Hooked 2001FPW to laptop, picture is fuzzy

RunDownHouse · #1 08-16-2007, 12:47 PM

It may be related to this thread somehow, but the 2001FPW doesn't go to 1900x1200, so I dunno.

I just used a 15-pin monitor cable to connect my Inspiron 630m to the 2001FPW. Then I went into control panel -> Intel Graphics Media Accelerator Driver, and selected single monitor: monitor. The picture that came up on the 2001 is really fuzzy. There's a sort of ghost image maybe 1/4" to the right of anything. I have no idea how to even start fixing this. Ideas?

cbloom · #2 08-16-2007, 01:23 PM

You need to run the "auto-adjust" on the monitor while displaying a black and white single pixel grid.

You may also need to tweak some settings in your graphics driver. For example, don't run more than 60 Hz vertically and make sure the horizontal clock is right for your monitor. The best utility is PowerStrip :

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

Also make sure the monitor cable is not looped up with power cables or other sources of interference and try to run as short a path as possible.

RunDownHouse · #3 08-16-2007, 02:42 PM

Thanks, I found the auto adjust and ran it. It didn't fix anything, but I tried while it was just displaying my desktop. I can't figure out how to display the b/w single pixel grid (one google search I tried actually had this thread as the third hit).

I downloaded PowerStrip, but haven't tried it yet. I'd rather see if auto-adjust will fix things before I go messing with driver settings, and the info says that the refresh rate is 60Hz, if that's related at all to the vert/horizontal thing.

cbloom · #4 08-16-2007, 04:35 PM

Here use this :

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/5...djusteros2.png

make sure it's displayed without stretching or shrinking.

The center area is a black and white grid. If your monitor is messed up, it will look like a solid gray square or a shimmery flickery mess.

RunDownHouse · #5 08-16-2007, 11:46 PM

Well, auto-adjust with the pixel thing didn't work, and I don't think PowerStrip really helped either. Is it possible the monitor is actually damaged? The only reason I'm hooking it up to a laptop is because my desktop got fried in a power outage last week.

Here's what the "ghosting" looks like. Its kind of faint but enough to give me a headache when playing, reading 2+2 for long enough, etc.

RunDownHouse · #6 08-16-2007, 11:47 PM

Can't really see the problem in that picture using the laptop. Oh well.

T3485 · #7 08-17-2007, 12:03 AM

Right-Click desktop > Properties > Appearance > Effects > Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts: ClearType.

It's worth a try.

cbloom · #8 08-17-2007, 08:33 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Right-Click desktop > Properties > Appearance > Effects > Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts: ClearType.

It's worth a try.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, if it's the fonts this is the problem.

It sounds like it's when you have a hard edge, then you get a "ringing" pattern with a fainter "ghost" right next to it.

If so, that's caused by the analog signal of the VGA connection. Obviously using DVI would fix it but most laptops still don't have DVI outputs. If it really bugs you you might be able to get a DVI card for your laptop.

This analog interference is either caused by some kind of external interference, which can be the case if the shielding is insufficient, or it's caused the analog encoder on your video card either not being tweaked right or just not being fast enough for the resolution you're driving. Running at lower resolutions and slower refresh rates an help, but of course you don't want to do that on an LCD.