BigBoss
asked on
Monitor problem...
Hello experts,
I have a 17" Shamrock C708 monitor which worked excellent until now with my old PC.
The monitor was displaying perfect image and very clear and sharp characters until now.
I got a better PC now, so I throw the old one and connected the new one to the monitor.
I installed the latest graphics card drivers for the adapter (Intel 82815 on-board) and also installed the monitor drivers. The monitor refresh rate is set at 85Hz and 1024x768 (same as it was with the old PC).
Now, with the new PC, the characters seem like they have some shadow, they are not as clear and sharp as they were before, especially black color characters on white background!
When I sit down and work on the monitor for just a few minutes, I feel some daze and strange feeling in my eyes (like I can not see very well) as if I have been working for many many hours on the monitor, despite the fact that I have no problem with vision at all!
I have tried many adapter drivers and monitor drivers but nothing changed!
Can any one please tell me what could be exactly the problem?
Thank you.
I have a 17" Shamrock C708 monitor which worked excellent until now with my old PC.
The monitor was displaying perfect image and very clear and sharp characters until now.
I got a better PC now, so I throw the old one and connected the new one to the monitor.
I installed the latest graphics card drivers for the adapter (Intel 82815 on-board) and also installed the monitor drivers. The monitor refresh rate is set at 85Hz and 1024x768 (same as it was with the old PC).
Now, with the new PC, the characters seem like they have some shadow, they are not as clear and sharp as they were before, especially black color characters on white background!
When I sit down and work on the monitor for just a few minutes, I feel some daze and strange feeling in my eyes (like I can not see very well) as if I have been working for many many hours on the monitor, despite the fact that I have no problem with vision at all!
I have tried many adapter drivers and monitor drivers but nothing changed!
Can any one please tell me what could be exactly the problem?
Thank you.
I would have to agree that the ClearType fonts could be causing this....ironic, huh?
I prefer to tune them instead of turning them off, as I like the looks of them.
You can find a nice program called ClearTweak at http://www.download.com .
Andy
I prefer to tune them instead of turning them off, as I like the looks of them.
You can find a nice program called ClearTweak at http://www.download.com .
Andy
Which operating systems do you have on your old PC?
Let me guess, on your new PC is WIN XP installed WIN?!
Let me guess, on your new PC is WIN XP installed WIN?!
ASKER
Hello everybody and thank you for your comments.
I had Windows 2000 on the old PC and installed Win2000 on the new PC.
Does the issue of the ClearType fonts apply to Win2000 also?... I suppose NO!
If not, what could be the possible reason of the problem? Is it a hardware issue? the graphics adapter maybe?
Thank you.
I had Windows 2000 on the old PC and installed Win2000 on the new PC.
Does the issue of the ClearType fonts apply to Win2000 also?... I suppose NO!
If not, what could be the possible reason of the problem? Is it a hardware issue? the graphics adapter maybe?
Thank you.
ASKER
BTW, the graphics adapter works fine on another monitor (Compaq monitor and the PC is Compaq Deskpro)...
Check the cable - use the same one for comparison.
ASKER
Thanks Callandor... I am sure that the cable has no problem since when I connect the monitor to the old PC it works just fine!
The monitor cable can not be plugged out from the monitor side (it has no plug/socket).
The monitor cable can not be plugged out from the monitor side (it has no plug/socket).
ASKER
So, could the problem be some incompatibility between the graphics adapter and the monitor? Since the new PC works fine with the Compaq monitor....or is it the graphics adapter that could only work fine with a Compaq monitor because the PC is Compaq (does sound crazy...huh!)?
Onboard video tends to be lower quality than separate video cards - as an experiment, if the old system had a separate video card, try installing that in the new machine (disable onboard video).
ASKER
Thank you for the comment, Callandor...
I installed the video card of the old machine in the new one and it works just fine with the monitor!
But I wonder why the onboard card works fine with Compoq monitor but not with the Shamrock monitor!!
Now what does this mean??? Is it some incompatibility of the video card with this monitor? or what?
I wanted to use the Shamrock monitor because it has a better image quality, has a flat screen and a little bit larger view area.
I installed the video card of the old machine in the new one and it works just fine with the monitor!
But I wonder why the onboard card works fine with Compoq monitor but not with the Shamrock monitor!!
Now what does this mean??? Is it some incompatibility of the video card with this monitor? or what?
I wanted to use the Shamrock monitor because it has a better image quality, has a flat screen and a little bit larger view area.
