window of 1024x768 (or 1280x1024?).
On top of that, the image is stretched horizontally and unclear.
I also tried the Omega drivers, but nothing changed...
If I try to use the digital connexion, I get a small switching test window
analog/digital, then the monitor switches out.
I googled for a solution, and all I found was "it should work", or "mine
works without problem", but never a solution, although someone mentioned
exactly the same problem.
Some people say this resolution is not supported on the 9800, but it appears
in the display settings, so I guess, as many others, that it is supported.
Is the monitor defective? or the video card? did I made some wrong settings?
Please can someone help ?

 

[Paul]

I just purchased a Samsung T220 monitor and can't get it to work correctly
with my (old) Radeon 9800 Pro card.
I installed the latest Catalyst v. 9.3 drivers and Samsung monitor drivers.
However, when I set the resolution (in anlog mode) to the Samsung native
value of 1680x1050, the desktop image is larger than the monitor and I have
to scroll and pan to see it completely. It seems that the image is
1680x1050, but the monitor views only a window of 1024x768 (or 1280x1024?).
On top of that, the image is stretched horizontally and unclear.
I also tried the Omega drivers, but nothing changed...
If I try to use the digital connexion, I get a small switching test window
analog/digital, then the monitor switches out.
I googled for a solution, and all I found was "it should work", or "mine
works without problem", but never a solution, although someone mentioned
exactly the same problem.
Some people say this resolution is not supported on the 9800, but it appears
in the display settings, so I guess, as many others, that it is supported.
Is the monitor defective? or the video card? did I made some wrong settings?
Please can someone help ?

The last time I heard of that happening, it was with a motherboard built-in
graphics. The driver provides some kind of "pan within the desktop" mode,
where the virtual display is larger than the portion being sent to the monitor.
It took a different version of the driver to fix it.

One experiment you can try, is running dual monitor mode temporarily.
The driver will be less willing to try the "pan" thing, if the extended
desktop is constraining things.

In terms of utilities, you can try the MonInfo utility. It can display
some info about the EDID table coming from the monitor, over the
DDC serial interface.

http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/moninfo.shtm

If no EDID is visible, or if you are still having problems, you could
install the "Display Driver". Normally, people install these, because
of the ICM file (color management info). Color management is used by
programs like Photoshop, to correct the image on the screen for best
results from a color perspective.

http://www.samsung.com/ph/consumer/...type=lcdmonitor&model_cd=LS22TWHSUV/XT&mode=C

http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/DR/200802/20080211105738453_T220.exe

;==================================================
; T220.inf 02/06/2008 ver. 3.0HC
;
; Copyright 2008 Samsung Electronics Corporation
;
; This is a Setup information file for Samsung Monitor.
;==================================================

[1680]
HKR,,MaxResolution,,"1680,1050"

The INF adds a registry entry, that should reinforce the
max supported resolution to 1680 by 1050. Maybe that
will change the driver/CCC panel behavior.

HTH,
Paul

 

[ElJerid]

I tried Paul's and Kony's recommandations, including testing on another PC.
With the Radeon 9800 Pro, nothing helped: older drivers, latest driver,
omega drivers, all gave very low quality images with no native resolution
available in analog mode. And in digital mode there was no image at all.
On another PC with Geforce 6600GT however, after installing the latest
drivers, 1680x1050 resolution became available and the image quality in
analog was excellent. But still no image at all in digital: only a small
search window switching between analog and digital, later an error message
"check video cable" and finally switch of.
So I decided to return the monitor to my local reseller where it was tested
and the technician noticed that the monitor was defective. I got a new one
which works perfectly (analog and digital) with the 6600GT, but with the
older 9800 Pro, I can' t set the card to the monitor's native resolution of
1680x1050, so the image is upscaled and of inacceptable quality.
Thanks again for your help.

 

[Paul]

I tried Paul's and Kony's recommandations, including testing on another PC.
With the Radeon 9800 Pro, nothing helped: older drivers, latest driver,
omega drivers, all gave very low quality images with no native resolution
available in analog mode. And in digital mode there was no image at all.
On another PC with Geforce 6600GT however, after installing the latest
drivers, 1680x1050 resolution became available and the image quality in
analog was excellent. But still no image at all in digital: only a small
search window switching between analog and digital, later an error message
"check video cable" and finally switch of.
So I decided to return the monitor to my local reseller where it was tested
and the technician noticed that the monitor was defective. I got a new one
which works perfectly (analog and digital) with the 6600GT, but with the
older 9800 Pro, I can' t set the card to the monitor's native resolution of
1680x1050, so the image is upscaled and of inacceptable quality.
Thanks again for your help.

If all else fails with the ATI video card, use PowerStrip.

Powerstrip won't solve the problem, if there is an actual problem with
the DVI digital compliance to max clock rate (e.g. 165MHz or 1650 Mbit/sec
per channel). If the driver is restricting the resolution, because
the TMDS transmitter on the GPU cannot do a good job, then PowerStrip
shouldn't change that.

But if the issue is one of the driver simply missing that resolution
value, PowerStrip can fix that. For a long time (since the days I
built my own frame buffer, using a CRT5000 series controller), resolution
has been fully programmable. PowerStrip may achieve a 1680 x 1050
resolution, when the driver fails to deliver. Horizontal resolution
should be programmable to numbers divisible by 8, while vertical
should be divisible by 2. 1680 is divisible by 8, so it should be
an easy resolution to get, in either analog or digital.

http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/ps.shtm

(FAQ page)
http://forums.entechtaiwan.com/index.php?board=7.0

PowerStrip works with ATI and Nvidia video cards. If working with
things like laptops, the author of that tool finds too many
differences between chips, to handle laptops. But for desktop
video cards, that tool may be a viable alternative.

The trial version gives the same features, as when it is registered.

http://forums.entechtaiwan.com/index.php?topic=12.0

Paul