Problem with new monitor

[Walter R.]

Running Win XP SP3.

I used to have a 19" LCD monitor. The image always filled the whole screen,
both while browsing the internet and when using an application like Word.

I bought a 22" Widescreen Monitor. All images have a black area of 1 1/4" on
both sides of the screen. Top and bottom are OK. I am using 1024 x768
resolution on my monitor.

What is the point in having a widescreen monitor if only part of the screen
is utilized? Do I need to adjust a setting in WinXP?

Thank you

 

[Nate Grossman]

Running Win XP SP3.

I used to have a 19" LCD monitor. The image always filled the whole screen,
both while browsing the internet and when using an application like Word.

I bought a 22" Widescreen Monitor. All images have a black area of 1 1/4" on
both sides of the screen. Top and bottom are OK. I am using 1024 x768
resolution on my monitor.

What is the point in having a widescreen monitor if only part of the screen
is utilized? Do I need to adjust a setting in WinXP?

Thank you

You need to set your graphics card to the native resolution of your
monitor. On mine, it's 1680x1050.

If your graphics card won't go that high, you're out of luck.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Running Win XP SP3.

I used to have a 19" LCD monitor. The image always filled the whole screen,
both while browsing the internet and when using an application like Word.

I bought a 22" Widescreen Monitor. All images have a black area of 1 1/4" on
both sides of the screen. Top and bottom are OK. I am using 1024 x768
resolution on my monitor.

Well, why not use a resolution that fills the entire screen? 1024x768
would be the wrong aspect ration for a wide screen monitor.

What is the point in having a widescreen monitor if only part of the screen
is utilized?

Ask yourself that question. You're the one who is deliberately using a
resolution that is wrong for the aspect ration of a wide screen monitor.

Do I need to adjust a setting in WinXP?

Yes. You need to set the display to the settings recommended by the
monitor's manufacturer. Consult the manual that came with it. (I'm
assuming that you ensured that your computer's video adapter was capable
of support the new monitor's native resolution *before* making the
purchase.)


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

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killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[Paul]

Running Win XP SP3.

I used to have a 19" LCD monitor. The image always filled the whole screen,
both while browsing the internet and when using an application like Word.

I bought a 22" Widescreen Monitor. All images have a black area of 1 1/4" on
both sides of the screen. Top and bottom are OK. I am using 1024 x768
resolution on my monitor.

What is the point in having a widescreen monitor if only part of the screen
is utilized? Do I need to adjust a setting in WinXP?

Thank you

There are two ways the computer could have chosen to deal with the settings
you used.

1680 x 1050 = 16:10 (probable native resolution of the 22" display)

1024 x 768 = 4:3 (your current setting - aspect ratio not the same as the display)

If the setup chose to keep the aspect ratio, such that circles
would still appear as circles on the screen, then to do that,
black bars would need to fill unused portions of the screen.
It could be, that the 768 lines called for, are now resampled and spread
over 1050 lines of display. But the horizontal needs correction,
to keep circles looking like circles.

Another option, is for the system as a whole, to stretch the
display, such that all pixels light up. Now you see a significant
distortion of circles.

Sometimes, the graphics driver may offer an option to behave in
either of those ways. It may not be a direct user setting,
or if it is, it may be buried pretty deep, or use a less
than meaningful terminology.

What you want, is to either select a 16:10 resolution, so the
screen will be filled. And if you choose the exact "native" resolution
value, then there is no resampling at the display, and one pixel
"in" to the panel, gives one pixel "out". That gives the least distortion.

To compensate for the small text, in Settings:Advanced, change
the DPI value, so that a larger font size will be used. That has
the side effect, that some Windows dialogs will have issues
with the larger text, but it will do a better job overall
of using your display.

And while you're at it, in Appearance:Effects, you can enable
ClearType. That may make the fonts a bit bolder, and easier to
read. On my monitor, I find text too thin, with ClearType disabled.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleartype

HTH,
Paul

 

[Walter R.]

Thank you for your very detailed and helpful response.