Quick question on widescreen LCDs and video cards.

[NickC]

I have a 17" LCD running at 1280x1024. I want to get a 20.1" widescreen running at 1680x1050. My video card's max resolution is 2048x1536. Is that enough to say that this video card will support the wide screen format?

I ask because I went to display properties, and while some widescreen resolutions showed up, 1680x1050 did not. This is still with my 17" LCD, but I turned off the feature that hides unsupported resolutions. I just want to make sure the 1680x1050 will show up if I plug in a 20.1" widescreen LCD.

[SuperSparks]

Yes that shouild be just fine, the monitor reports back to Windows what resolutions it can support. In fact if you use DVI connectors you'll only have the native resolution of the monitor available (at least that's how it is on mine).

What graphics card is it?

[NickC]

Excellent - thanks. The graphics card is a Rosewill AGP card with nVidia FX5200 chips. It does have DVI output, so I will be using that.

With DVI, are you saying you can't uncheck the "hide unsupported resolutions" option? That's how I was able to see other resolutions but since it didn't show 1680x1050 (but did show 1920x1200 which is also widescreen), I decided to ask here.

[SuperSparks]

I don't recall ever seeing a "hide unsupported resolutions" option It certainly isn't present on my main rig in any version of Windows (MCE, XP Pro x64 and Vista beta).

But I was confused (easily done in my case), I just checked again and in fact you do have the option to choose non-native resolutions with DVI. Sorry about that.

[ProfessorU]

I think most NVidia cards can support non-standard resolutions in special hardware applications. In theory you could build your own monitor at any resolution you'd like and config the card for it, limited only by the card's throughput. They put a 'maximum resolution' in the specs so that the cards are easier to compare.

[NickC]

I did notice a "custom resolution" section with a warning that it could cause problems, so I think you're right. I was confused because in all the preset resolutions there was not 1680x1050, which is pretty common for 20-21" widescreen LCDs.

But I was confused (easily done in my case), I just checked again and in fact you do have the option to choose non-native resolutions with DVI. Sorry about that.

Yeah, it's kinda buried in the options

[derfberg]

I have been trying to get my fx5200 nvidia chip to work with a gateway 21" monitor that has a native res. of 1680x1050. I have tried both the custom resolution settings screen and PowerStrip to try to get it to work - I just get flickering until it reverts back. From what I have been able to read so far, it seems the DVI port only supports resolutions up to 1600 pixels (h). However, the VGA port does support the higher resolutions specified by Nvidia (I have not tested myself). Since I want a DVI connection at 1680x1050 I'll be upgrading my card tomorrow. NickC - you'll probably need to do the same.

[NickC]

It's funny, I'm not getting the same issue as you, but it's similar. With the DVI cable, I CAN set 1680x1050. But the auto-adjustment will not work with DVI. Moreover, I didn't even notice an improvement with DVI - in fact, I think it's actually sharper with VGA.

The monitor I got was a Benq FP202W, which is a 20.1" widescreen. I'm not sure if I'll keep it though. The image quality just doesn't seem as nice as my older Liquid Video 17" LCD. Maybe that is also an issue of video card, but I'm not sure if I want to just get a different monitor.

[ProfessorU]

Yes, DVI caps out at maximum resolutions. The Apple guys workaround that by using two DVI cables to a single monitor.

If your DVI input is less vivid than VGA, your monitor is miscalibrated.

[rthibodeauxjr]

i have 19" widescreen lcd and i have the resolution at 1440X900 and looks great..

[NickC]

If your DVI input is less vivid than VGA, your monitor is miscalibrated.

What do you mean "miscalibrated" ? Do you mean the settings like brightness, contrast, etc., or something at the factory (i.e., something I can't fix)?

[SuperSparks]

Brightness and Contrast are about the only things that you can change with DVI, everything else should be adjusted automatically. There is definitely something wrong if DVI is noticeably worse that VGA - with some monitors it can sometimes be hard to spot any difference, but you should never see VGA giving a sharper image than DVI.

[ProfessorU]

You may have the analog VGA input 'cranked', meaning that the picture looks brighter or more saturated, but it actually has less detail.
http://homepage.mac.com/davechalmers...a/mvc-0001.jpg
when you view an image like this one, you should be able to tell the difference between each of the two lightest bars and the two darkest bars.

Usually when you adjust b/c you start with contrast up all the way. Then adjust brightness so that the blacks appear black and dark gray looks almost the same as black. Then bring contrast down if you can't see details in the whites.

This could also be a color temperature calibration issue with the VGA.

[NickC]

While running on VGA cable, I realized I got a much better picture when changing the mode from "Standard" to "Movie 1." Not sure what it does - it seems to be more than just messing around with brightness/contrast. However, last night, I tried DVI again, and this time it looks sharper than VGA! Could it be something to do with this Movie 1 mode or maybe did Movie 1 just bring out the details so I could see DVI having a better picture?

I have noticed with this monitor that contrast needs to go way down to see a nice balance. On CRTs, I had the contrast set to near 100 but the brightness needed to be much lower. On this, so far I've found a good picture with brightness at ~50 and contrast at ~ 25.

[ProfessorU]

Yes, it's most likely related to this 'mode'. It probably affects the gamma on your monitor.