Monitor Resolution

[AlleyCat]

I just bought a Dell 1908FP monitor to replace the 1907FP that
"crashed". I used to be able to set the horizontal resolution at 920,
but XP sees this monitor as a plug and play, same as the 1907, and
doesn't list any horizontal resolutions at 920, just 864 then 1024. The
1024 setting is a little too fine. Any help will be most appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[Paul]

I just bought a Dell 1908FP monitor to replace the 1907FP that
"crashed". I used to be able to set the horizontal resolution at 920,
but XP sees this monitor as a plug and play, same as the 1907, and
doesn't list any horizontal resolutions at 920, just 864 then 1024. The
1024 setting is a little too fine. Any help will be most appreciated.
Thanks.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/monitors/1908FP/en/ug/about.htm#Specifications

Preset Display Modes

H_KHz Refresh Dot_Clock Sync
VESA, 720 x 400 31.5 70.0 28.3 -/+
VESA, 640 x 480 31.5 60.0 25.2 -/-
VESA, 640 x 480 37.5 75.0 31.5 -/-
VESA, 800 x 600 37.9 60.3 49.5 +/+
VESA, 800 x 600 46.9 75.0 49.5 +/+
VESA, 1024 x 768 48.4 60.0 65.0 -/-
VESA, 1024 x 768 60.0 75.0 78.8 +/+
VESA, 1152 x 864 67.5 75.0 108 +/+
VESA, 1280 x 1024 64.0 60.0 108 +/+
VESA, 1280 x 1024 80.0 75.0 135.0 +/+

Your best choice, is to run 1280x1024 @ 60Hz refresh,
as that is the native resolution. Then, in Display
properties, select larger text. For example, in this
image, you can see a "120 DPI" choice, which will make
text a bit bigger. That's how I run mine. I've never
needed the CD, when I change to 120 DPI (so the fonts
or whatever it needs, were apparently already there).

"DPI Setting: Large size (120 DPI) - part of Display Properties - Settings - Advanced"

http://i.msdn.microsoft.com/dynimg/IC534223.png

Paul

 

[choro]

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/monitors/1908FP/en/ug/about.htm#Specifications


Preset Display Modes

H_KHz Refresh Dot_Clock Sync
VESA, 720 x 400 31.5 70.0 28.3 -/+
VESA, 640 x 480 31.5 60.0 25.2 -/-
VESA, 640 x 480 37.5 75.0 31.5 -/-
VESA, 800 x 600 37.9 60.3 49.5 +/+
VESA, 800 x 600 46.9 75.0 49.5 +/+
VESA, 1024 x 768 48.4 60.0 65.0 -/-
VESA, 1024 x 768 60.0 75.0 78.8 +/+
VESA, 1152 x 864 67.5 75.0 108 +/+
VESA, 1280 x 1024 64.0 60.0 108 +/+
VESA, 1280 x 1024 80.0 75.0 135.0 +/+

Your best choice, is to run 1280x1024 @ 60Hz refresh,
as that is the native resolution. Then, in Display
properties, select larger text. For example, in this
image, you can see a "120 DPI" choice, which will make
text a bit bigger. That's how I run mine. I've never
needed the CD, when I change to 120 DPI (so the fonts
or whatever it needs, were apparently already there).

"DPI Setting: Large size (120 DPI) - part of Display Properties -
Settings - Advanced"

http://i.msdn.microsoft.com/dynimg/IC534223.png

Paul

I second that...

Good advice. Set to native resolution and then get text to appear
larger. You get the best of both worlds then. You won't get the best of
what the monitor is capable of if you set it to a low resolution that is
not the monitor's native resolution.

 

[AlleyCat]

Your best choice, is to run 1280x1024 @ 60Hz refresh,
as that is the native resolution. Then, in Display
properties, select larger text. For example, in this
image, you can see a "120 DPI" choice, which will make
text a bit bigger. That's how I run mine. I've never
needed the CD, when I change to 120 DPI (so the fonts
or whatever it needs, were apparently already there).

"DPI Setting: Large size (120 DPI) - part of Display Properties - Settings - Advanced"

http://i.msdn.microsoft.com/dynimg/IC534223.png

Paul

Thanks, but is there a way to get the 1024? x 920 resolution back in the
Screen Resolution slide bar? Perhaps installing a driver? I'm very
surprised that the OS gave me the choice with the previous monitor and
not this one. I'm sure the firmware is different among the two, but they
are identical monitors, just one is newer. If I could hook up the old
monitor and boot up, then switch monitors while XP is running...
probably a pipe dream. Thanks again.

 

[Paul]

Thanks, but is there a way to get the 1024? x 920 resolution back in the
Screen Resolution slide bar? Perhaps installing a driver? I'm very
surprised that the OS gave me the choice with the previous monitor and
not this one. I'm sure the firmware is different among the two, but they
are identical monitors, just one is newer. If I could hook up the old
monitor and boot up, then switch monitors while XP is running...
probably a pipe dream. Thanks again.

Sure.

If you have an ATI or Nvidia video card, the driver may support
custom resolution settings. You will have to research how to
find that box, in each case.

If you want to play around, and use a third party tool to set
the resolution, you can use PowerStrip. Note that PowerStrip
doesn't help with all hardware types for graphics, and
is poorly suited to deal with the GPUs on laptops. But if you
have an ATI or NVidia desktop video card, it should work with that,
and a trial is available for 30 days (so you can test it). The
main advantage of using this tool, then setting 1024 x 920, is
to see how your new monitor responds to such a request. It should
still handle it, because monitors have been multisync capable for
some time. What I can't predict, is whether it will resample, or
use black bars, or whatever. The monitor, if it so chooses, can
also display "Out Of Range", using the monitor OSD (on screen display).
Using PowerStrip, you can experiment with the settings.

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

But if you can find the custom resolution box, in the ATI or
NVidia control panel software, you don't have to pay anything
to use that.

The horizontal value should be divisible by 8. The vertical divisible
by 2. 1024 is divisible by 8. 920 is divisible by 2. So you meet the
basic rules for an initial resolution choice.

This is an example for the "classic" NVidia control panel. This
control panel is no longer used, and a less-well-decorated one
has been written and substituted. In any case, this is to
demonstrate what a custom resolution setting box may look like.
If you can't figure out how to get this from your current graphics
driver, then you can always download PowerStrip and use that.

http://www.overclock.net/t/109330/how-to-add-new-resolutions-using-the-nvidia-control-panel

Paul