Incorrect resolution options for new monitor

pippa93

Hi,

I have recently purchased and Acer P206H monitor, which came with no documentation, to replace the monitor of an existing Dell Windows 7 64 bit PC.

However, the resolution of the screen obviously isn't correct (blurry text) and the correct option doesn't exist in the monitor section of Windows' control panel. The correct resolution, according to Acer (although it says max resolution) is 1600 x 900, Windows only lists up to 1280 x 720. It lists the monitor as a "Display device on VGA".

When I click on "Advanced settings" and look in the graphics card's (ATI Radeon HD 4350) list of all modes it only goes up to 1280 x 720.

As far as I can tell online the graphic card should be able to support that resolution (although I can't be sure). Do I need to update the drivers for the graphics card and/or monitor, and if so, how do I do this? Or is it a Windows issue?

Many thanks for any help,

Pippa

System

You need to download the monitor 'drivers' from http://support.acer.com/us/en/product/default.aspx?tab=1&modelId=2250.
They only contain an inf and an icm file to tell windows what the monitor is capable of

fwor

Also, are you using a VGA or a DVI cable?

If the former, then you will probably get a better result changing to the latter.

pippa93

Thanks, however when I do that and use device manager to update the drivers (by selecting manually the unzipped folder containing them which I downloaded), it just says 'Windows has detected that the drivers are up to date.' The correct screen resolutions are still not listed.

pippa93

It's a vga cable, I currently don't have a DVI cable (old monitor didn't support it I don't think or old PC or something), I know it would give me better quality, I didn't know it would affect the screen resolution settings, although I can obviously purchase one if it would help.

fwor

DVI allows the monitor to tell the graphics adaptor what its native resolution is, so that it can automatically switch to the best one available (of course you may still need to install drivers to get that, as above).

They are only £3-4 on eBay, shipped.

pippa93

Thanks, I'll buy one, and hopefully that should help with the very blurry text!

poppellerant

In Device Manager, what is listed under Display adapters, when you press the + next to it?

To me it sounds like you may not have any graphic card drivers installed, and Windows is limiting the resolution with generic drivers.

I agree entirely with the above about buying a DVI cable, but make sure your computer has a DVI port for the monitor before buying. Some have them, some don't.