bits of letters missing on screen

ANGLICANPAT

Hello. Id appreciate any suggestions please - in VERY simplistic form as Im not pc savvy.
I first had problems yesterday with my monitor not coming on. There was power but it said it had no imput signal. Changed to another monitor, and that was fine except the screen was fishbowl shaped which it never used to be.
This morning, changed back to the first monitor and everything is working ok except the page leaves a wide black border either side of the screen and most of the letters in all texts, have pieces missing out of them , some reduced to just top and bottom of the letter. Still just readable, but obviously not right.
I pressed the auto button on the underside of my flat screen and it said auto adjustment in progress, recommended 1680 x1050. I looked in display properties under the control panel and it said I am set at 10?8 by 612 pixels . Not sure these figures have anything to do with my broken up words, but thought the info might be a clue. Any suggestions please what might be wrong and if it sounds like I need to get it sorted professionally , because I have no natural affinity with mypc. Thanks.
ps if I dont get back on here to check for replies, it may be monitor has died but thanks in advance.

Bogtrotter

Ok can't say if its the monitor or not but the display resolution you quote doesn't resemble anything I've come across before. Its possible that the display settings are out of the range that your monitor can display... try changing the display resolution to the recommended (or something else more common like 1024x768, 1280x800 or even 800x600) and see if that helps.

Next thing I would do if no joy is uninstall/reinstall the video drivers to ensure they haven't been corrupted.

I have seen faulty/overheating video cards produce the symptoms you describe so if still a problem after you have tried above have a look inside the machine and make sure that heatsinks are not clogged with dust and all fans are operating.

ANGLICANPAT

Oh wow, thanks Bogtrotter, BRILLIANT Ive changed to 1280x720 and the letters have magically righted themselves :T - I wouldnt have had a clue what to do so I really appreciate your help. Many thanks.

Dont know why the resolution changed itself in the first place, I never tamper with it .