[Ham-Computers] RE: Monitor problem

[Hsu, Aaron (NBC Universal)]

Hi Carole,

It sounds like an analog sync problem (timing).  TFT's have a fixed number of pixels and if an analog signal isn't sync'd properly, you'll get fuzziness on the display somewhere - usually in vertical strips, but sometimes horizontal.

Best way to fix this is to use the auto-adjust function of your TFT (if it has one...most do).  The auto-adjust works much the same way the auto-focus works on many cameras - it checks adjacent pixel contrast ratios and adjusts for the highest dynamic range (eg. brightest "bright" to darkest "dark").

So, for the auto-adjust to work it's best voodoo, you need to have a screen *full* of text and the standard size you normally read it.  For example, open notepad, maximize the window, and enter a full screen of text (or open a text file that will fill the screen).  Then press the auto-adjust button on the monitor.  Depending on the monitor, you might actually see it working at "scanning" the screen and making the necessary adjustments.

One thing to keep in mind is that each screen resolution needs to be adjusted ast timings are different for each resolution.  So, if you just adjusted for 1024x768 and you change the resolution to 800x600, you'll need to run the (auto)-ajustment again.  Better monitors will store the adjusted timings per resolution, so you should only need to run it once or until you change video cards or refresh rates.

Also, make sure you're running the display at it's "native" resolution.  All TFT's have a fixed number of pixels and the sharpest display occurs when you're running at the "native" resolution.  If you run at a lower resolution, the TFT might "scale" the picture to fit the entire screen, thus using multiple TFT pixels to display each video pixel - this causes fuzziness, blurriness, aliasing (jaggies), etc.  Some monitors/video cards handle this quite well - others create a terrible picture.

And, one last note...use a *digital* connection if your PC and monitor have the proper ports (DVI).  The picture is *MUCH* better and you won't run into the analog timing issue at all.  You'll still have a resolution mis-match if you don't run at the "native" resolution, but the overall picture quality should still be better.

73,

  - Aaron, NN6O



-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 11:00 AM
Subject: Fw: [Ham-Computers] Monitor problem

Oops...  I guess I should have mentioned that I have an LCD flat panel.  It's a Compaq FP7020, purchased in 
Jan. 2003, so 5 years old.

Carole


----- Original Message ----- 
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 10:48 AM
Subject: [Ham-Computers] Monitor problem


I think maybe my monitor is going bad, and wonder if anybody else has seen this problem.  I'd noticed it slightly in the past month or so, but it became very obvious last night.  What I'm seeing, especially when I look at a page of text such as email, is that some of the words appear dark and crisp, while others appear faded and fuzzy.  If I have enough text, I can see that this fuzziness runs in streaks from top to bottom, not exactly straight parallel lines, but more like curvy parallel lines, if that makes any sense.  I can provide a photograph that I took which shows what I'm talking about.  (Screen capture doesn't work...  I sent a screen capture to Kurt, and he said it looks normal to him.)

Carole