I assume the Compaq is a CRT and the Shamrock an LCD. LCD's have limited refresh rates, and some cards are better than others in certain ranges. Is there a reason you can't or don't want to use the old card?
ASKER
Thank you Callandor...
No; both monitors are CRT. And the old video card is working in the old PC, thats why I can't use it.
If the problem is some sort of incompatibility (this is the only thing I can assume right now), then I think I have to buy a new card.
But I would really like to know what actually is the problem!!
How can a video card work fine on one monitor and work bad on another?!! :-(
Regards.
No; both monitors are CRT. And the old video card is working in the old PC, thats why I can't use it.
If the problem is some sort of incompatibility (this is the only thing I can assume right now), then I think I have to buy a new card.
But I would really like to know what actually is the problem!!
How can a video card work fine on one monitor and work bad on another?!! :-(
Regards.
It depends on the electrical interaction between the two. As I said before, onboard video is not made with quality in mind, but price, so you should expect loss of quality. Each monitor presents a different electrical characteristic to the video card, and good ones are flexible enough to accomodate wide ranges.
ASKER
Hello again Callandor,
After several tests, I have reached the conclusion that the Shamrock monitor has a problem, which seems to have developed either by the new graphics card, by changine the resolution or by a utility that I have downloaded (PowerStrip) with which you can change the refresh rate, pixel clock, and many other parameters of the screen and graphics card.
I have tested the Shamrock monitor on a 3rd. computer and it behaves the same.
I have retested on the old PC with all the old hardware and the OS and it behaves the same.
Now the questions is: Could this be a hardware damage in the monitor due to changine some parameters like the refresh rate? I have tried to go above 85Hz for the 1024x768 resolution but the monitor showed a message that the sync is out of range...so I assume that it has a detection and protection circuit so it can not be damaged by a high refresh rate.
If it is not a hardware damage, could it be some sort of requiring a rest, electronic adjustments or something else?
Thank you.
After several tests, I have reached the conclusion that the Shamrock monitor has a problem, which seems to have developed either by the new graphics card, by changine the resolution or by a utility that I have downloaded (PowerStrip) with which you can change the refresh rate, pixel clock, and many other parameters of the screen and graphics card.
I have tested the Shamrock monitor on a 3rd. computer and it behaves the same.
I have retested on the old PC with all the old hardware and the OS and it behaves the same.
Now the questions is: Could this be a hardware damage in the monitor due to changine some parameters like the refresh rate? I have tried to go above 85Hz for the 1024x768 resolution but the monitor showed a message that the sync is out of range...so I assume that it has a detection and protection circuit so it can not be damaged by a high refresh rate.
If it is not a hardware damage, could it be some sort of requiring a rest, electronic adjustments or something else?
Thank you.
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ASKER
Thank you Callandor...and... I am sad too :-(
I was just testing with PowerStrip to see if it can correct my problem. However, when I was changing any monitor/graphics card settings with PowerStrip, I did not keep the setting for more than just a few seconds!! Could this have caused any damage to the monitor?
I am not really sure if the monitor was actually damaged (if it is really) by PowerStrip or by the onboard graphics card that originally displayed a problematic image on the monitor.
Do you have any idea if this "hardware damage" can be repaired *easily* by a service personnel, i.e. in terms of cost?...in other words, if a monitor does have such symptoms, would it cost much to repair it?
Thank you.
I was just testing with PowerStrip to see if it can correct my problem. However, when I was changing any monitor/graphics card settings with PowerStrip, I did not keep the setting for more than just a few seconds!! Could this have caused any damage to the monitor?
I am not really sure if the monitor was actually damaged (if it is really) by PowerStrip or by the onboard graphics card that originally displayed a problematic image on the monitor.
Do you have any idea if this "hardware damage" can be repaired *easily* by a service personnel, i.e. in terms of cost?...in other words, if a monitor does have such symptoms, would it cost much to repair it?
Thank you.
It's like repairing vcrs, since shops that do it repair TVs also: a high minimum cost just to bring it in, and probably more expensive to fix (over $100 is my guess) than to buy a replacement. A new one would definitely be in the same ballpark as the cost of repair.
ASKER
I would therefore think of buying a new TFT monitor...I don't think it worths to repair it or to buy a new CRT one.
Regards.
Regards.
Try disabling it:
Click Start, click Control Panel, click Display, click Appearance and Themes, and then click Display.
On the Appearance tab, click Effects.
Click to select the Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts check box, select Standard.