Screen resolution on laptop

Landprofits

I purchased a KVM switch which I plug my laptop into and work using the 24" screen that I use for my main desktop PC.

The problem is, the laptop cannot be altered to the ideal screen resolution for that monitor.

I believe this is a video card issuse - is there anyway around this? I am told even if I opened up the laptop I would find that tthe video card is actually integral to the motherboard.....

Rich99

It probably depends on how you set the second monitor up in windows. Settings, control panel, display, then have a look at the various tabs/options (they'll differ in different versions of windows, so I can't give you exact instructions!). By default you've got the displays set as 'mirrored' in which case the resolution of the 2 has to be identical. If you find the tab that has a picture of 2 monitors on it, click on the second & select 'extend windows desktop onto this monitor'. This will now treat the 2 displays as separate, and you can set the resolution of them independantly.

Hammyman

Its not a video card issue. You need to go to the display manufacturers website and download the drivers for it. They're an inf file which tells Windows the resolutions and refresh rates the monitor supports.

weegie.geek

Few laptop video cards are upgradeable, this is true.

Unless you're using something that heavily uses video, audio or 3D, it's often easier to remote desktop into a second machine rather than use a KVM.

If that's not an option, you might be able to install the driver/profile for the monitor onto the laptop, telling it that these resolutions are available. Right now it's probably only showing you a generic list of resolutions, or the resolutions the built-in screen is capable of.

There are also tools like powerstrip that let you create custom profiles.

Landprofits

Thanks for the responses. OK I've been in touch with the manufacturer's (BenQ) and they pointed out that the driver is on the CD supplied with the product.

I have found the "Driver" folder on the CD and I have the following files;

g2420hdbl.cat (a security catalouge file)
G2420HDBL.inf (opens in notepad and contains some information)
G2420HDBLDSUB.ICM (ICC Profile)
G2420HDBLDVI.ICM (ICC Profile)

I'm not sure how to actually install drivers - i'm a bit of a newb to computer hardware. I've tried right clicking on the .inf file and selecting "install", but I then get an error message saying;

"The INF file you selected does not support this method of installation"

Any ideas??

Landprofits

Actually, scrap that last post.......

I managed to figure it out. To install a driver you go to "Device Manager". Basically you can navigate ot the Driver files from the Device Manager and install them from there. It was pretty straightforward.

Once I had the drivers installed I was still unable to select the ideal resolution of 1920 x 1080.

However, after playing with it further, I noticed that when I right clicked on the desktop and selected "screen resolution" I had multiple displays showing. I was then able to select "Show desktop only on 2" (followed by "apply" and "ok" as usual). The display now does not show on the laptop monitor, but only on the monitor connected to the KVM switch, and I am indeed able to select the best resolution.

I am one happy Landprofits!

Just thought I would post this up in case anyone else ever tries to do the same.

Thanks to everyone for their help.

Landprofits

Rich99 wrote: »

It probably depends on how you set the second monitor up in windows. Settings, control panel, display, then have a look at the various tabs/options (they'll differ in different versions of windows, so I can't give you exact instructions!). By default you've got the displays set as 'mirrored' in which case the resolution of the 2 has to be identical. If you find the tab that has a picture of 2 monitors on it, click on the second & select 'extend windows desktop onto this monitor'. This will now treat the 2 displays as separate, and you can set the resolution of them independantly.

Just noticed that Rich99 already pointed that solution out - I must have missed that on the first read